When one thinks about nonprofits, many do not usually consider it as an employment option despite its importance in society. The low pay, long and sometimes irregular hours and the fact that the work location is not flexible are some of the significant reasons talents leave their position in nonprofits.
To keep a nonprofit alive and get the right talent, there are many ways they can leverage their unique qualities to attract and keep employees in their roster. To get you started, here are several tips you can apply to your nonprofit:
Be Genuine About The Compensation
One of the things talents tend to look for in job listings is the compensation they can expect. Nonprofits tend to be strict with their budget, preventing them from competing with the private sector when offering high compensation. However, they may be able to compete if they are honest about their compensation and provide the right benefits that will get people to consider the listing.
Review your current openings and be transparent with the salary and benefits in the job openings. If you don’t have benefits already on offer, look at the popular benefits applicants look for and invest accordingly. You can also ask your current team about the benefits or compensation they would like to have so you can frame your job openings better.
Focus On Your Nonprofit’s Vision And Mission
Every nonprofit has its mission and vision, allowing them to make a substantial difference in the world. If you want to appeal to talents who focus on what they can do for the organization rather than the salary, focus on your vision and mission when writing your job openings. For example, you can explain how the job role will assist the nonprofit in achieving its goals.
Show How Employees Will Develop
Some employees looking for a job would want an opportunity that will not just allow them to earn enough money but also help them grow their careers. Nonprofits can be perfect for this because the unpredictability of the work can lead to employees handling more than one project at once. In turn, this will allow them to get more experience and develop new skills they won’t be able to get quickly in other tasks.
Check Your Current Network
If you are looking for someone to fill a position, you may not need to hire another person to fill the position. Check your current employee roster and see if there is someone who exhibits the qualities and skills you are looking for and promote them for the position. Doing this act can increase morale for the rest of the team and help you save money. It also helps with employee retention and team development.
Support Referrals
You can also find great talent by asking your social circles to help. They can recommend talents you can consider for the position because they know the nonprofit’s passion and interests. It would be best if you also encouraged your team to reach out to their networks to help find new talent who share the same passion as your nonprofit.
Check Any Candidates Initially Passed Over
If you ran a job opening before for the position you wish to fill, you may have passed over qualified candidates with the right qualifications. Still, you hired another for the position initially. You can check with these candidates to see if they are still interested in the position. This will reduce the need to host a separate hiring schedule to fill any job opening for your nonprofit, saving money.
Show The Community
You can leverage your nonprofit’s sense of community to get people to join your team. Nonprofits often report the best workplace cultures, and if you emphasize this community, interested applicants will become curious and have a reason to remain on the team.
No matter what kind of nonprofit you are running, it is undeniable that retaining the staff and getting new employees will be more challenging than other businesses. But, it doesn’t mean one should give up on securing a great team to keep the nonprofit flourishing.
Take the time to review your current offerings and see how you can maximise your nonprofit’s appeal using the tips above. It may take some time to see results, but if done correctly, you will see a significant difference in the type of applicants you are getting and how long your current team stays.
Having difficulty attracting top talents into your company? Perhaps these can help:
How to Avoid a Bad Hire
Select the Right Job Board for Your Company Hiring Needs
Hiring People Better than You
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