5 tech-powered strategies for stronger donor relations
- Capacity building
- Digital communications & marketing
- Nonprofits
- Donor Engagement
Hiring core staff members is an important part of your nonprofit organization’s success, and effectively conceptualizing these positions is equally important.
When developing entirely new positions, your organization will likely need to deviate from the traditional hiring process. Instead, your team must envision not only the purpose of this new role but also what skills and qualifications you will be looking for in a candidate.
If you’re looking to develop new nonprofit staffing roles, follow these five steps to keep your team on track.
Before commencing your search for job candidates, take a step back and examine why your nonprofit is in the market for a new position in the first place. Some helpful questions to answer include:
During this process, consult your entire nonprofit staff for additional input for building a new role. Many of your staff will undoubtedly work closely with your new hire, so having a group consensus on what you’re looking for will prepare them for your expanding your team and boost efficiency.
Once your nonprofit staffing priorities are in order, your next step is to assemble an executive search committee. A search committee is a group of nonprofit professionals who each offer unique strengths to identify and hire new nonprofit employees.
This committee should have individuals with a range of nonprofit experiences and skills to provide diverse feedback in shaping and hiring your new team member. Your nonprofit should remain conscientious of committee members with the potential for bias towards potential candidates, or who don’t contribute to group decision-making.
Instead, be on the lookout for potential search committee members who:
In addition to accomplished nonprofit employees and board members, your organization can also reach out to major donors and sponsors to join your executive search committee if the new hire will be working with them regularly.
Now it’s time to draft a detailed job description that both informs and attracts qualified applicants. An effective job description will be professional while showing your nonprofit’s personality to represent the role and your company culture.
To begin, your nonprofit team must effectively communicate the position’s responsibilities and daily duties, which could include:
Incorporating routine tasks as well as big-picture objectives into your job description will give candidates a clear idea of their day-to-day experiences at your nonprofit.
Don’t forget to mention the role’s education and experience requirements. Given the interpersonal and hands-on nature of nonprofit work, it’s best practice to place higher importance on valued experience while also considering fundraising credentials.
Finally, be sure to include a downloadable resource with your job description to showcase on online nonprofit job boards. These branded documents are easy for applicants to print and store to reference key information. They also give you the opportunity to provide more information on your organization’s purpose, background, and application procedure.
The foundation of your interviews will depend on the capability of your search committee and the quality of your questions. Your nonprofit staffing search committee will be championing your executive search initiatives by:
Your executive search committee should prioritize having an in-depth understanding of these hiring stages and how they can coordinate them in the most efficient fashion.
In addition to managing the flow of interviews, your search committee is also responsible for devising interview questions that analyze a candidate’s nonprofit history and passion for philanthropic work.
Some perceptive questions you can ask include:
Above all, your sample interview questions should address the scope of a candidate’s experience while engaging their personality to determine if they suit your nonprofit’s needs.
With the interview process behind you and the ideal candidate selected, your nonprofit can move forward to the final stage of nonprofit staffing: onboarding.
An efficient onboarding experience is critical to the success of the new employee, especially if they are taking on a brand new position. It is important to provide your new hire with an abundance of training resources and assistance. Thus, your nonprofit should have a capable onboarding committee in place to educate your new hire on their budding role as well as standard organization policies and procedures.
As a team, your onboarding committee can successfully delegate training tasks and field your new hire’s questions by:
You should provide your new hire with a designated workstation and easy-to-access print and digital resources to aid them in their role transition. For instance, your onboarding team can compile a cheat sheet of practical tools and apps to simplify a variety of tasks including:
Instruct your new hires on how to make the most of these technological resources as well as your existing online fundraising software, nonprofit CRM, and more.
There’s no doubt that establishing new staffing roles is an exciting time for your nonprofit because it signifies your overall growth and upcoming success. Design and recruit the exemplary nonprofit team your organization deserves by following these steps.
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