The grantmaking process is often exclusive and expensive, making it accessible to those select nonprofits with the right expertise and networks, which can be costly for organizations and funders to seek and distribute funding. Applying for grants is a tedious and expensive process, with a good percentage of applications taking upwards to a week or more just to write. To help those communities who’ve been commonly excluded to thrive, organizations with access to capital need to start adopting more equitable grantmaking practices—making funding more accessible to everyone. Grantmakers have a responsibility to create equitable processes, making sure that communities of color and other marginalized populations are not adversely impacted by giving practices.

When looking at grantmaking, diversity includes casting a wide net to attract diverse applicants. Inclusion might mean your reviewers are diverse, mirroring the community the organization serves. Equity might include revamping the application process making it more accessible.

In following these four tips, nonprofit organizations will be more equipped to have the right processes in place to evaluate equitable grantmaking:

1) Create a More Diverse Pool of Applicants: The first step toward equitable grantmaking is to encourage a diverse applicant pool. If nonprofits serving marginalized communities don’t know about your funding, they won’t be able to apply. Examine your pipeline to determine if you’re casting a wide net outside of your familiar go-to organizations. Look into expanding your networks—we all have a tendency to build relationships with those like ourselves. Attend diverse community meetings, events, or town halls to promote your fund.

2) Keep the Entire Application Process Simple: Grant applications can feel complicated to newer applicants. Use clear, simple language when creating instructions and applications. The general rule is to write at an eighth-grade reading level. (Word offers this functionality–you can use google to find out how to use it).  When it comes to equitable grantmaking, ADA-friendly applications are a must. For example, screen reader capability and keyboard accessibility create an equitable website experience. Without these, applicants with disabilities may have difficulty applying.  

3) Lower Chances of Bias in Review Process: Implicit bias is an unconscious association made about social groups. For example, many automatically assume business executives are male and secretaries are female. While it is ingrained in us from a young age, implicit bias can hinder best intentions for equitable grantmaking. By creating an unbiased review process, you’ll strengthen the entirety of the grant review process. Some examples include, offer implicit bias training to your reviewers and examine reasons why applicants were rejected.   

4) Review Reporting Metrics: Metrics are vital to any funder’s success—including equitable giving outcomes. Be sure to create equity metrics early in the process. You’ll want to track data points such as the number of diverse applicants and awardees. 

To reduce funding barriers, make sure to take a closer look at your processes from beginning to end. Take a look at each step and try to pin-point when diverse populations are no longer in the forefront. Be open to outside perspectives who could provide unique solutions—grantees and reviewers could offer ideas around inclusivity and/or equity. 

Today’s increasingly virtual landscape—along with the workforce’s evolving strategic priorities—has not only changed how we work, but it’s also impacted the way we interact with one another. Employee engagement practices are an essential part of any organization—they can save the company money, improve productivity, increase morale, and decrease turnover. To maintain positive morale and strengthen company culture, nonprofit leaders must prioritize employee engagement and brand reputation strategies.

For just $29 you can discover helpful tactics for building a strong nonprofit brand while fostering an engaged workforce. During this on-demand webinar, you’ll learn:

• The importance of evaluating your employer brand
• Tips for embracing cultural diversity within your workforce
• Creative employee benefit ideas that support work-life balance
• And, much more

Register today and you’ll also receive essential handouts for nonprofit leaders—including an employee engagement checklist, a comprehensive onboarding plan as well as creative ideas for celebrating your team and more—FREE with your registration.

Members are a vital key to success when sustaining and growing your association and retaining those members ensures a long-term survival of your nonprofit organization. While recruiting and enrolling new members is important for growth, making a conscience effort to retain members is equally as important.  Making your current members feel important and special, reminds them of why they joined your association in the first place. Some tried and true retention methods include creating specialized resources, and educational content—the more you publish industry reports, educational webinars, or offer member discounts, the happier your members will be.

The best course of action to take when retaining members include, focusing on their needs, remind them how much value they bring to your association and engaging them on a regular basis. We’ve put together a list of 5 best practices for improving member retention at your nonprofit organization:

1) Create an Onboarding Plan: First-time members are a specific group within your membership profile that need to be approached with specific strategies. Look for ways to keep new members engaged—monthly check-ins, education materials about new products, keep them informed about upcoming events like webinars or virtual conferences—give them opportunities to learn more about the work your organization is doing in the nonprofit sector.

2) Offering Member Only Benefits: Members are interested and/or passionate about your cause, and they want to feel like they’re making a difference. Communicate with them often with weekly or monthly newsletters as well as through social media. Provide perks such as exclusive, member-only offers from your partners as well as networking opportunities. If possible, provide educational opportunities such as webinars, workshops, and relevant eBooks at member-only prices.

3) Create a Community for Your Members: Encourage a thriving, engaged community of like-minded individuals. Such as, organizing/hosting more networking events, mentorship programs, and creating an online member directory—all methods that can help to increase member retention.

4) Remind Members of the Value You Offer: In your end-of-year communications to members, remind them how their membership with your organization has benefited their association over the past year and how much value their membership brings to your organization.

5) Ask Members to Complete an Exit Survey: While it’s not ideal, it is the reality that there will be members who will choose to cancel their membership. This is a great opportunity to capture unique insight into why a member is leaving by asking them to fill out an exit survey. The data acquired can bring light to pitfalls or areas of your organization to be reviewed and improved upon.

Member retention isn’t just a one-time activity. It is something that’s kept in mind throughout the whole member lifecycle—it’s a strategy that requires just as much attention as recruiting new members. To keep members around long-term, you should be focusing on building better relationships with your members from day one.

Nonprofit managers are relied upon to not only lead productive teams, hold employees accountable, and manage processes but are also expected to engage and motivate employees with limited funding. They must be innovative, resourceful, and strategic. To help nonprofit leaders maintain high-performing teams—while also strengthening their leadership skills—we created the 2021 Nonprofit Leadership Toolkit.

This free toolkit includes a performance appraisal checklist, manager-employee check-in form, tips for leading a hybrid workforce, and more:

1. Performance Appraisal Checklist
2. Manager-Employee Check-In Form
3. Performance Appraisal Form
4. Addressing Employee Discipline
5. Do’s and Don’ts of Difficult Conversations
6. Performance Improvement Plan
7. Employee Training Log
8. Tips for Leading a Hybrid Workforce
9. Employee Contact Information Form
10. [Webinar Recording] 7 Seismic Shifts Necessary to Move from Manager to Leader

Want access to more HR-specific articles, templates and checklists? Sign up for a FREE 60-Day Trial of UST HR Workplace today! You’ll also gain access to live HR certified consultants, 300+ on-demand training courses and an extensive compliance library.

Whether you’re aspiring to be an executive leader, get promoted into a director’s position, or even launch your own nonprofit—rarely there are clearly defined paths to career development when working in the nonprofit sector. While this lack of structure can be challenging, it offers an unexpected opportunity to pave or create your own career path. Without the typical career ladder to climb, the opportunity to take on new responsibilities could be presented to you in a more timely fashion. At any age, with drive, desire and expertise being essential characteristics, you can become a nonprofit leader who wants to make a difference.

In order to create the right professional development plan, here are nine methods to follow, to consider, and use as a guide when furthering ones’ professional career as a nonprofit leader:

1) Conduct thorough interviews: Find those who hold a position that you might aspire to want one day. Take the opportunity to ask questions about how they got to where they are, what their day-to-day tasks look like, how they contribute to the organization, and what the position requires of them.  

2) Seek out volunteer opportunities: When it comes to learning, especially within the nonprofit sector, there’s no substitute for hands-on experience. Volunteering can offer exposure to the operational facets of the organization by taking on new responsibilities, such as, join the fundraising or strategic planning committee or volunteer to help with the organization’s next event.

3) Ongoing education: If you’re looking for an advantage when pursuing leadership opportunities, consider looking into continuing education (i.e.: an advanced degree, or a specific leadership training program). Having this additional training under your belt will set you apart being well versed in business management principles and the ability to juggle competing priorities.

4) Learn about your organization: Take the time to develop a well-rounded view of everything that is involved in the role of running a nonprofit. This experience will be valuable to you as you progress into a leadership position.

5) Apply constructive feedback: As you take on new challenges and work outside your comfort zone, it’s more than likely you’ll make mistakes along the way. Take the time to learn from these and plan how you will do better in the future.

6) Network amongst your peers: Find people who are at a similar point in their own careers and develop genuine relationships with them. Be sure that you add real value to the relationship and that way, your peers will come to value you—opening doors for you in the future.

7) Relocate to another organization: With a strong foundation of skills in place and a desire to take on more responsibility, you might find that your current organization doesn’t have any openings for you to move up to. Take this opportunity to look for other employment and if you find a great position within your network, don’t hesitate to pursue it.

8) Join a nonprofit board: Being part of a board will give you high-level insights about the inner workings of nonprofits. Develop relationships with others who serve on nonprofit boards and seek out an organization doing work/serving a community that you’re passionate about.

9) Find day-to-day challenges: Leaders face challenges daily, so it is crucial to avoid becoming complacent. Striving to challenge yourself on a daily basis will not only push you to find solutions, it will help you build your resume.

When applying these methods, you will develop the skills and knowledge necessary to successfully lead an organization. If you envision yourself in a leadership role, you’ll have the ability to lay the foundation by excelling in the position you currently hold. These methods will help you cultivate leadership skills, emphasize teamwork and inclusive decision-making.

A strong leadership team is vital to the success of any nonprofit organization—without it you risk reduced productivity, delayed decisions, and low morale. Rooted in the ability of a nonprofit to maintain sustainability, having a leadership succession plan in place is vital to organizational success.

Don’t miss your chance to download a free copy of UST’s latest Employer Guide, 3 Vital Steps for Developing a Durable Nonprofit Leadership Team, to discover strategies that can help identify (and develop) tomorrow’s leaders with training opportunities designed to strengthen your brand and build resilient teams. In this eBook, you’ll discover:

• How to determine who your future leaders are
• Tips for crafting leadership development opportunities
• Ideas for managing leadership vacancies and executing transitions

The consequences of insufficient leadership can be devastating to an organization. Safeguard your nonprofit and its mission by reinventing your organizational leadership strategy—minimizing the threat (and high cost) of turnover.

As employers continue to strategize for the future—paving the way for flexible work models and creative retention tactics—many are seeing permanent change take place. UST surveyed more than 400 nonprofit leaders from across the U.S. to uncover the latest sector trends caused by the pandemic and created the 2021 Workforce Trends Infographic.

Download your free copy today to get a sneak peak at what your nonprofit peers had to share about their top workforce issues, COVID’s impact on staffing levels and more.

For only $99, you can also download a copy of the complete 2021 Nonprofit Sector Report to uncover valuable insight on how nonprofits continue to navigate the ongoing challenges that have risen throughout the pandemic.

Nonprofit employers nationwide are living through a fundamental transformation in the way they work and the pace at which employee priorities are changing. In the latest rendition of UST Live, we were joined by leaders from across the U.S with expertise in nonprofit management to discuss innovative strategies for creating a forward-looking workplace culture that is flexible, inclusive, and resilient.

Watch now to discover:

• Top challenges nonprofit organizations are currently faced with
• Strategies for creating (and maintaining) a productive hybrid workforce
• Creative employee engagement tactics to keep employees engaged

Upcoming UST Live Webinars: UST Live was designed to equip nonprofit leaders with strategies that can help sustain their workforce and their mission-driven initiatives. In our final session of the year—scheduled for early December—we’ll discuss nonprofit leadership and succession planning.  

Are you curious to discover how nonprofits have pivoted strategies in response to COVID-19 and how this pandemic is causing permanent change across the sector? With over 400 survey respondents—representing a wide variety of nonprofits from across the U.S.—this report unveils the pandemic’s impact on workforce evolution and illustrates how the sector withstood the hardships caused by the crisis.

Download the report to learn:

• How COVID-19 impacted nonprofit staffing levels, ability to meet demand and employee benefits
• Employer mandated vaccination trends
• The most challenging workforce issues nonprofit employers are currently facing
• Key strategies that nonprofit leaders plan to prioritize after the pandemic subsides

This report will provide valuable insight on how nonprofit organizations are navigating the ongoing challenges that have arisen throughout the pandemic. For only $99, download your copy of the 2021 sector report today!

Risk management is defined as a discipline for dealing with the possibility that some future event will cause harm and nonprofit risk comes in an endless number of forms—data security, fundraising fraud, regulatory compliance, employee relations, volunteer staff, and theft just to name a few. Given the myriad of ways that nonprofits are changing the world and the impossible task of being able to predict every potential mission-disrupting event, every organization stands to benefit from risk reducing tactics. This is where risk management comes in—an essential necessity that helps nonprofits understand the threats they face and how to prioritize strategies that create sustainability in the future.

Developing a risk management process is essential to every nonprofit but many remain unprotected simply because they don’t have the funds or resources to implement such a strategy. There are however other ways to protect your organization without breaking the bank that just require more time and dedication to create and streamline. So, if you don’t have a risk management strategy in place already, now is the time to start.

Follow these four steps to create a risk management strategy:

• Perform a risk assessment across all functions of the organization and look at all of the data your nonprofit collects—from donors, employees, volunteers, and investors. The Nonprofit Technology Network offers a helpful assessment tool template to accomplish this beginning stage in an easy and organized manner.
• Gather pertinent organizational documentation—operational plans, mission, and value statements to understand context.
• Develop a timeline and set goals to ensure a phased and deliberate process with metrics to measure success. An effective risk management strategy doesn’t happen overnight but requires thoughtful attention and consideration.
• Implement a risk cycle that regularly evaluates what risks came to life and how they were addressed to understand what works, what needs improvement, and what else can be done. This ultimately enables an organization to adjust quickly and strengthen their risk management strategies.

A single liability incident can easily cost tens of thousands of dollars, not to mention the harm it can do to your reputation. In short, by taking the time to identify risks, prioritize issues, respond to the problems, assess the situation, and improve your strategy, nonprofit employers can better protect their assets and avoid future risks.