Professionals in the nonprofit sector are often more motivated by the mission over a high salary and interested in pursuing leadership roles that enable them to make a bigger impact towards their mission.

Many nonprofit executives and managers strive to understand how to improve leadership among their dedicated team members. Leadership in this context encompasses more than just guiding the organization towards its goals. It involves inspiring a team, cultivating a passionate and dedicated environment, and fostering a sense of shared purpose and camaraderie. It is important to remember that effective leadership goes beyond mere guidance; it involves creating an engaging and empowering atmosphere for everyone involved.

The challenges that nonprofits typically face, including limited resources, high community and peer expectations, and the need to maximize impact, require more and more unique effort from leaders. Nonprofit leadership requires individuals who possess a combination of strategic and resourceful capabilities, a deep connection to the organization’s mission, and an ability to embody its values.

While some of the necessary characteristics for leadership roles are organic to an individual, there is plenty that you can do to maximize natural talents by committing to nonprofit leadership training for your staff.

Please continue reading to discover how to identify potential leaders and how to develop a leader. With nonprofit executive leadership training, you can create a steady pipeline of caring and dutiful future managers and executives.

Tips for Improving Leadership Skills

Although some professionals are born with some natural leadership skills, they may need some guidance to hone and develop those skills to become a leader within your organization.

In this section, we delve into some practical and actionable tips for how to improve leadership. These steps are crucial for driving your organization forward with potential talent from among your existing and future team members.

1. Offer Broader Exposure to Your Organization’s Mission and Goals

As you strive to elevate and empower nonprofit employees to become leaders, they should understand as much about the nonprofit sector and your organization’s overarching mission as possible. They need to know more than their specific tasks within their department to see themselves moving up in your organization.

2. Provide Opportunities to Take on New Challenges

If you spot potential in an employee, help them develop their skills by providing a well-rounded perspective on daily challenges within your organization. Ask them to cross-train for roles in other departments to allow them to experience different roles and the accompanying challenges and rewards, of various positions.

3. Encourage Employees to Enhance Soft Skills

Soft skills are essential in nonprofit environments. As a leader, you likely find yourself using your communication, critical-thinking, problem-solving, time management, and teamwork skills daily. These skills are crucial to nonprofits operating with a limited budget and staff, which is not uncommon in this sector.

4. Assign Promising Employees Challenging Projects

When you identify potential leaders, it’s a good idea to offer them new opportunities that challenge them in different ways to see how they rise to overcome them and to continue sharpening their natural abilities.

5. Serve as a Support Source

Become a mentor to employees who show an interest in becoming a leader within your organization. Ask for insights and show trust and respect even when your decision differs from the employee’s preferred course of action.

6. Offer Training Opportunities

Whether your organization has the resources to create and offer a training program or if you decide to invest in one, some formal training can be beneficial. Well-structured and professional advice, guidance, and support can ensure effective learning and help track an employee’s progress.

How to Identify Potential Leaders

Often, identifying potential leaders begins with the hiring process. When you seek qualities such as passion for the nonprofit sector and your specific mission, as well as the above-noted soft skills and a desire to learn and grow, you need to nurture individuals, creating a steady pipeline of leadership talent.

At UST, we understand how challenging it is when trying to determine how to develop leadership skills in others, nurturing future leaders when you work with limited resources, including the on-hand staff to train top talent. We offer an expansive suite of nonprofit HR solutions for organizations that don’t have full-time HR departments, and can help you identify, train, and nurture talent to ensure you have a group of prepared and enthusiastic leaders.

Learn more about our services first-hand by signing up for our FREE 60-day trial, or contact us to discuss your nonprofit’s unique HR needs.

SOURCES

The Importance of Leadership Skills in the Nonprofit Sector

https://www.michaelpage.com/advice/management-advice/development-and-retention/how-develop-your-future-leaders

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/soft-skills.asp#:~:text=Soft%20skills%20can%20also%20be,carried%20over%20to%20any%20position.

https://www.cio.com/article/234848/6-leadership-qualities-to-look-for-when-hiring.html

https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/how-to-develop-leaders
https://www.qooper.io/blog/leadership-training-for-nurturing-a-future-leader
https://businessleadershiptoday.com/how-does-hr-help-leadership-development

It is nearly impossible to find data about compensation increases without inflation figuring in every discussion. In 2022, amidst the first global pandemic in over a century, the average price of gas skyrocketed to $5.75 per gallon (up from a low of $2.68 in May of 2020). The inflation rate for 2022 finished at 6.5%, and today (for the moment), gas prices sit as low as $3.49 in some areas.  The federal minimum wage will increase to $9.50 per hour this year, varying significantly from state to state.  You can visit The Horton Group page on minimum wages for the state-specific wage rates.

Investopedia.com defines inflation as “a rise in prices, which can be translated as the decline of purchasing power over time.” Among today’s inflationary pressures we can count damage to crops, livestock, lives, and property from recent climate change events, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine spiking the costs of natural gas and grain, and a new strain of avian flu resulting in eggs at $6.00 per dozen.  The pandemic itself was a force majeure expense for everyone, with shortages ranging from microchips to baby formula.

And yet, we have emerged from this tough time with an appreciation for U.S. workers that we haven’t experienced since the 1950s. Employers continue to be affected by the great labor shortage and unexpected increases in opportunities, pay, and benefits for workers.  Driven in no small part by younger workers unwilling to settle for low-wage gigs, companies have been hiring at significantly competitive salaries and vying for new workers by burnishing their employer brand as emphatically as they do their brand. Things have changed.

BDO USA, a global accounting firm, anticipated that budgets for merit increases in 2022 would hover around 3%, but found that in the final quarter of 2021, the increases topped out just below 4%. The talent shortage had pushed raises into the 4% range. Concurrently, inflation was approaching 1982 levels, which BDO anticipated would push salary increases still higher (the term for this is a wage-price spiral, which Americans last heard about in the mid-1970s). BDO conducted a poll of 440 organizations across multiple industries–including 127 nonprofits—in January and February of 2022 and determined that compensation budgets for all participating companies averaged 5.1%, with nonprofit firms averaging 4.4%. The last time salary-increase budgets exceeded 4% was in 2001.

BDO cautioned, “For nonprofits, this may be a significant shock for their 2022 budgets, as a 4.4% budget increase represents a 47% hike (emphasis also mine) compared to the previously standard 3% budget. It is likely that many organizations are not in a position to increase salary budgets to this degree.”

Journalist and social media strategist Lia Tabackman succinctly laid out the good and bad news in her article in 501c.com, Nonprofit Compensation Battles with Inflation: “Salary and wage increases at U.S. organizations have not kept pace with the rising prices of inflation, and recent trends suggest that in many cases there is financial gain to be had from leaving workplaces that can’t keep up. To put a fine point on it: employers who aren’t able to provide compensation increases that account for inflation risk losing their employees to those who can.”

Fortunately, there are plenty of voices in the for-profit and nonprofit worlds who offer useful guidance in addressing the challenge. BDO suggests inflation’s impact on salary gains will vary by situation.  Here are some of their tips to bolster your workforce.

• As energy prices rise, consider extra financial support for employees that need to commute by car or drive as part of their job duties. This can be delivered in the form of gas cards, parking vouchers, or passes for public transportation.
• If increasing your budget for merit increases is not feasible, consider doing a mid-year assessment to determine whether a second pay adjustment is needed and can be supported.
• Identify personnel that are mission-critical, as well as top performers to ensure their contributions are recognized and reflected in pay levels according to the organization’s pay policies and financial condition.
• While there are always exceptions, lower wage employees are the most impacted by inflation. Their salary increases typically do not result in a significant change in purchasing power. Focus salary increase dollars on those who are most impacted.
• Allocating more of the budget to pay increases for lower-paid employees can do more than just promote retention, it can help differentiate your organization as one that prioritizes fair compensation practices and demonstrates that management values its employees.

Lauren Mason, senior principal for the Career Business Division at Mercer (an HR consulting partnership) made these recommendations for employers to consider for this year’s compensation planning period:

• Prioritize Hourly Pay.  With unprecedented levels of churn in the labor market, wage growth at record pace and increasing external scrutiny, now is the time to focus on hourly pay strategies.
• Consider A Segmented Approach.  Ensure budget dollars “are focused on addressing gaps in competitiveness . . . Consider a segmented approach by offering higher wages to both new joiners and high-performing current employees in critical business segments, as well as those whose pay is below market rates.
• Keep In Mind The Employee Experience.  Employees have heightened expectations around pay, so equip leaders with the resources to communicate pay decisions effectively.

CapinCrouse, a national CPA and consulting firm serving nonprofits, provided the following from their three-part series Inflation’s Ripple Effect on Nonprofits and Their Employees.

• Nonprofit compensation is enough of a puzzle without the added challenge of market fluctuations. But while every organization is different, there are options for leaders who want to communicate the value of their team members through more than just cash compensation.
• Many nonprofits are opting to give their employees one-time bonuses rather than setting themselves up to maintain promised increases in future years. This provides an immediate benefit to employees who are feeling the real-time impact of market conditions without setting the precedent of an increased baseline wage.

• Since times of economic inflation tend to put more strain on lower-level (and lower-earning) employees, nonprofits may also want to consider providing tiered incentives such as:
• Increased retirement plan contribution percentages
• Stipends to accommodate elevated gas prices (consult with a tax advisor first to ensure they understand and disclose the potential tax implications for the organization and employees)
• Higher merit increases or one-time bonuses

In March 2022, hundreds of nonprofit workers gathered in New York City to demand that the city write a minimum wage of $21 per hour and a 6% cost of living adjustment into the city budget for nonprofit workers. Minor Sinclair, Executive Director of The Center for Progressive Reform (CPR) wrote for The Chronicle of Philanthropy to explain how CPR increased their employees’ wages, beginning with a “contingency fund” to augment salaries to help offset the impact of inflation. Staff members received a $1,000 payment from the fund in spring 2022, which CPR planned to renew in the fall. CPR also upgraded employees’ benefits packages, including a “modest allowance” to help cover utility and internet costs for staff working from home. Employees also received an extra week of vacation to be taken at the end of the year. Additionally, CPR made short and long-term disability-pay plans available to staff.

It is important not to lose sight of the fact that the nonprofit sector is the third largest employer in North America, employing one out of every ten working Americans (about 12.5 million workers). Think about the strength in those numbers. If nonprofits can’t retain quality employees, their fundraising and program delivery will suffer. During tough economic times and good, investing in people pays dividends for your nonprofit’s present and future successes.

This blog post was written by Amélie Frank, consulting copywriter to UST. To learn more about Amélie’s professional portfolio you can find her online at https://www.linkedin.com/in/amelie-frank/.

You probably already know that nonprofits generally work with lower budgets than large corporations, especially when it comes to employee benefits and perks. That means you must make your nonprofit appealing to job seekers in other ways. This is the time to deploy your creative genius and stand out in the employment marketplace. The global pandemic put just about everyone through a life-altering experience. And as a result, many career trajectories are changing. Seize the opportunity to offer something attractive that will improve their quality of life, enriching them in ways that go beyond dollar signs—and it must be more than your mission.

Offered in many shapes, the employee benefits package has kept its golden status as a form of compensation that goes beyond wages to draw job seekers. Often referred to as perks, the varied benefits included are special and not offered by all employers. You should begin by re-examining your basics to see if you’re already offering any of the following:

• Improved Work-Life Balance. Given that so many spent more than a year at home, it might seem contrary to offer additional personal time off. But the pandemic lock downs, complete with furloughs and layoffs, were not the same as paid leave from a job that inspires you to return with energy. Flexible hours can also help families cope with new work routines. And longstanding employees might appreciate the opportunity to take an educational sabbatical, especially if they return with helpful new skills. That’s a win/win!
• Healthy is Happy. The pandemic exposed a health divide across the nation. Help your workers enjoy greater wellness by providing budget-friendly benefits they will appreciate. Organize a lunchtime walking group or offer healthy snacks instead of the traditional vending machine. Those working in the office again may need a quiet space for relaxing breaks. Put that empty office space to good use. If your nonprofit can afford it, consider partnering with a local gym to reimburse part of their membership fees.
• Teach and Learn. Offer opportunities for staff to share special skills, such as a foreign language. Or set up links to crafty educational YouTube videos for crafts in the break room coupled with basic supplies for beginners. At lunch, they can learn to crochet or make a mosaic.
• Form an Affinity Group. If your nonprofit is large enough, you may be able to take advantage of affinity group benefits⁸, such as insurance deals or club memberships. Check into offering a discounted membership in Auto Club (AAA), for example, which would then provide numerous discounts and services to your employees.
• Have Fun Together. Bring some joy to your workforce culture by offering memorable enjoyable events. For example, cell phones are ubiquitous, so how about a photo contest? Dedicate some wall space, perhaps in the lunchroom (or an online page) for your employees’ artwork—photographic or otherwise. They can share around-town selfies, landscapes, or perhaps local architecture.

When you must work with a limited benefits budget, it’s crucial to choose only the benefits that your employees will care about. Clearly, most workers need help with healthcare costs. If your nonprofit is small, and you don’t provide a group health insurance plan, consider offering a Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement Arrangement (QSEHRA) — an affordable way to help defray your employees’ healthcare costs. The pandemic left many Americans in debt and reducing these expenses will help reduce their risks of financial devastation. Even before the pandemic, millennials struggled with deficient wages, affordable housing shortages, and outrageous student debt. They already make up the largest segment of the workforce, so whatever you can do to help them with essential expenses will be appreciated.

Financial Tools That Help

Americans are recovering financially, as the economy revives, though it breaks along socioeconomic and racial lines. About 60% of White and Asian adults report that their finances are in excellent or good shape. By contrast, about two thirds of Black adults and nearly 60% of Hispanic adults report that their finances are in fair or poor shape. Roughly half of non-retired Americans say the economic consequences of the coronavirus outbreak have made it harder for them to achieve their financial goals moving forward. These employees need your help managing their budgets. Consider the following tools for this purpose:

• Access to Funds. Work with a payroll service that provides free access to funds between paydays. This can help protect your workers experiencing surprise expenses from credit card late fees and overdraft charges, as they return to work and rebuild their financial wellbeing.

• HSAs and FSAs. Provide a tax-free way to pay for covered expenses.

• Set Up a Retirement Plan. Whether it’s a 401(K) or a 403(B), you can help your staff prepare for the future with deposits that are automatically deducted from their pay. Make it spectacular by including a plan to match contributions up to a specified amount.

• Identity Theft Protection. Scams and security breaches are rampant. When you offer free enrollment in a credit monitoring program, you’re showing how much you care by protecting their safety and security.

• Student Loan Assistance. This will be huge for millennials, their parents and recent graduates from other generations who might be feeling abandoned by governmental agencies that allowed promised funds to dwindle. Just a hundred dollars a month could save your employee three years of payments.

Nearly 86% of workers between 22 and 33 years old say they would commit to an employer for five years if the deal included student loan assistance. Encourage loyalty with a monthly payment that helps reduce their debt.

• Help Families Flourish. Is your family leave package robust? Find creative means to help with child or elder care. Celebrate families with bring-your-child-to-work days. Whatever helps busy moms and dads get through their week with less stress could be just the ticket.

• Share the Swag. Does your nonprofit use branded swag for fundraising or other purposes? Share some of those goodies with your employees, so they can really feel like part of the team without having to donate part of their paycheck to do it.

• Paid Volunteer Time. You’ve hired people who care. Let them put in some extra time without sacrificing a paycheck. It’s good for the community, the employee, and your employer brand!

• Auto Insurance Premiums. With more employees working from home, their car insurance rates likely dropped significantly – perhaps enough for you to help with the premiums.

• Supplemental Insurance. Offer these programs at group rates for employees, including spousal insurance, long-term care, disability and more.

• Make the Workplace Comfortable. As the pandemic slowly subsides, it’s time to rethink office supplies that go beyond hand sanitizer. Save your employees the expense of caring for their comfort by providing blankets for those under air conditioning vents, free healthy snacks to keep energy up, and perhaps serve lattes once a month as a sign of appreciation for all they do. And remember birthdays because it’s personal to the employee and it shows you care. Give them reason to connect you with empathy and caring.

With so many members of the American workforce continuing to work from home, you should also consider helping to defray their communication and efficiency costs. Offer a corporate cell phone plan or give them one to use for work. If you’re not already doing this, it’s time to cover the cost of upgrading their internet speed.

Party Heart-y

And one virtually free method of supporting your staff with joyful memories is to ask employees to recognize each other. Co-workers feel highly motivated to earn the esteem of their peers and will network better, gaining newfound appreciation for their teammates, as they seek reasons to recognize each other.

Seize the opportunity to go over the top by coupling it with a seasonal party event. Serve in-season snacks, such as cocoa for winter, and warm each other’s hearts with your very own mutual-admiration society.

Virtual Team Building

If your staff is now working remote, you can find virtual events to enjoy online. Many types of fun shared experiences await, from game shows to virtual escape rooms, virtual tropical beach gatherings, online shared puzzles to solve, trivial challenges, and more. Your team could be lounging on a virtual tropical beach together. Just a few clicks away! If your budget doesn’t allow for a third-party provider, simply visit Google Earth, and plug in far-away cities, then share the domain and enjoy virtual travel together! Wander the streets of Italy’s Positano or a Japanese fishing village. The opportunities are global!

Experience Success

Whether your employees enjoy them at home or someplace around town, experiences are the hot new perk. Even before the pandemic, Millennials had developed a reputation as seekers of experiences rather than accumulators of goods. That’s not to suggest ignoring their monetary needs; they still have student loans and other high costs disempowering their buying choices. But prior to COVID-19, HR teams were already searching for emotionally impactful activities that could act as bonus incentives. And Millennials largely took them up on experiences that boosted a sense of interpersonal contact and community.

The pandemic galvanized this mindset and spread a desire for recreation to all workforce generations. Of course, the sporadic need for social distancing has complicated fulfilling desires for contact and community. So, be sure to include engaging experiences that they can enjoy from the safety and comfort of their homes. Some companies offer memberships in Peloton or virtual leadership coaching. It could be something fun and relaxing like an in-home cooking class or even a meal prepared by a private chef. Or it could be hiring professional respite care for an elderly family member so that the employee can enjoy a break from routine. The limit to this is your creativity and the dreams of your workers. The truth is, an experience given as a gift or reward is more personal than a gift card or bonus check. Look to provide moments of connection, even if it requires using digital tools to deliver them. Online platforms offering curated activities as incentives are available, and employees can even choose what is most meaningful to them. The menu options are abundant and worth considering. As the nation reopens, many more opportunities will become available – from tours to scuba lessons. Whatever the offerings, each activity celebrates the person who works on your team and will build your employer brand to new levels of success.

Set Up Your New Employee Benefits Packages

Now that you’ve considered the new possibilities, you’re ready to leap in, right? Of course, setting up a new employee benefits package will take some expertise. But you should allow your creativity to provide foundational ideas that will build the package of your employees’ dreams. It’s an opportunity to stand out. First, however, you need to know these startling facts:

• A full 40% of US employees report that their employer is not currently offering employee benefits programs that help.

• An impressive 69% say that having a wider array of benefits would increase their workplace loyalty.

• A frightful 32 million members of the US workforce don’t receive paid sick time off, which is especially horrifying to note in pandemic times.

Of course, there are some basics: Many employers offer life insurance, retirement plans, overtime pay, and PTO or sick pay. The US federal government does require larger organizations to offer medical benefits and unpaid family leave to full-time employees. Some states add to this. Beyond that, benefits are an ideal way to serve budget-conscious nonprofits in the current job market. Excellent benefits that are affordable for an organization can incentivize employees to stay longer despite lower cash wages. Lower turnover saves your nonprofit as well. A great benefits package can build workforce loyalty and push your team toward greater success with your nonprofit’s mission.

Be Their Best Friend’s Best Friend

For something truly unusual, offer a paid day off for a staff member to bond with her newly adopted puppy or kitten, offering to send a treat for rescued pets. Some nonprofits offer subsidized or group-rate pet insurance as an option. The most affordable option may simply to offer a pet-friendly office space for worksite employees. Take precautions to protect employees with allergies and specify the kinds of pets that are allowed, normally well-behaved dogs. Some organizations bring in animal therapy to help de-stress their staff. When a puppy makes the rounds, he’s always followed by a lot of smiles. These benefits aren’t too common, so you’ll make your brand stand out by offering furry wellness perks.

Expand a Popular Offering

What’s better than PTO? Extended PTO! Look into stretching paid time off to include some half-day Fridays. Every other week, staff members who have their assignments completed on time can take the afternoon off, paid. The benefit supports mental wellness with extra-long weekends to rest and relax—some companies offer unlimited vacation time. Even if you only offer these time-related benefits during summers or perhaps on a once-monthly basis, it could keep your staff motivated and excited about employment at your organization.

Perks Work!

The good news is that most benefits you select can be customized to suit your budget, workforce, and nonprofit culture. Business strategist Kenichi Ohmae said, “Rowing harder doesn’t help if the boat is headed in the wrong direction.” If you’re offering the wrong benefits, or you’re trying to find other means of remaining competitive in today’s tight job market, it’s time to consider a new direction in benefits packaging. Ask your staff about their dream rewards, come up with creative offerings that speak to those dreams, and then share the news with everyone.

This is an excerpt from UST’s eBook, “Workforce Management Tactics that Strengthen Nonprofit Brands” in collaboration with Beth Black, Writer and Editor.