“We Want Change Now”

[I've been blabbing lately about the nonprofit leadership crisis/how young people in nonprofits are getting fed up/etc., so I was excited to see this press release and new report -- Thanks, Jenna!]


Nonprofit Jobseekers Say to Employers: “We Want Change Now”

Study reveals the demands of today’s nonprofit talent, and what employers can do to address them

Boston, MA (March 25, 2008) – A recent survey of 1,750 nonprofit jobseekers reveals a talent pool of people who are determined to build long-term careers in the social sector. However, these jobseekers believe that nonprofit employers are not doing enough to address the obstacles that they face.

The survey report, The Voice of Nonprofit Talent in 2008, was produced by Commongood Careers, a nonprofit search firm that has built a national talent network of over 15,000 jobseekers through targeted outreach, career advising, workshops, and web-based resources. In the first of what will become an annual offering, this survey was designed to explore nonprofit jobseekers’ motivations for wanting to work in the sector, their plans for overall career trajectories, and their concerns about sustaining nonprofit careers. Of the respondents, 82% self-identified as active jobseekers.

Key findings of the survey include:

• Mission and cultural fit are the most important factors to nonprofit jobseekers, with 84% of respondents indicating that “work is part of my identity, not just a way to make a living.”
  
• 63% of respondents plan to stay in the sector for at least ten years and 82% say they want to hold an executive-level position in the sector. However, respondents believe that the relative absence of career ladders, mentors and professional development might limit their ability to remain in the sector.
  
• Concerns over salary levels and work-life balance also drive jobseekers’ hesitations about building long-term careers in the social sector.
  
• Over 75% of respondents believe that nonprofits have to immediately change their recruitment, employment and professional development practices.

To help organizations respond, the survey report includes a discussion of strategic recommendations around recruitment, salaries, professional development, and career ladders.

The context for this survey is a national discussion about an increasingly complex nonprofit labor market. Factors driving this trend are unprecedented sector growth, for-profit competition, and generational leadership change.

“This may be the most crucial time in the history of the nonprofit sector to address talent-related issues,” said James Weinberg, Founder and CEO of Commongood Careers. “To be competitive in recruiting and retaining the next generation of great nonprofit talent, organizations need to listen to jobseekers and pursue creative solutions. This survey report is one effort to provide them with the information that they need.”

The complete 7-page survey report can be found at: http://www.cgcareers.org/downloads/CGC_2008TalentSurveyReport.pdf

About Commongood Careers
Commongood Careers is an innovative nonprofit search firm dedicated to supporting social entrepreneurs with their recruitment and hiring needs at every level of the organizational chart. In addition, Commongood Careers is focused on addressing talent-related issues throughout the sector and supporting socially-driven jobseekers in their pursuit of nonprofit careers. For more information, please visit http://www.cgcareers.org/.