Soapbox Engage Blog

Whether your nonprofit is fighting to conserve the world’s oceans or providing access to high-quality tutoring for at-risk high schoolers, you know the work you do every day is critical. This is why not just anyone can work as an employee for your organization. You want the best and brightest folks who are committed to accomplishing your mission.

However, nonprofits often face hurdles when it comes to recruiting and retaining top talent. The biggest culprit behind this is limited budgets (which can affect other areas of operations as well, like marketing or service delivery). After all, having less money to work with may limit your organization in its ability to offer competitive salaries or provide enticing career advancement opportunities.

Here’s the good news, though: With the right strategies on your side, your nonprofit can stand out as a competitive employer and attract top candidates. You’ll just need to embrace a hiring and compensation strategy that allows you to strike a balance between meeting employee needs and keeping your bottom line in check.

Let’s explore some tips to help you secure top performers for your organization!

Table of Contents

1. Emphasize your mission and impact
2. Embrace a total rewards compensation approach
3. Create a positive, inclusive work environment
4. Provide professional development opportunities

1. Emphasize your mission and impact.

As is the case with fundraising and donor engagement, how you talk about your organization to prospective employees matters. You need to present your nonprofit as a great place to work, and emphasizing your mission and impact is a unique advantage in your efforts to do this.

Rather than increasing shareholder value or moving product, your organization makes a real difference in the lives of those in need. By focusing on what your nonprofit does and why it matters, you can demonstrate that your organization is a place where employees will feel a strong sense of purpose and personal fulfillment in their day-to-day work as they help you create positive change in the world.

Research shows that meaningful work matters to employees. According to McKinsey & Company, when employees see their jobs as meaningful, their performance improves by 33%, plus they’re 75% more committed to the organization and 49% less likely to quit.

To spotlight your mission, unique approach, and impact in the hiring process, keep it front and center in job postings and interviews. Share success stories that demonstrate the importance of what you do, and consider involving current team members in the hiring process so they can speak to what it’s like to further your mission through their everyday work.

2. Embrace a total rewards compensation approach.

With a total rewards approach to compensation, your nonprofit can offer more comprehensive and holistic compensation packages that help you stand out against other organizations that may be able to offer higher pay.

Total rewards empowers you to characterize each of your compensation offerings in one of two ways:

• Direct compensation: The financial or monetary ways in which you compensate employees, such as salary, incentive pay or bonuses, and overtime pay.
• Indirect compensation: All of the ways your organization can give back to its employees without paying them directly, such as health insurance, paid time off, retirement plans, professional development opportunities, recognition programs, and wellness programs.

Providing both direct and indirect compensation allows you to emphasize the full value of the employee experience your organization offers, and job seekers who are looking for more out of their working lives than just a paycheck will see and appreciate that.

There are also low-cost ways to boost your compensation offerings to stand out further from other organizations. For example, maybe you leverage a corporate sponsorship that allows employees free access to a local gym’s membership program. Or, you might find low-cost continuing education courses online to help your employees reach their long-term career growth goals. To identify valuable opportunities for improvement and get assistance implementing effective solutions, consider investing in compensation consulting services.

3. Create a positive, inclusive work environment.

Imagine two workplaces. The first is a hectic office with poor lighting and phones constantly ringing. Everyone working there looks tired and stressed, and they’re glued to their computer screens all day. The other workplace is a warm, inviting space with simple, polished decor and a quiet, productive atmosphere. Every now and then, employees pause what they’re doing to chat through work tasks or catch up on each other’s personal lives.

Which environment would you rather work in? The answer is probably obvious—you’d likely feel more comfortable and productive in the second workplace! That environment has been carefully designed to make everyone feel welcome and comfortable during their workday.

Even if your team isn’t always working together in an office, you can still stand out as an employer by creating a positive and inclusive work environment. This will not only motivate current employees to perform to the best of their abilities but also can be a great selling point for job seekers interested in working for your nonprofit.

To create a great work environment, try the following:

• Be clear that your nonprofit is a place where all employees are welcome and valued, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, or identity.
• Acknowledge and celebrate cultural holidays, diversity initiatives, and different perspectives.
• Encourage collaboration and teamwork by empowering employees to work together, share knowledge, and support each other in their roles.
• Offer flexible work hours and reasonable accommodations to meet employees’ diverse needs and encourage work-life balance.
• Establish and enforce clear policies on harassment, discrimination, and bullying, and encourage employees to report any issues they experience to your HR department or the person responsible for Human Resources in your organization.
• If working in a physical office, offer nice workspace setups, maintain a comfortable temperature, and have good lighting.

Everyone has a part to play in cultivating a great work environment. Ensure all of your employees are invested in doing their best to support each other and live out your organization’s values so that your nonprofit can focus on what matters most—making a difference to those you serve.

4. Provide professional development opportunities.

Though the specifics will look different for every individual, all of your employees want opportunities to learn and grow at your organization. Some may aspire to leadership positions, while others may prefer to become subject matter experts in their chosen field or be interested in transitioning to a new area of expertise.

This will likely be something that job seekers are looking for as they browse job postings, and your current employees will appreciate your efforts to help them reach their professional goals.

You can fulfill this need, even when you’re working with a tight budget, by trying the following strategies:

• Set up a mentorship program where experienced employees help new employees adjust to their roles and become top performers in your workplace.
• Invest in online learning opportunities like webinars, courses, or micro-learning apps.
• Offer regular full-team trainings on subjects like how to use new fundraising technologies or make better donation asks.
• Encourage cross-departmental learning by letting employees from one department shadow employees from another.
• Set up a leadership development program where you teach employees about leadership skills and go through role-playing exercises to practice them.
• Cover the cost of conference registrations for interested employees.

You don’t need to implement all of these ideas at once. Consider asking your employees what they would find most valuable. This will help you put your organization’s time, money, and effort into the best strategies for your team’s needs.

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In order to scale your organization successfully over time, you need to establish your nonprofit as an excellent employer. Don’t be discouraged if you have a limited budget—by using the strategies above, you can stand out and connect with top candidates who are willing and ready to help move your mission forward!