It’s no secret that nonprofit organizations work differently than for-profit ones. As a nonprofit, your main goals typically aren’t to satisfy clients, improve sales or compete for a position in your market. You’re likely more focused on serving your community, and that requires recruiting people with passion for your mission and a shared vision for the future.
But just like for-profit organizations, there’s a lot of competition for talent. Many nonprofits are probably doing something similar to what your organization is doing. In every field, there are only so many people with the right skills who are also passionate about what they do.
The question is, how do you get these talented people to choose you?
Showcase Your Cause in Your Brand
What exactly is your organization about?
Simply being a nonprofit is not enough. There are millions of them all over the world. What is unique and meaningful about your particular story? How is your approach different? Most importantly, can people trust that your philosophies and methods are sincere?
Once you figure out the answers to these questions, your next step is to portray your message clearly. People should know what you’re all about and what makes you special. The easier it is for others to relate to your message, the easier it will be to start drawing the right people to you.
Expand Your Recruitment Outreach
With every challenge you face, the best option is always to look outside the box. You’ll need to find talent in unique places and in novel ways, and one great idea is to go straight to the source: universities and colleges.
There, you can find promising students participating in activities related to your cause, allowing you to recruit them early. Students are often looking for a job and finding one that aligns with their values at your nonprofit can be mutually beneficial.
Outside of students, there’s always the possibility of skilled professionals, working for a for-profit organization to migrate to a nonprofit. Reasons for this could be that some nonprofits offer better work-life balance, higher pay, and more sense of purpose for them. But there is a notion that these jobs are difficult, if not impossible, to get.
Your organization can tap into this by being more lenient on nonprofit experience credentials and simply trying to search for professionals already in other fields. Of course, they also need to believe in your philosophy!
Build a Social Media Presence
Nonprofits are about social change, and the best place to move the masses today is on social media.
Create a strong, influential, and consistent presence online to campaign for your message and showcase your work. Start conversations, engage with interested followers, and partner with small start-ups that share your vision.
This presence gives you visibility to people who matter if you create your content correctly. Many companies are already privy to this. In fact, 73% of millennials have found employment online.
It makes sense when you consider there are billions of people on social media platforms. If you are consistent with your message, you could get your next recruit from one of your loyal followers.
Offer Enticing Benefits Besides Working for a Good Cause
We need to take care of ourselves to have the strength to impact the lives of others. Working for a good cause is not enough if the people doing it are struggling themselves.
Offer a good salary, reasonable leave, great benefits, and if you can, food and water at the workplace. Assure your team that when they are ill, they will not be punished for it. People need to feel cared for as human beings. They also need to feel that the job they are accepting is the best out there.
Hire a Nonprofit-Specific Recruitment Agency
Knowing the challenges of finding new passionate people, finding suitable talent for an executive role is especially difficult. To help, you could partner with a nonprofit executive search agency to find the most suitable candidate for the position. These bodies have years of experience finding the best people that suit the needs of each organization.
This option is most effective when you already have a unique message, great benefits, and an active social media presence in the world.
Every nonprofit organization wants to create some kind of impact. The world should be better, even by a little bit, after your services reach the people they are intended for. But change doesn’t happen in a day.
For good work to bring about meaningful change, it needs to be persistent and consistent. The only way to do this is to have energetic people who understand the vision and are ready to get the organization where it needs to be. Getting the right talent is the first step in this direction.
Have you used your marketing efforts to recruit team members? What advice would you share with other nonprofits looking to hire those who share their vision? Let us know in the comments below!
