4 Ways to Help Employees Thrive at Your Nonprofit for Years to Come

Welcome to the latest edition of Moving Forward, a newsletter designed to help nonprofits exchange ideas and learn from one another to unlock the full potential of the sector.?

Building an engaged, productive, and happy nonprofit workforce requires intentional effort throughout the employee lifecycle. That starts as early as the hiring process and encompasses everything from the opportunities team members can access to the organizational culture they experience every day.

For a fresh perspective on this topic, we reached out to Dr. David Johns , Executive Director of the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) in the U.S., and Celine SCHMITT , Spokesperson and Head of External Relations at UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency , in France. Both are LinkedIn Top Voices in Social Impact honorees, and both have been with their organizations for multiple years.?

David and Celine chatted to us about what’s motivated them to stay at their nonprofits for as long as they have — and shared their tips for fostering engagement and retention at your organization.?

1. Ensure alignment with the cause

Candidates don’t need to have experienced your nonprofit’s “why” first-hand to be passionate about their work, but feeling a sense of connection to the cause certainly helps. For both David and Celine, this has been the number one factor influencing their tenure.

“I accepted the responsibility to quarterback the team at the NBJC because I understood my unique ability to lead a civil rights organization that is intentional and unapologetic in advocating at the intersections of racial equity and LGBTQ+/same-gender loving (SGL) equality,” David explains. “While I understood the importance of that work when I accepted the responsibility, the increase in anti-Black and anti-LGBTQ+/SGL legislation over the last few years, the unyielding and disproportionate rate of fatalistic violence against Black trans women, and the general disregard for Black Queer people have underscored the need for and importance of this work.”

“Working for UNHCR means working for a cause — the refugee cause — and serving people who have been forced to flee their home, their city, sometimes even their country, because of war, persecution, violence, or human rights violations,” Celine says. “Very often, refugees leave their country with very few belongings. They need protection and support to rebuild their lives in a new country. I have always been passionate about justice, unable to accept injustice, and UNHCR gave me the opportunity to have a job that is in line with my convictions.”

2. Nurture fit and potential

Ensuring alignment doesn’t end when a person is hired. Managers can nurture retention by working closely with employees to make sure their roles truly match their talents. That could involve enabling lateral moves to help people find their best fit within your organization.?

“There’s an overemphasis, particularly at present, on maintaining talent without regard for the ability of the talent to do the work,” David says. “I’ve learned to adjust roles and relationships early and often and prioritize the balance achieved when there’s a good and tight fit between talent and opportunity.”?

“It’s also important to support employees throughout their career," Celine adds, “without putting them in boxes according to the knowledge and skills they had at the time they joined the organization. Allow employees to reveal their potential.”?

3. Empower knowledge sharing

One way to help employees reach their full potential is to create opportunities for mentorship and knowledge sharing within your nonprofit. Celine says she was privileged to have two managers, both women, who supported her and acted as role models early in her career.?

“They passed on their knowledge, their passion for their job, and they were always kind,” she says. “I felt like I was in a safe space. Being a manager myself today, I realize how important that was.”?

4. Bake inclusion into everything

Creating an inclusive environment is critical to retention. David stresses that inclusion needs to be part of the foundations of your organization, not just the wallpaper.?

“Too often, inclusion is an after-the-fact consideration,” he says. “Ensure radical inclusion (not simply box-checking or pandering) is baked into your nonprofit’s DNA — the mission statement, organizing principles, values, and assessment tools used.”

What factors have the biggest influence on your decision to stay at an organization? Join the conversation by sharing your thoughts in the comment section!

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