The President of our nonprofit corporation has submitted her resignation, much to the distress of the rest of the Board. What happens if we refuse to accept it? —From the Website.
Probably nothing good. You can’t force the President to stay and work for the organization. You probably wouldn’t want to even if you could. An unwilling leader is unlikely to be an inspiring leader.
There may be technical answers to your question. Many bylaws state that acceptance of a resignation is not necessary to make it effective. (See Ready Reference Page: “Bylaws Function as ‘Constitution’ of Nonprofit Corporations”). Others are silent on the question. But the state law probably says it is effective upon receipt if it doesn’t say otherwise, which means there is nothing you can do about it.
If you have an actual contract of employment with the President, you should look to see whether it says anything about termination. You could conceivably prevent her from going to work for a competitor if that is her plan.
Some commentators on Robert’s Rules of Order, which may or may not be applicable to you, treat a resignation as a “request to be relieved of duty.” Some suggest that the Board could refuse to accept the resignation and remove her from office to save some money on her compensation. A removal without cause is not likely to save money, however. Whoever negotiated the agreement is likely to have thought of that.
Most Board Presidents of charitable nonprofits are probably volunteers and have no contract for their service. Removal from office instead of resignation might be a wonderful way to spite the President and show her who is really in charge of the situation, but is not likely to create goodwill with someone you hope will continue to support the organization.
If you are really distraught, you could try to cajole her into staying. But since you can’t force her to do stay if she doesn’t want to, you should accept the resignation, thank her for the wonderful things she has done for you, honor her, and work out an amicable transition. Anything else is likely to be a waste of time and effort and will undermine whatever else your organization is trying to do.
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