Steps to Take Before Growing Your Nonprofit’s Team

Published October 15, 2019

Nonprofits thrive or fail on the backs of the people who work for them. Because there often isn’t a huge amount of revenue coming in, it’s important that they make the most of every hiring decision possible. After all, one great team member could help your advance your cause to new heights – and one mistaken hire might risk tanking your monthly operating budget.

We’ll walk you through some important steps to take before you decide to grow your nonprofit organization by hiring on new employees. Before you decide who’s best for your team, it’s important to consider these factors.

  1. Passion is non-negotiable. Working for a non-profit often entails long hours, difficult work, and lower salaries than comparable positions in the for-profit world. There’s a tradeoff, however: while many for-profit companies are making the world worse for their personal gain, non-profits are actively trying to make the world better. That means that, beyond the desire for money, nonprofit employees must have a passion for their work.

There’s just no substitute for an employee who truly believes in your cause. While many skills can be learned on the job, you can’t teach someone who doesn’t care about your nonprofit’s mission to truly care. It’s often wise to err on the side of passion.

  1. Skills are still important, though. While passion is a must, it’s also important to think carefully about the skills necessary for the position you’re hiring for. Passion for your cause is important, but if your non-profit needs an accountant, it’s probably important to find someone for the position that has experience or education working with bookkeeping and financial planning.

As with all things, there is a balance to be found. The next time you hire, make a list of all the tasks the position is responsible for. Then, decide what concrete skills are necessary to successfully execute each of those tasks. This will make finding the right candidates much easier, and it will ensure that the new employee is able to get the job done. You may also want to consider posting the position to an online jobs board to receive a healthy pool of applicants.

  1. Find trustworthy employees. Your nonprofit relies on dedicated, trustworthy employees to keep daily operations functioning — and to make sure your organization remains true to the cause. One step that is essential is utilizing identity check verification services.

Unfortunately, there are people out there who may seek to defraud your organization by falsifying portions of their identity. This could be because they don’t actually possess the necessary experience for the position, or because they have other unsavory ulterior motives. Conducting a background check and identity verification is a good way to protect your organization from these issues.

  1. Plan your interviews. All too often, nonprofits and small businesses think that they can just bring in a candidate and wing it to see how the interview goes. However, while this may give you a good sense of your chemistry with the applicant, you may lose out on collecting valuable information about them.

Think about the skills necessary to perform the job, as well as what indicators from their past suggest that they have a passion for the cause your nonprofit works on. Ask critical questions to assess their cultural knowledge if it’s a human rights nonprofit, or if it’s an environmental nonprofit, they should have some experience working to protect critical ecosystems or raise awareness about pollution.

  1. Trust your instincts. Resumes with valuable experience, perfect background checks, and demonstrated passion for your cause are all important. But one important aspect to factor into the equation is whether they are a good fit for your organization on a personal level.

After all, if everyone has to work together every day, often for long days, you want to be sure that the new hire will get along well with the existing staff. A strong company culture can really mean that employees will thrive, that they will be happier, and so will complete their work more enthusiastically.

Hiring for a nonprofit can be stressful, but by breaking down the most important factors and prioritizing your search based on those, you’ll be sure to grow your team in a way that’s sustainable, and help bring the energy needed to promote your cause.

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