The Rundown - Nonprofit Labor Unions on the Rise - January 13, 2023
Nonprofit unions are on the rise (hopefully nonprofit wages will follow)
Variations on a Theme
First off, I must give a HUGE Pinnacle Strategies shoutout to Jemima, one of our loyal readers, for sending this story along from the Chronicle of Philanthropy, “Here Come the Nonprofit Unions”, which can be read here. Reading the article, I was struck by this comment:
Money was a key issue. Jackie Hurst, who works as a bilingual administrative assistant at the group, says that her department, part of the immigrant-justice project, had been chronically understaffed and often dismissed as less important than other departments. After taxes and other deductions, Hurst took home just $1,100 for two weeks of work. She earned so little that she lives 54 miles away from the group’s Decatur, Ga., office, where housing is cheaper. “Our pay was not sustainable,” she says.
No more than an hour later, did I find a LinkedIn thread talking about livable wages in the nonprofit world….
What the heck are we seeing?
It’s not a shock to tell folks that people in the non-profit sector are underpaid. The reasons are wide and varied. Those that study the issue might look to the fact that the sector is dominated by women who are universally underpaid. Organizations that rely on donations are more worried about getting money on the street and out the door; spending money on salaries seems to be a non-starter. Nonprofit organizations have a reputation for being small, scrappy and have the ability to stretch dollars, often at the cost of staff.
Nonprofit and philanthropic professionals are in the crosshairs — dedicated professionals, whose market value is much above where the dollars are to support these folks. But is that the case?
The Challenge Here….
I am the Executive director of a large nonprofit, but in a rural/suburban community. When I started we had four full-time employees and a handful of part-time folks. It was a difficult challenge to keep our employees here, especially after our board made the strategic decision to ensure that all employees would make at least $15/hour by 2025. Well, as we have worked our plan our organization has seen that by next year, we will be able to pay all our employees at least $15/hour — a year before our goal.
We did lit largely by reworking the job responsibilities and not filling positions as they became vacant. We have not seen a drop in service levels and our organization is still working at a very high level.
But, what about the money?
By reworking our roles and looking at attrition, we are spending about 15% more on personnel costs than we were eight years ago. Which is still quite a chunk, but over eight years, it’s a lot easier to manage. Fortunately, over the same time, our organization has seen more funding come into our coffers. And while that data is nice, the number we are looking at is how much money are we spending on personnel costs?
Businesses in the service sector spend over 50% of their revenue on personnel costs. Some government services, such as schools, spend upwards of 60% or more on personnel. Here at our organization, we are very steady at spending 48% on our folks.
Lessons Learned
What we have learned is that when we created a job, we felt we needed to create a full-time job, when we didn’t. Every time we needed a task completed, we would talk as a team about how much time would need to be taken to do the job and whether we have team members that can do the job, or whether we needed to create a new position. We always took the view that we would create a part-time position over a full-time position. These part-time positions help give people flexibility to make other jobs work for them. As an organization, we are seeing that we have had no problems filling part-time positions.
To My Fellow Executive Directors
We need to work to create strong working environments for our employees and that often means ensuring our team members have living wages. This will be dependent upon your local economy and there are resources to help you find out what a good living wage would be. This tool from MT can help.
As a group, we also need to stop thinking about creating a number of jobs that don’t do much, but rather think about the work we actually need done. I have seen more than a few organizations that create jobs for nothing more than busy work. One smaller organization I saw had three executive assistants, one each for the members of their executive team. It was a case of “if they have one, I want one too.” In the end it was overkill, as the dollars dried up, these were some of the first people to go.
finally, we need to start to recognize that we aren’t going to watch donations dry up if we start spending money on our teams. If we run efficient and effective shops, our donors will see that and they will happily continue to donate (and donate more!).
We can’t expect our organizations to be treated well be our donors, if we aren’t treating our team members well.
What do you think? Take a moment and leave a comment!
The Weekly Notebook
A quick rundown of what I am seeing and hearing in the nonprofit world….
Now Hiring!
I have a nonprofit in Sidney, Ohio that has reached out to me looking for a new Executive Director. I can tell you that this a very strong organization that needs leadership that has strong entrepreneurial and staff management skills. If you have any interest, please drop me a line at pinnaclestrategiesltd@gmail.com and let’s talk!
Also, the local CASA/GAL agency in Troy, Ohio is looking for a new staff member as well. It’s a great agency with solid leadership. If you have interest, please let me know by sending an email to pinnaclestrategiesltd@gmail.com and I will share what I know.
Registrations now open for Paul G. Duke Academy for Community Leadership!
Registrations are now open for continuing education offered by Edison State Community College in Piqua for the Paul G. Duke Academy for Community Leadership! I have been a proud alumni of both programs and have even been asked to help present sessions and teach classes. It’s an amazing program and I would encourage you to be a part of it if you are in the area! You can register here.
There are only two spots open for the 1.0 Academy and one spot open for the 2.0 Academy!
The Paul G. Duke Academy for Community Leadership 1.0 is a series of workshops designed to develop more effective directors, leaders, board members, staff and volunteers of nonprofit organizations. Course topics include the fundamental practices of board recruitment, planning, staffing, budgeting, evaluation, board meetings and community awareness. The classes are designed to help individuals make a difference on their boards and in their community.
The Paul G. Duke Academy for Community Leadership 2.0 has been created and designed specifically for experienced executive directors of nonprofit organizations and alumni of the Academy for Community Leadership 1.0. This challenging and intensive Academy is coordinated by the Academy development team and participants. Advanced participants will conduct original research and exchange results via reports and discussion. Participants will help to further develop the foundational agenda for each of the four monthly sessions that will explore nonprofit organizations—based upon their backgrounds, experiences, pressing issues and needs—through self-analysis, organizational analysis, guest speakers, best practices, resource review and in-depth discussions. At its conclusion, Academy 2.0 participants will be immersed in the annual Mosaic of Community Leadership Conference, both as participants and presenters. Academy 2.0 is the latest collaboration between the Paul G. Duke Foundation and the Edison State Community College Center for Leadership Development.
What Can We Work on Together?
Did you know that Pinnacle Strategies works individually with nonprofit and public sector leaders to help them solve problems, achieve goals and gain confidence in their roles?
Why?
Because, this work is hard and it’s often a lonely road. Our nonprofit and public sector leaders need people that they can talk to to get solid advice and encouragement to do the work that is in front of them. If you feel that this can be of value to you, or a member of your team, please reach out to pinnaclestrategiesltd@gmail.com and let’s talk.
We are so close to 500!
Over the last few weeks, the subscription base to the newsletter has just grown and grown and grown. It has finally arrived at a point where we are SO CLOSE to 500 SUBSCRIBERS!
Originally, I had hoped to have 500 by the end of the first year, but it looks more and more likely like it’s going to 15 months to hit that 500 figure, which is still pretty impressive. You can help this newsletter get to that 500 figure by sharing this publication with your friends and colleagues!
Personally, I feel very excited about the future of this newsletter and if you have any ideas or comments, please feel free to share them with me at pinnaclestrategiesltd@gmail.com
I know many of you have shared this with your friends and colleagues and I am very grateful. Thank you! If you haven’t shared it yet…..well, here is your chance….remember we are trying to get to 500….right?
Ready to Learn Something New?
One of the prettiest cities in the Midwest is Indianapolis and travelling there can open a perfect opportunity to sharpen your skills and meet new professionals in the field. I would encourage you to look at some of the offerings of The Fund Raising School at the Lilly School of Philanthropy at Indiana University’s campus in Indianapolis. The professional development school has great programming both on-line and in-person both in Indianapolis and at other sites across the country. Take a look at their course offerings here!
Online Learning Options from Texas A&M Announced
If travelling for professional development isn’t in the cards (or the budget), the Center for Nonprofits at Texas A&M University has some great offerings! I recently enrolled in one of their certificate programs and really enjoyed the online format and the online discussions that were developed. It was time and money well spent and I would highly recommend this program, especially for early or mid-career professionals. The next session begins in early February and you can learn more here!
Other Ways to Connect
Our coaching practice has openings and it has been a blast working with nonprofit leaders all across the country! If you are interested in working with me to get your nonprofit organization on a track to achieve the big missions you have, please reach out to me at pinnaclestrategiesltd@gmail.com.
Here are some other ways you can keep in contact with Pinnacle Strategies!
Check us out on our LinkedIn Page
Check us out on the Celebrating Leadership Facebook Page.
Want to help support this newsletter?
I hope you have found value in this newsletter. If you have found it valuable and want to help, the best thing you can do is “hit the heart”! By liking this post, you help other people interact with it. Also, sharing and commenting is very helpful as well. Thank you!