Fundraising is critical to the survival of almost all not-for-profit organisations. And with more than 50,000 NFPs registered in Australia, the demand for fundraisers far outweighs the supply.
But because almost every organisation is looking for them, attracting fundraising staff is notoriously difficult. So what do you need to know to recruit talented fundraisers to your organisation?
Most people would not consciously decide to hire candidates based on whether they remind them of themselves. But one unconscious bias – affinity bias – may lead people to favour candidates who are like themselves, research shows.
If senior managers and NFP boards are made up of mostly men who unconsciously engage in such bias, it stands to reason that more men than women will continue to be hired and promoted – particularly men who share the same background with current managers. This only serves to perpetuate the cycle of men outnumbering women in leadership positions.
So what can be done?
Joe McCannon is the founder and CEO of the Billions Institute, which supports organisations in the social sector worldwide to take local successes to a global scale, and trains thousands of others to lead transformative movements.
He says that mismanaging volunteers is one of the most common sources of failure for large-scale efforts at social change. And in turn, that a well-structured volunteer experience “can build sustained, collective action and generate enormous creativity”.
“Innovation” is all the rage in Australia right now. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has urged an “ideas boom”, investing billions of dollars to promote private sector innovation.
But what about NFP organisations? NFPs need to innovate too, even though it’s by no means easy.
More than one quarter of Australian not-for-profit organisations aren’t tracking even basic data about their recruitment processes, according to the latest Not-For-Profit People survey. But for the other three-quarters, which metrics are the most – and least – tracked, and which are considered the most valuable?
From reducing stress to increasing staff engagement, the benefits of having pets in the workplace are widely acknowledged.
Now one charity is helping organisations to access the benefits of an office pet, while simultaneously giving unwanted pets a second chance at life.
Hiring the right people for the right job is arguably one of the most important responsibilities in any not-for-profit.
But what if there was something interfering with your ability to do just that – and you didn’t even know it?
What if we told you that even if you have a mental health policy at your organisation, it’s likely to be woefully outdated and could be costing you dearly in reduced staff well-being, engagement and performance?
Traditionally, not-for-profit organisations have focused their energies on the needs of their clients or issues, since they’re ultimately the reason for the organisation’s very existence.
But how can you be more deliberate about the ever-important staff experience – and boost engagement and productivity in the process?
It’s no secret: in the NFP sector, burnout happens.
But according to one NFP leader, there are some common myths about the sector that feed this culture of burnout.