As in many industries, not-for-profit organizations are facing “intolerably high job vacancy rates,” according to a 2021 study by the National Council of Nonprofits. This workforce crisis impacts the people and communities that the not-for-profit serves. Even though government policies were adopted to address the problem, a follow-up study last year concluded that not-for-profits are still facing an employee shortage – and their constituents continue to suffer as a result.

Three out of four not-for-profits that responded to the 2023 Nonprofit Workforce Survey said they currently have job vacancies, and more than half stated they have more vacancies now than they did before the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, 28% of the survey respondents said they now have longer waiting lists for services than before the pandemic.

Common Job Vacancies

The most common not-for-profit job vacancies are positions that interact frequently with the public and require in-person responsibilities. This includes three out of four not-for-profits that report vacancies in program and service delivery positions. Here’s the breakdown of other vacancies:

• Entry-level positions: 41.1%
• Administration and human resources positions: 31.7%
• Department and fundraising positions: 25.2%
• Senior management positions: 12.5%
• Communications positions: 11.1%

Survey respondents listed a number of specific unfilled positions they are especially concerned about, including nurses, clinicians, social workers/counselors, maintenance staff, interns, grant writers, and specialists in finance and accounting.

Reasons for the Crisis

The survey identified a number of reasons for the not-for-profit workforce crisis:

Salary competition from the for-profit and government sectors: Not-for-profits with annual operating budgets of less than $5 million face greater salary competition challenges than larger not-for-profits. Of course, boosting salaries creates sustainability challenges and may impact their unrestricted reserves.

Budget constraints and insufficient funding: Not-for-profits with annual operating budgets between $100,000 and $500,000 reported that lack of financial resources is a severe challenge in hiring qualified staff.

Stress and burnout: The challenges of stress and burnout are especially acute for human services providers.

While it wasn’t included in the survey, it is possible that the popularity of remote working also contributes to high vacancies, as more employees want to work from home or from somewhere far from where a not-for-profit is located.

Solutions to the Crisis

Survey participants were invited to share ideas for solutions to the workforce crisis that they had identified or implemented themselves. Here are the most common responses and the percentage of organizations that listed them:

• Increase salaries: 66%
• Offer remote work options: 57.7%
• Create a more robust benefits package: 40.9%
• Pay one-time bonuses: 39.3%
• Implement diversity, equity, and inclusion training and strategies: 39.2%
• Offer career advancement opportunities via training and mentorship: 35.8%
• Offer expanded mental health benefits: 23.7%
• Offer wellness programs, including four-day workweeks and additional paid time off: 22.6%
• Offer signing bonuses: 16.5%

One novel idea cited by 21.3% of participants is to notify employees about their eligibility for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. This allows student loan borrowers who work full-time for charitable not-for-profit organizations to earn federal student loan debt forgiveness after working there for 10 years and making 120 qualifying monthly payments. This can serve as a powerful inducement for hiring young employees carrying student loan debt.

Not-for-profits also identified several public policy solutions to the employment crisis. These included calling on Congress to restore the ability for all Americans to deduct charitable contributions on their federal tax returns and calling on the federal government to invest more money in affordable housing and transit-oriented development.

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