Eight Nonprofit Interview Tips

The purpose of a job interview is to help the employer to become better acquainted with you, but is also for you to learn more about the organization and the position. Of course, because we will recommend you for interview with nonprofit organizations, we also believe it’s particularly important that you understand and connect with the employer’s purpose and mission. Here are some quick interview tips for preparing for your nonprofit interview: Tip #1 – Do your research Check out the organization’s website. Read up on their mission, constituencies (who they serve), and their services. You should know their buzzwords,

Why Your Organization Should Strive to be Talent-Focused

  Nonprofit talent matters. To achieve your mission, it’s essential that your organization has the right, high-performing people in place. But as we learned from our 2017 Nonprofit Employment Practices Survey, hiring competition from the corporate sector is heating up, and talent who might typically be attracted to the nonprofit space are now being attracted by social enterprises as well. To combat this shift and maintain a roster of high-performers, all organizations should strive to achieve “talent sustainability” through mission-aligned strategies. Talent-focused organizations are the most sustainable. What is nonprofit sustainability, and why should you strive to achieve it? It’s

Using Metrics to Assess Organizational HR Efficiency, Effectiveness and Impact

  Your people are the backbone of your nonprofit, and in turn, its mission. So, your human resources team must be strong enough to support those people. How can you be sure your HR practices are fully meeting the needs of your team? Keeping track of HR metrics will help strengthen your nonprofit’s talent sustainability and overall sustainability in the long run, allowing your team to further your organization’s mission. Just as you would monitor general staff key performance indicators (KPIs) and overall organizational impact, you should use metrics to assess your nonprofit’s organization’s HR efficiency, effectiveness and impact as

Coping With PTED: Post-Traumatic Executive Disorder

After months of mediation, performance improvement plans, recalibration, blood, sweat and tears, the (seemingly) inevitable has occurred: your nonprofit organization’s toxic leader has resigned. Like something akin to a divorce, there are combined feelings of relief, abandonment, disappointment and uncertainty, and that’s just among the board of directors. But once the dust has settled, PTED –– Post-Traumatic Executive Disorder –– can set in, and it can ruin an organization. The unplanned departure of an executive is a major trauma for an organization to endure, and it’s an experience that can make or break a nonprofit depending on how it’s handled.

Ensuring Future Organizational Success Through Transparency in the Hiring Process

Your nonprofit’s long-term strategy should not only outline your goals for the future, but also the talent you’ll need on your team to achieve those goals. Today, your primary focus may be on securing the team you need for your current initiatives. However, you should also consider the talent your organization will need further down the road. Like many matters in the nonprofit sector, talent needs can be dynamic and unpredictable. How can you be sure the individuals you hire today will be the right people for your team next year, or five years from now? To improve chances of

2018 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Scheduled to Take Effect Mid-May

  As you may know, the 2018 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was signed into law late in 2017. While this new bill provided a tax break for businesses, the overall outcome of the law is proving to be problematic for nonprofits, as shown in our blog article on how the new tax law affects pre-tax transportation benefits for nonprofits. The new law requires employers to pay taxes on transportation benefits to their employees. While the benefit is still tax-exempt for employees, employers must pay the employer portion of FICA taxes, as well as include the transportation benefit amount when

Prioritizing Social Sector Talent to Achieve Organizational Goals

  The most impactful and successful organizations are deliberate about how their work is organized, how their work is carried out, and how they use and develop their talent to achieve effectiveness. A capable team –– with the right tools, a clear understanding of mission and goals, and support from leadership –– can maximize your organization’s impact. On the flip side, if your organization fails to build a healthy culture and engage employees effectively, you can be sure your mission will suffer. Referring to our recent discussion regarding where your organization currently sits on the Talent Sustainability Continuum, if your

Where is your Organization on the Talent Sustainability Continuum?

  As nonprofit organizations strive to achieve a greater impact, unfortunately, talent remains a fairly low priority across the sector. This is a mistake. People are the primary drivers of nonprofit performance and impact. The most impactful and sustainable nonprofit organizations are those that understand just how interdependent organizational sustainability and talent sustainability truly are. Your organization simply cannot be sustainable without strong, intentional and integrated talent strategies and practices. To achieve talent sustainability, you need: Intentionality. To be truly intentional with your talent practices, understand that talent sustainability is not just a nice-to-have — it is an asset to be

7 Inspiring Female Nonprofit Leaders to Watch in 2018

According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s “Untapped Potential of Women in Nonprofits” report, 57 percent of women working in the sector –– and 72 percent of women aged 18 to 24 –– want to someday be CEO of a nonprofit. This is not the case in the private sector. In another study of for-profit companies, only 31 percent of female millennial respondents said they wanted to be a CEO. It seems that, despite some existing gender leadership and pay gaps, nonprofits will be at the forefront of women in leadership in the years to come. In honor of Women’s History

Nonprofit Leaders Discuss Pay, Power, Privilege: Gender Equity in the Social Sector

  Data clearly demonstrates that the gender pay gap and leadership inequalities remain prevalent in the nonprofit sector. Even though women make up 75 percent of the nonprofit workforce, women represent only 48 percent of board members and 42 percent of board chairs, according to the 2017 report, Leading with Intent. GuideStar’s 2016 Nonprofit Compensation Report found that female CEOs of nonprofits were paid 8 percent less than their male counterparts. And in the workforce as a whole, in 2015, women earned 83 percent of what men earned, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of both full- and part-time