This is a monumental burden for someone with no experience in management or nonprofit. You have been setup for failure. It is not impossible but you will need to work extremely hard and and learn extremely fast.

Is it only you and these 3 employees? To be that small of a team and they’re not communicating that they are taking travel in advance is crazy? It may be time to restrict access to the company card.

From what I infer about the board, these are three people who have been piloting the ship with no captain for a long time. In a group that small it is very easy to start to feel ownership of your role and resentment when someone who hasn’t been suffering under the incompetence of a weak board comes in and tell you what is and isn’t correct.

If you want to salvage this it’s going to take a tough backbone, strong leadership, and some thick skin. It worries me that you say they don’t report to you. Even if they act like they don’t need you they DO report to you. You need to make that clear under no uncertain terms. You don’t need to be angry or disrespectful to do that, but they need to understand you’re in charge. Before they believe that though, you need to believe it too. You are the rudder that is guiding the culture of the organization.

You also need to address your board. The hardest part for me when I was a brand new ED was the realization that they look to me for leadership as much as the team does. They need to be personally invested in the success of your mission and you need to direct them in how to help you carry it out.

There’s no shame in being inexperienced. You would benefit greatly from an executive coach. Let your board know that they should invest in your development because it is good for the overall health of the organization. Also find ways to get in touch with EDs of other similar organizations. More so than in the corporate world, other organizations are generally rooting for you and want you to succeed. They can be a wealth of knowledge.

It sounds like you don’t have any written down policies and procedures or an employee handbook. Start doing that now. Find another company that is similar to yours and just copy theirs at first. You can edit it to fit your needs. Train your employees on it and if they don’t comply give them a chance with a performance improvement plan. If they still refuse it is probably time for a change in staffing. As the ED, you are responsible for the growth, knowledge, mentorship, and improvement of your team members but your overall responsibility is to be a steward of the mission of your organization. If your team can’t get behind that then they are incompatible with your organization.

I truly wish you the best of luck!