Three Practical Tips to Improve Your Nonprofit's Onboarding Process

First impressions matter…?

In fact, two Princeton psychologists did a study and found that most people form a first impression of another person in just a tenth of a second. And, after that point, no matter how much more time they spent together, their impressions did not significantly change.??

You really don't get a second chance at a first impression.?

So what is your nonprofit's first impression???

When you hire a new staff person, what do they think or feel? It's worth asking the question, and it's worth investing in making that first impression a good one.??

Why Onboarding Is Important

Your onboarding process is important for a few reasons:

Onboarding your staff helps set them up for success, giving them the knowledge, resources, and support they need to do their work and engage with others in the organization.?

Onboarding well can help them become more productive more quickly.

Onboarding is the new hire's first impression of working inside your nonprofit.

How to Onboard New Staff Effectively

The past several years have been filled with staff changes.?

There have been:?

• Layoffs
• New hires
• Burnout
• Restructures
• And more and more staff transitions

Those staff changes make a big impact on your nonprofit or association.??

That’s why I’m sharing three practical ways you can improve your nonprofit’s onboarding process and create a great first impression:

1. Make Your New Nonprofit Staff Person Feel Like Part of the Team Before Day One
2. Let Your New Nonprofit Staff Person Know What to Expect During Onboarding
3. Set Your New Nonprofit Staff Person Up for Success

For more details, check out episode 106 of the Learning for Good podcast .

What Other Nonprofits Are Doing

Onboarding is important and it's something that each organization does a little bit differently.?

Are you curious about what other nonprofits or associations are doing??

That's what the Nonprofit L&D Collective is for. It's a private community and a powerful network of L&D pros from across the sector. We tackle topics just like this one each week, so you get an inside look at what other organizations are doing.

Upcoming Events for L&D Pros

Nonprofit L&D Collective End-of-Year Celebration

Our November meet up will be dedicated to celebrating YOU and all you've accomplished in 2024. Start reflecting now so you can identify one thing you've accomplished this year.

?? Did one of your projects?have a big impact on your org?

?? Did you do?something super innovative?

?? Use tech in a cool way?

?? Advance DEIA efforts?

?? Or did you participate in a project that was uniquely collaborative?

We want to know so we can celebrate you!

???Zoom

?? Nov 22

?? 12 pm CT

This event is open to all Nonprofit L&D Collective members. Join today!

Additional Resources Just for You

?? Follow or subscribe to the podcast on Apple or Spotify so you don’t miss next week’s episode. I'll be sharing how to use change management principles to improve training project success.

?? Not in the nonprofit sector but looking for a new role? Join my email list and get a nonprofit L&D job direct to your inbox every Monday.

?? Working inside a nonprofit or association? Join the Nonprofit Learning and Development Collective , a community of nonprofit and association L&D pros where you can connect with each other, learn from industry leaders and tech vendors, and find the support you need to make a real impact.

P.S. Here's how we can work together. I help nonprofit and association teams create behavior change by partnering with them on their instructional design and leadership development needs. If you have training needs coming up, schedule a call with me so we can explore what this would look like for you.