Rebuilding trust and culture after RIF: A nonprofit's story

📈 Hiring in 2025: What Nonprofits Are Saying According to the OTUS Non-Profit Exchange 2025 Report, the current economic climate is reshaping hiring strategies for many organizations: ✔ 6% say it’s easier to hire now ✔ 34% report no change ✔ 53% find it more challenging ✔ 6% are unsure Factors like post-COVID recovery, recession concerns, and layoffs are influencing talent acquisition across the nonprofit sector. 💡 What does this mean for leaders? • Greater competition for skilled talent • Need for innovative recruitment strategies • Emphasis on retention and employee engagement 👉 How has your organization adapted to these changes? Share your insights in the comments! 👉 Read the full 2025 OAX Report: 🔗 https://lnkd.in/ghTVzdgw #NonProfitLeadership #HiringTrends #TalentAcquisition #HRInsights #Workforce2025 #RecruitmentChallenges #OTUSReport #LeadershipStrategy

🚀 Trend Alert: Will Nonprofits face a turnover crisis in 2026? Nonprofit executives will continue to experience burn out as we march into the next year. Expenses are growing, demands are growing, and there is more money to be made in the for-profit sector, without the fundraising stress. Recent polls have also shown that many executives are reaching retirement age. Is there a solution? 1. Employee well being and retention. 2. Hiring right and developing well at mid-level staff and c-level leadership. These roles need to be prepared to advance so your organization needs a solid talent pipeline. Investing in leadership development for the entire team could be a wise move for 2026. Is there a skill set that has become a non-negotiable in your organization’s next hire? #NonprofitTalent #LeadershipTrends #ExecutiveRecruiting #FutureOfWork

Extending the trend we observed earlier this year, our latest quarterly analysis of senior-level recruitment in the Irish nonprofit sector indicates that the reduction in advertised roles versus last year has continued into Q3 2025. Across the main job platforms we track, advertised management-level opportunities declined from 280 roles in Q3 2024 to 199 roles in Q3 2025, a year-on-year decrease of 29%. This sustained cooling likely reflects ongoing caution amid funding pressures, prompting organisations to reassess and reprioritise their strategic goals. However, with the recent budget announcement, we’re optimistic that renewed investment will enable the sector to strengthen leadership capacity in Q4 2025 and beyond. Interested in finding out more insights on this quarter's Nonprofit Talent Trends? Visit our website: https://buff.ly/08V5pLJ or contact Shannon Barrett at shannon.barrett@2into3.com. #Nonprofit #Talent #Recruitment

🔥 Spicy take: the nonprofit "talent crisis" isn't about talent at all. It's about whether we're willing to stop celebrating a scarcity mindset as strategy. 70% of nonprofit employees are looking for new jobs this year (according to the Social Impact Staff Retention Project). That's not normal turnover. And this part is key: it's not because people don't care about the mission! It's because we've designed work environments that make mission-driven work unsustainable. The #1 reason people are leaving? "Too much responsibility, not enough support." 59% cited this for the second year running. And this constraint creates the following conditions: 📌 We're asking people to love the work while systematically removing the infrastructure they need to do it well. 📌 24% of nonprofit staff report rarely feeling fulfilled—in orgs explicitly designed to create meaning ... 📌 Boards hire CEOs based on subject matter expertise or bravado, overlooking the management + leadership skills actually needed to run sustainable orgs in 2025 I deeply suspect that new generations of workers won't celebrate martyrdom. They'll ask why we ever were proud of it. The question isn't whether people *want* to do this work. It's whether #nonprofit leaders will design organizations that can sustain them.

Couldn’t agree more — this hits home. The “nonprofit talent crisis” isn’t about a lack of passion; it’s about structures that make passion unsustainable. We’ve seen what happens when talented, mission-driven people are stretched too thin. That’s part of why Monterey Bay Aquarium Workers United (MBAWU) came together — to ensure that caring deeply about ocean conservation doesn’t mean burning out in the process. It is why we are seeing an exponential rise in unionizing across cultural workplaces in the U.S. We are creating solidarity through unionization and saying something needs to change. When we talk about sustainability, it can’t just be about ecosystems — it has to include the people sustaining the mission, too. Supporting fair workloads, living wages, and respect at work is supporting the mission. #NonprofitLeadership #WorkersRights #Sustainability #Labor #SocialImpact

I agree with this in many ways - but its important to remember that "scarcity mindset" isn't a concept nonprofits made to mythologize their work, it's a structure philanthropy and capitalism has set and consistently reinforced. The scarcity is from the funders. The demands for overwork and underpay is from the funders (thinking about that grant proposal where the funder said that to justify the budget we'd have to double the number of clients). The pitting orgs against each other is from the funders (sometimes). The solution cannot be left to the nonprofits who are trying to make do with the systems they've been put into.

This is such an important point, and one that’s especially resonant for women in leadership. I’ve seen (and celebrated) so many incredible women step into executive roles in the nonprofit sector, often breaking barriers and carrying impossible expectations on their backs. But here’s the tension: when boards prioritize charisma or passion over actual leadership and management experience, it doesn’t just set those women up to struggle, it reinforces the same broken systems we’re all trying to change. We can cheer women on and still demand structures that equip them to lead well: mentorship, operational support, and governance that understands the difference between advocacy and administration. Empowerment isn’t about placing women in impossible positions, it’s about building organizations where their leadership can truly thrive. 💪

#𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐱𝐞𝐜𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 ‘𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐭’ 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 - A new survey by the nonprofit Controllers Council aims to quantify #talent concerns in corporate F&A. https://lnkd.in/gUa_VhTh #CPSG #ItsWhoYouKnow

💡 Did you know? The average tenure for development professionals is just 16 months! Retaining these essential team members is a challenge—especially for small organizations with limited resources. Why do so many leave? 👉 Burnout 👉 Unrealistic expectations 👉 Poor leadership or board engagement 👉 And more... 🚫 But here’s the good news: Retaining great fundraisers doesn’t require a large budget. 🔑 It starts with a commitment to a positive, mission-driven Culture of Philanthropy—one built on shared responsibility, respect, and appreciation. Practical strategies to boost retention: 💬 Create an organization-wide culture of philanthropy 🙌 Recognize development staff as valued professionals 🎯 Set realistic goals 🧰 Provide adequate tools and resources 💡 Encourage collaboration and communication 📘 Want to learn more? Read our guide for actionable tips on retaining your development team and strengthening your fundraising efforts. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/ekSAzxhZ #FundraisingTips #CultureOfPhilanthropy #DevelopmentProfessionals #NonprofitLeadership #EmployeeRetention