The help wanted sign is hanging outside almost three quarters (74.6%) of nonprofits from where executives answered a national survey by the National Council of Nonprofits. Hit hardest with staffing vacancies are program and service delivery.
Half of respondents (51.7%) reported more vacancies in April 2023 compared to March 2020. More than one-quarter (28%) reported a longer waiting list for services than before the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Respondents expressed concern about the unfilled direct service positions including nurses, clinicians, social workers and counselors, as well as staff in accounting, maintenance, grant writers and even interns.
The data is from a survey conducted in April 2023 by the networks of the National Council of Nonprofits (NCN) in Washington, D.C. The data also somewhat debunks the idea that fundraising is what fuels the sector.
“The workforce shortages that continue to weaken nonprofits create consequences that harm people in local communities throughout the country,” said Tim Delaney, president & CEO of NCN. “It’s basic economics: when the costs for a nonprofit to meet the public’s increasing needs for services are greater than a nonprofit’s revenues because governments hiring nonprofits to deliver services won’t pay the full costs that nonprofits incur and government policies undercut charitable contributions, which have been plummeting, then nonprofits simply can’t keep up.”
Almost three out of four respondents (72.2%) said salary competition affects their ability to recruit and retain employees, followed by budget constraints/insufficient funds (66.3%). Additional causes for nonprofit workforce shortages reported by nonprofits were stress and burnout (50.2%) and challenges caused by government grants and contracts (20.6%).
Salaries were raised at nearly two-thirds (66%) of nonprofits participating in the 2023 survey, and a remote work policy was implemented at more than half (57.7%). Other frequently used strategies to retain employees, according to respondents, have been providing more benefits (40.9%), awarding one-time bonuses (39.3%), and implementing diversity, equity, and inclusion trainings and strategies (39.2%).
They also added advancement opportunities, expanded mental health benefits and wellness programs, and notifying employees about eligibility for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
Respondents recommended numerous systemic reforms. These include adopting a focus on equity, expanding the professional pipeline through educational programs, confronting burnout through wellness programs, and encouraging funders to cover the full costs of programs.
The 2023 survey respondents were asked whether demand had outpaced the ability to immediately deliver services. One out of four respondents (24.4%) indicated they had waiting lists of more than a week, with 11.5% of respondents reporting waiting lists of one to four weeks, and 12.9% with waiting lists of more than a month, some longer than a year.
Another 20.7% reported that waiting lists vary by program, so they could not give a precise estimate. Those numbers represent some recovery from the troubling rates reported in the 2021 survey (e.g., 26% of responding organizations in 2021 reported having a waiting list that was more than a month long).
One survey participant, a mental health provider in Oregon, has wait time for an initial assessment of four to five weeks. The executive wrote: “Individuals have to wait to get into services instead of being able to start services when they are ready. Weeks later, many are no longer ready to start services, or they may have relapsed, overdosed, or ended up in jail during that wait time.” A New Hampshire healthcare provider responded that having such a long waiting list is “essentially a refusal of services for mental health care.”
COVID-19 and vaccinations came in last — behind “not sure” — when respondents were asked about factors affecting recruitment and retention. Salaries were followed by budget constraints and then stress — all exceeding 50% of responses. Responses dropped 30 points from there to the next challenge of government grants and contracts. COVID-19 was only 6.5% of the responses.
When it came to revenue, charitable giving comprised only about one- seventh (14%) of resources upon which the charitable sector relies. Responses to the 2023 survey show that many nonprofits are seeing declines or the same rates of donations, which over time will make their ability to operate at full capacity more difficult.
Seven out of 10 respondents (70.5%) anticipate charitable donations to decrease or remain flat in 2023. About the same number of nonprofit respondents (68.7%) anticipate the number of donors to decrease or remain flat. Their anticipation is based on giving trends. Last year, charitable giving by corporations, foundations, individuals, and bequests to support the work of nonprofits decreased by 3.4% in current dollars and 10.5% adjusted for inflation, according to the latest annual Giving USA report.
“To put it bluntly, a shortage of workers at a fast food drive-thru or at the Department of Motor Vehicles means an inconvenience,” said NCN Vice President of Public Policy David L. Thompson. “But a workforce shortage at a nonprofit means people who are not receiving vital, sometimes lifesaving, services like food to eat or a bed to sleep in. Solutions exist to these issues. We need our partners in government to take notice of this shared challenge and step up. At the federal level this means passing bipartisan legislation to advance grants reforms and improve charitable giving tax incentives. Our communities are counting on it.”
To see more of the data, go to https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/nonprofit-workforce-shortage-crisis
