Staffing & Human Resources

When I took my first assignment in the nonprofit field at a university, I knew nothing about the profession. I was blessed to have the No. 2 in the organization spend time teaching me the ropes. As you prepare to help others in their nonprofit professions, they will seek ways to gain knowledge and experience that will prepare them for career advancements. Here are some ways that I found helped me...

The 2015-2016 Nonprofit Accounting Insights & Analysis Survey sought information central to nonprofit financial management, including the amount of time spent inside and outside an organization’s financial system pulling and manipulating data, as well as specific software features used to manage nonprofits...

How many development employees does it take to staff a nonprofit effectively? The answer: Most nonprofits aren't sure. "There is no comprehensive data set on the size of the organization and development staff, and that is for a very good reason—organizations and development needs vary widely depending on the circumstances," said Kyle Caldwell, executive director…

At last year’s annual gala, Brad had noted several potential improvements. Wanting to make the 20th anniversary event especially memorable, he decided to meet with Raquel, the event's chairman, as soon as possible. So what will happen? Raquel and Brad likely want to achieve the same ultimate goal—supporting the hospital. Their contrasting personality styles, however, could lead to a real disaster. Here’s why...

Jose Angel Vargas, 29, lives in Anaheim, Calif., and works 60-hour work weeks at a nonprofit that seeks to break the cycle of child abuse. When he’s not at work, he’s fielding emails and phone calls about work, or going to community events or fundraisers on evenings and on weekends. He has no time for…

According to a recent Gallup study of 230,000 full-time and part-time workers in 142 countries, only 13 percent of people feel engaged and fulfilled by their jobs. In other words, nearly nine out of 10 adults spend half their waking lives doing things they would rather not be doing at places they would rather not be. It’s not rocket science to figure out what keeps them showing up (the paycheck) even though for them, work is more a source of frustration than fulfillment...

I’ve done plenty of searches as a manager of fundraisers and as a headhunter. In my headhunting role I would always ask, “Will you consider nontraditional candidates?” Even among those who say "yes" (most are honest and say no, despite my discussion of the possible advantages), it was clear that there was a discomfort with hiring an outsider. This from clients who I knew were outsiders themselves not long before. In effect, they locked the door behind them...

Earlier this month, the Berkeley Labor Commission in California proposed to raise that city’s minimum wage from its current level of $10 an hour (which will rise by local ordinance to $12.53) to $19 an hour, jumping over most of the minimum wage discussion in the nation which has typically focused on $15. It is…

Since I joined as CEO almost three years ago, Smile Train has revamped its brand, expanded staff significantly, taken steps to make key regions self-sustainable and reached the incredible milestone of transforming one million lives through cleft repair surgery. Along the way, there have been three key common underlying practices to our evolving management system: hiring hard workers, breaking down barriers and operating like a business...

Many events or activities will be completely out of our control. In the majority of cases, events have placed us in a situation of transition where we have to ride the storm out and move on. The good news with bad outcomes is we learn to cope and adjust to transitions and try to understand it...