Award-Winning Fundraiser’s Departure Was Long Planned, Board President Says

The international charity SOS Children’s Villages-USA replaced its leader, Lynn Croneberger, this month to better meet the organization’s shifting needs as it embarks on a new strategic plan, said Robert Baird Jr., its board president.

Croneberger, who stepped down this month after receiving a prestigious, high-profile annual award from the Association of Fundraising Professionals in March, was involved in the leadership transition over a long period of time and did not leave abruptly, as the Chronicle reported Tuesday, Baird said.

“It’s all been above board,” he added.

SOS Children’s Villages provides family homes for orphaned or abandoned children around the world. The change from Croneberger to new leader Neil Ghosh, the board president said, was because leading the organization under the new strategic plan would require a different set of skills.

“We need a football player, when we already had the best baseball player in the world,” the board president said.

He was unstinting in his praise of Croneberger, who ran the organization for six years, tripled its U.S. private support to $12 million, and won the 2018 Outstanding Fundraising Professional award.

“I greatly appreciate Lynn,” he said. “She is an outstanding executive, and we’re going to be friends till we go to heaven.”

An Oversight

The announcement that Ghosh would take the helm of the nonprofit, posted on the charity’s website May 7, made no mention of Croneberger. The board president blamed that oversight on confusion over various drafts of the release and the busy schedules of several parties involved. “I have a day job,” said Baird, chief executive of A.T. Cross Company, a manufacturer of pens.

Croneberger has not yet responded to requests for comment.

In announcing her award two months ago, Association of Fundraising Professionals CEO Mike Geiger called Croneberger “the epitome of an extraordinary professional fundraiser — not just someone who raises a lot of money but a professional who raises funds in the right way.”

New Leader

Ghosh spent two years as executive vice president of the Global Fund for Children. Before that, he founded and led SNV USA, an affiliate of the Netherlands Development Organization, which fights systemic poverty in 35 countries.

At age 14, while growing up in Kolkata, India, he started a grass-roots organization to support local children and youths.

In the statement announcing Ghosh’s new role, Baird called him a “thought leader and strategist,” indicating that the new CEO’s background in the cause was a plus.

“His childhood experience growing up in Kolkata, India, and his previous work with children and youth give him a unique perspective into the mission of SOS Children’s Villages,” said Baird.

The new and outgoing leaders are working together through the transition, the board president said, and both are focused on the children and families the group serves in 135 countries.

“It’s about the kids,” Baird said. “These are kids who don’t know where their next glass of water, their next meal, or their next hug is coming from.”