The Chief Executive’s First 100 Days: Centre for Charity Effectiveness and ACEVO launch new guide

The Centre for Charity Effectiveness (CCE) at Bayes Business School and the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO), supported by Rosterfy, have launched the third edition of The Chief Executive’s First 100 Days.

The latest report builds on the first and second editions. It features fresh insights from extensive research, interviews and focus groups with newly appointed CEOs and chairs from a diverse range of charities.

The first 100 days of a CEO's tenure are particularly important for setting tone and direction. Co-authored by Fiona Ash, Honorary Visiting Fellow, and Dr Helen Timbrell, Visiting Lecturer at Bayes, the guide aims to help charity chief executives (CEOs) navigate the critical early phase of their leadership journey.

The role of a civil society chief executive has never been more complex - or more consequential. Over the past decade, economic instability, technological acceleration, global crises, political upheaval, social movements, and a reckoning with historic inequalities have reshaped expectations of civil society leaders. Today’s CEOs are called to lead with clarity and courage, balancing strategic foresight with operational agility, purpose with measurable impact, and lived values with a sustained commitment to social justice.

The guide offers a practical roadmap tailored for today’s challenging charity landscape. It equips new chief executives with tools to manage complexity and defines what effective, inclusive, and future-facing leadership looks like. Far from a one-size-fits-all manual, the report provides a structured framework enriched with candid reflections and emerging best practices. It encourages CEOs to reflect on their mindset, understand organisational systems, and approach their early days with self-awareness, strategic intent, and impact - enabling them to build trust, consolidate insight and transition from reflection to action.

One newly appointed CEO shared:

“As well as the challenges of taking on the chief executive job, I feel immensely lucky and privileged to be in this position and it’s actually a real joy. This is a vital resource for anyone stepping into or transitioning between leadership roles in the charity sector, helping to ensure new chief executives can lead with purpose, resilience, and impact from day one."

The guide is structured into three main parts:

• Roadmap for the first 100 days in post
• Toolkit of resources for understanding the organisation
• Signposting section to further sources of support, including services from CCE

The roadmap itself is divided into three distinct stages: the countdown before formally taking up the role, encountering the first 100 days in post, and adjusting in the months that follow.

Jane Ide, CEO, ACEVO, said:

“There is nothing quite like the experience of stepping into a new CEO role, whether it is your first appointment at that level or you’ve been around the block a few times before.

"This updated and refreshed publication is more than just a description of what to expect. By drawing on the real world and contemporary experience of our sectors’ leaders, it is a guidebook, a route map and a source of great support and reassurance.

"Our intention is to help every CEO taking on a new role to make it the most successful, sustainable, impactful and enjoyable experience it can be – so that they can lead with the greatest possible impact for the people, the cause and the organisation they serve.”

Alex Skailes, Director of the Centre for Charity Effectiveness, said:

“Moving into a CEO role can be a source of great personal excitement at the opportunities that lie ahead.

“However, from our work with charity leaders we recognise just how difficult bedding-in periods can be. Stepping into leadership for the first time can be daunting, but it is also important to acknowledge the steep learning curve that even experienced leaders embark on as they take new roles in a different organisation.

“At the Centre for Charity Effectiveness, we aim to equip leaders of all experience with strategic tools, governing insights, and most of all the confidence and headspace to drive change. We are therefore delighted to partner once again with ACEVO to deliver this important toolkit, that will coach CEOs to hit the ground running in an ever-demanding environment.”

Purchase a copy of the report.

Find out more about the Centre for Charity Effectiveness at Bayes Business School.

Study a charities master's programme at Bayes.