Nonprofit Recruiting: Attracting Big League Talent on a Minor League Budget

by Mary Ontko
Senior Search Consultant, The Moran Company
“We Find Great Nonprofit Executives”

At The Moran Company, we work with many talented leaders who are considering making an employment transition. For seasoned professionals, this transition decision is not taken lightly as they have spent time and energy building programs, talented teams and strong organizations during their tenures. They give careful thought to the possibility of making a change.

While offering a competitive salary is important in attracting talented leaders to an open position, benefits and other conditions of employment are also important. In fact, they may even be considered more important. A 2015 Glassdoor survey indicates that 70% of employees ages 45-54 prefer benefits and perks over a pay raise, and that number is even higher for younger professionals.

In fact, we would argue that when a nonprofit Board of Directors demonstrates flexibility in offering benefits and other conditions of employment that are important to potential hires, this can help sway talented candidates to consider positions at organizations that do not have budget flexibility to significantly adjust salaries. Here are a few examples we’ve observed. Consider if they might work for your organization during its next leadership change.

How Fixed is Your Vacation and PTO Structure?  Many talented nonprofit leaders have worked with one employer for many years, accruing multiple weeks of vacation or flex PTO. Naturally, they are wary about starting over with a PTO package that, for many nonprofits, doesn’t kick in for several months and then starts to accrue at a much lower rate than they previously received. In reality, these busy leaders don’t always find the time to take this accrued leave, but a new employer would be wise to consider ways to include a more generous initial leave structure in an employment package.

Reward a Job Well Done.  Pre-determined salaries are important for nonprofit budget stability, but there are other ways to reward a job well done. One small nonprofit organization we worked with offers an annual performance bonus for all employees, based upon progress toward agreed-up agency goals.  If certain revenue goals are not met, the bonuses are not paid. This is a way for employee teams to work together to achieve common agency goals and be rewarded for the hard work, and it provides some budget certainty for the board.

Create a Flexible Workplace.  We are observing a great shift in how we define the workplace. More and more nonprofits allow employees to work remotely part or even full time, and we have even worked with nonprofits that are completely eliminating their office space and moving to a fully remote environment. Even if your organization is not ready for that level of change, offering the opportunity for employees to office from remote locations on certain days, or on days that life – illness, weather, traffic patterns – throws a curve ball can be a strong incentive for good employees to stay.

Offer Competitive Insurance Packages.  There is no doubt that health insurance is a large expense and it is difficult for small nonprofits to compete with larger budgets in this arena. A small nonprofit without the ability to offer a specific health insurance plan to employees could consider offering a Flexible Spending Account, a Health Savings Account or even a credit toward a plan of the employee’s choice, to allow flexibility and choice while still financially supporting the concept of health insurance for its employees. Another suggestion is to offer employees access to voluntary products such as accident or specific illness policies, to supplement basic health insurance or products.

Provide Coaching and Skill Building.  Offering executive coaching services for your new executive can be a very attractive option, especially for leaders moving into the executive director role for the first time. Showing a new hire that the board believes in his or her professional development by retaining an executive coach or mentor to work with the new leader goes a long way toward building skills and confidence, and it is a relatively inexpensive way to accomplish much.

Still feel like your nonprofit is too small to consider these options and attract top talent? Consider this: 18 of the 50 nonprofits in the Nonprofit Times/Best Companies Group’s 2019 Best Nonprofits To Work For list (including the #1 slot) had less than 50 employees. One of the top 10 drivers identified by these employees was the organization’s benefits package. Another was confidence in the leadership of the organization. This underscores the importance of hiring the right leader for your nonprofit organization, regardless of size.

If your salary level is fixed, or even if it is not, consider creative benefits as you work to attract – and retain – top talent. The Moran Company can help with this. Contact us today for a free consultation.

© 2019 The Moran Company, “We find great nonprofit executives.” We specialize in searches for nonprofit executive directors, directors of development/fundraising staff, and other top nonprofit leadership. www.morancompany.com