Hire Well, Train Quickly

"So you have a thin veneer of people who are extremely good at what they do, [but] the bulk of the practitioners are not particularly well trained," Ahern says, adding that reasons for the situation include:

• Salaries. Entry-level nonprofit jobs don't normally pay very well.
• Low expectations. "Nobody expects someone to be extraordinarily skilled if you're not paying them a lot of money," Ahern says.