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In the face of high burnout rates and declining donations to the nonprofit sector, a whopping 74% of organizations are struggling to retain the talent they need to achieve their missions.
If your nonprofit needs a hiring refresh, it helps to go back to the basics by overhauling one of the key steps of your hiring process: the interview stage. Using recruitment data and savvy best practices can help you create a future-proof interview process that keeps candidates engaged.
Whether you want to hire a web developer to improve your digital performance or a grant manager to secure more funding, this guide has you covered. As we explore these strategies, keep your nonprofit’s long term growth goals in mind—it’ll help provide structure to your hiring approach. Let’s get started!
1. Analyze nonprofit-specific skills
The interview stage is beneficial for both you and your candidates: they can promote themselves to your nonprofit, and your organization can assess their cohesion with your workplace culture. Plus, it’s a good time for your organization to show how great it is to work on your team. However, for the interview process to be truly valuable, you need to gauge how the candidate will support your needs. Ask questions like these to get started:
Can you describe a time when you advocated for a cause you cared about?
Have you worked for nonprofits in the past?
How do you fare in high-stress situations with limited resources?
How do you practice self-care outside of work?
What approach would you take to build relationships with supporters and beneficiaries?
Have you volunteered for or donated to nonprofits in the past?
Additionally, ask questions related to specific skills needed for different niches. Remember, an event coordinator’s interview shouldn’t sound exactly like a development director’s interview. And no matter what, remember to ask the candidate what they learned from their past experiences so you understand their motivations and thought processes better.
2. Engage other staff in the interview process
An interview is as much an opportunity for candidates to learn about your nonprofit as it is for you to learn about them. They want to feel welcome and like they fit in, and bringing other staff members into the interview process can help. Here are some ways you can naturally integrate your employees into the interview process:
Set up informational mini-interviews. Interviewing with upper management and potential bosses can be daunting. Help candidates feel at ease by setting up informational chats with other staff members. This allows candidates to ask questions in a low-pressure environment and get a feel for who their coworkers will be if they’re hired.
Pass their contact information along. If your staff members are too busy to set aside time for a mini-interview, you can still use them as a resource. With their permission, connect them with candidates via email so potential hires can ask questions outside of an interview setting.
Aside from staff members, you can enlist board members or volunteers who are very knowledgeable about your operations to be a part of the interview. This provides a variety of perspectives for your decision-making process—just make sure you give them talking points and ask them to report back to you afterwards.
3. Use an ATS made for nonprofits and small businesses
Many nonprofits manage hiring via spreadsheets at first, but upgrading to recruiting software that streamlines hiring can make a huge difference. The right applicant tracking system (ATS) allows you to efficiently sort through candidates and make informed hiring choices.
If you have a tight budget, no need to worry—JazzHR suggests looking into solutions that cater to small businesses and nonprofits. Look for software that offers features like:
Customizable workflows
Collaborative interface
Scheduled candidate and team member communications
Talent pool configuration
Recruiting analytics and reporting
Integrating a new ATS into your workflow can feel daunting, but with the right resources and time allocated for training, you can collect recruitment data with confidence. To make training go as smoothly as possible, work with a solution that offers around-the-clock support and resources that can help along the way.
4. Assess cause connection
Once you’ve gauged your candidate’s affinity for working with nonprofits, you should uncover their relationship with your cause. Employees who are more connected to your mission are more likely to put in their best effort to help your vision become reality.
Let’s say your nonprofit’s mission is related to animal welfare—in particular, you rehome stray dogs and cats. Here are some questions you could ask:
Can you explain a time you supported animal welfare initiatives?
Do you have an existing relationship with our nonprofit?
How do you envision yourself using your skills for our cause?
Do you have any ideas for improving specific programs, fundraisers, or events?
Discussing hypothetical scenarios like the final question above helps you see each candidate’s skills and thought process in action. However, to make these conversations mutually productive, send candidates materials ahead of time so they can create an action plan. For instance, you might send them an example budget, data from your past fundraisers, and future program aspirations so they have all the information they need.
According to Double the Donation, the process of shaping an engaged employee starts from the moment they decide to apply to your nonprofit, making the interview stage critical. That being said, your nonprofit needs to listen to your candidates to improve the interview process over time. Ask for feedback from candidates who successfully joined your team, weren't selected, or and even those who withdrew from the hiring process to improve your hiring process and build a team of passionate advocates who stick around for the long term.
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