How Nonprofits Can Recruit And Retain Staff More Effectively

The Stanford Social Innovation Review provides a useful summary of a report from the Nonprofit Listening Post Project at Johns Hopkins University. It sets out some ways in which nonprofits can be more effective at recruiting and retaining staff. Some tips apply particularly to Millennials (those born between 1982 and 2002) and Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964).

The report emphasizes focusing on your mission and “offering staff a life of meaning.” By placing a high priority on personnel issues and adapting to the diverse needs and interests of employees and prospective employees, nonprofits may find it easier to attract and retain staff.

Other strategies nonprofits can use to be more effective at recruiting and retaining employees include:

• Selling their organizations’ “context,” including physical environment, work environment, and mission.
• Taking the initiative on recruiting by reaching out to young professionals who may not know much about nonprofits. An approach can include recruiting young people as board members and donors.
• Redefining work and the work environment by redesigning benefits to reflect new family structures, offering flexible hours, and using focus groups to keep in touch with worker concerns.
• Staffing and investing in human-resources departments.
• Offering relief to recent college graduates who face debt burdens.
• Reaching out to diverse communities in recruiting.

The link below is to the summary from the Stanford Social Innovation Review; for more detail, you can download the full report here.