Every organization’s performance is the sum of its people. As such, our mission is straightforward: source the highest caliber talent from across the nation for community-based organizations. Blair Search Partners was founded to deliver the same level of professional search and recruiting services engaged by Fortune 500 companies, tailored to the unique needs of nonprofit organizations and public agencies.
While each search engagement is customized around the needs of the individual client organization, we place equal emphasis on the community and the candidate experience throughout the entire process. Afterall, today’s candidate could very well be tomorrow’s customer, volunteer, donor, or board member.
Our work is not finished until our client has a finalist candidate who not only meets the job requirements, but whom the client is also excited to work with, and proud to have as the keeper of its legacy.
BSP Placements:
Associate Director
Photo Credit: WILDCOAST
The Blair Search Partners Difference
We don’t think of this as the business of recruiting: to us, this is the business of community building.
County of San Diego
BSP Placements: Chief Evaluation Officer
Nonprofit specialization
Blair Search Partners works exclusively with nonprofit organizations. This is not just a practice area for our firm; it is our only practice area, ensuring each of our clients is supported by a team of dedicated specialists who are 100% focused on supporting the sector.
Direct Experience
To recruit for the sector, one must understand the sector. Each Blair Search Partners team member brings extensive professional experience from within the nonprofit community. Our team has decades of experience within a wide range of roles, from executive assistant to program manager, fundraiser, director, executive director, volunteer, board member and chair.
CEOs to Coordinators
Blair Search Partners stands ready to support our clients with any recruiting need they may have, at any level. While the majority of our work is at the leadership level, we also support our clients with recruiting engagements at the director, manager and even staff level. Our focus is on building long-term relationships whereby our clients can turn to us for any need, at any time.
National Reach
Blair Search Partners has an incredible track record for recruiting high quality candidates from every part of the country. Our national recruiting strategy enables our clients to benchmark talented candidates from within their local area against the very best at the national level.
Participation and Transparency
Every organization is unique. Our search process is designed for customization around the needs of each client, with a focus on deeply listening to and engaging with stakeholders, including board members, staff, partner organizations and community members. This often includes focus groups and community forums ahead of launching the search.
What We Do
Our team manages search engagements for clients across the country, representing almost every area of the sector, including civic and philanthropic institutions, health and human services, education, and the arts.
Our clients range from start-up 501(c)3 organizations to multibillion-dollar government agencies, which retain us to manage search engagements at all levels, including CEOs, directors, managers, program officers, and support staff.
The San Diego Foundation has entrusted Blair Search Partners (BSP) to fill numerous roles at our organization over the years, including Program Specialist, Fund Manager, Chief Development & Stewardship Officer, Chief Impact and Partnerships Officer, and my own recruitment as The Foundation’s CEO. Having worked with BSP as both a candidate and as their client organization, I continue to be impressed. Their alignment with our mission and values, dedication to both the candidate and client experience, and focus on inclusivity and diversity all make a significant difference.
Most recently we turned to BSP for a critical new position created on our senior leadership team, the Chief Impact & Partnerships Officer. This role was pivotal to the launch of our updated strategic plan, focused on deepening connections with our nonprofit partners and the communities we serve. BSP built a search process around diversity and inclusivity that delivered an exceptional pool of talented candidates. With this new addition to our executive leadership team, we have significantly increased our capacity for thought leadership and serving as agents for social change across our communities. In working with Blair Search Partners, I have experienced their authentic connection to our work, their appreciation for the potential impact of each new hire, and their dedication to finding us the best possible talent.
Mark Stuart
President and Chief Executive Officer
San Diego Foundation
Blair Search Partners really delivered on their promise to find a ‘WOW’ President & CEO for the Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara! BSP was wonderfully collaborative and insightful throughout the search process and worked tirelessly to keep us on track. The result was a very disciplined and thoughtful process that led to a very exciting outcome. I would not hesitate to bring BSP in on future searches.
Matt Rowe
Board Chair
Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara
Working with Blair Search Partners was the difference in me attaining a career-advancing opportunity. I had failed in three previous attempts to secure an executive-level position and lacked confidence and skill in the interview process. In just 20 minutes of working with Trevor and his team, they changed my whole perspective on the process, how to present myself, how to answer questions, and to show up in the most genuine way that conveyed my abilities and personality to the employer. Needless to say, I have now advanced my career.
Jason Milosh
Vice President of Operation
Boys & Girls Club of San Marcos
With an abbreviated time frame of four months, Blair Search Partners did an outstanding job of guiding us through the process of hiring an Executive Director. Even during COVID, they kept us apprised of every step, from assessing our organization’s unique needs to the final selection of our new executive director. Our search team was engaged throughout this period, and we are thrilled with our selection.
Blair Aldworth
Board President
Crossroads, Inc.
I have worked with Blair Search Partners both as a candidate and as a client, and I have been very impressed with the outstanding work they do, their attention to detail, and most importantly, how they succeed at reaching the desired outcome. At the end of the day, you want to match the right candidate with the right job, and that requires a lot of listening, and understanding the goals and expectations of the organization, as well as the individual. Blair Search Partners has been a true partner to me and our organization in this critical process.
Angelica Ocampo
CEO
International Relief Teams
Contacting Blair Search Partners was the very best decision for Boys & Girls Club of San Marcos. All of the candidates we interviewed were extremely qualified to fill our role of Vice President of Operations. I’ve never had a pool of candidates of such high caliber. The process was quick, easy and enjoyable. The team really listened to what we needed and delivered! Thank you, Blair Search Partners, for helping take our organizations to the next level.”
