Nonprofits are run by passionate people committed to their mission. However, even the most engaged employees’ motivation can falter without proper support. 

Highly motivated teams not only complete high-quality work, but they also make it easier to recruit new employees, keep other employees engaged, and foster a safe, healthy work environment. With all of these benefits on the line, keeping employees engaged is essential to your nonprofit’s productivity and long-term success. 

To help your nonprofit improve employee motivation, we’ll explore four HR tips that will engage your team.

1. Maintain open communication.

In the nonprofit sector, it’s normal to encounter moments of uncertainty. During these challenging times, the best thing you can do to reassure your employees and keep them engaged is to maintain open, transparent communication. 

This approach shows your nonprofit’s commitment to honesty and respect, and it gives employees the knowledge they need to succeed in their roles. This means that in both times of prosperity and crisis, open communication is essential. 

A few ways you can maintain communication include the following:

  • Routine all-hands meetings. While you don’t need to get your entire team together every day, a weekly, monthly, or even quarterly all-hands meeting can be useful for getting all of your nonprofit’s staff on the same page. Use these meetings to share major announcements that impact everyone, and leave the door open for follow-up questions afterwards, where employees can share their specific thoughts. 
  • Manager check-ins. Have managers meet one-on-one with their direct reports on a regular basis. This provides employees with an opportunity to voice their concerns, ask questions, and share ideas in a private environment, fostering a two-way conversation that makes employees feel heard. 
  • Surveys. If you want to gather employee input about a specific part of your nonprofit, consider surveying your team. Anonymous surveys allow you to gain as honest feedback as possible, while attributed responses let you follow up with specific employees. 

When it comes to transparent communication, you might wonder what parts of your nonprofit’s operations should be public and what can be kept private. For example, during performance management, while there’s no need to announce every employee’s salary changes and bonuses, you might take this as an opportunity to improve your pay transparency practices. 

Astron Solutions’ pay transparency guide explains how organizations that are open about their compensation practices can not only build strong connections with their current employees but also attract job seekers. Additionally, several states and cities have laws regarding pay transparency in job postings, meaning that, depending on where your nonprofit operates, you may need to adopt open pay communication practices to maintain legal compliance. 

2. Offer professional development opportunities.

Employees tend to be more engaged when they know they have the ability to advance and develop their careers. While professional development opportunities may include attending conferences or moving into new roles, there are also low-cost ways you can help your employees grow. 

For example, offer employees development opportunities like:

  • Mentorship and coaching positions. When new employees join your nonprofit, let senior staff take a leadership role by stepping in to mentor them. Or, when an employee does want to move to a new role, ask others at your nonprofit to coach them so they can get hands-on experience before changing job titles. 
  • Cross-job responsibilities. Encourage employees to develop new skills by giving them opportunities to mix up their day-to-day work with cross-job responsibilities. At nonprofits, employees are used to wearing many hats, and asking employees in one department to host a skill-sharing session for the rest of your team can help future-proof your organization. 
  • Increased autonomy. While some employees might appreciate strong direction, others may feel more engaged when they have increased control over their day-to-day work. Provide employees with opportunities to create their own projects, manage their own schedules, or experiment with creative ideas. Increased autonomy also results in increased feelings of ownership, causing employees to take a greater investment in their work. 

Development opportunities give employees a sense of forward momentum, fighting burnout and keeping them interested in their work. Of course, as employees’ responsibilities change, ensure you make corresponding updates to their job descriptions and even compensation. 

3. Practice employee recognition.

Everyone enjoys feeling appreciated, and when employees feel like their hard work is acknowledged, they’re more likely to stay engaged and continue working hard. 

Your nonprofit likely already practices informal recognition, such as thanking employees at the end of the day. Implementing structured appreciation practices ensures your whole team feels properly valued. 

A few ways you might recognize your nonprofit’s employees include

  • Employee spotlights. On a routine basis, create employee spotlights that highlight their recent accomplishments. These might be posts on social media sites like LinkedIn or internal celebrations, such as shouting out top employees during your all-hands meeting. 
  • Peer-to-peer recognition. eCardWidget’s guide to employee engagement explains that there are two types of recognition: top-down and peer-to-peer. Top-down, where a manager acknowledges an employee, can go a long way in making employees feel valued, but peer-to-peer recognition turns appreciation into a team activity. Encourage employees to appreciate their peers, so all accomplishments, including ones that leadership might not always see, get recognized. 
  • Reward programs. When employees go the extra mile, consider providing rewards to encourage their behavior and inspire others to follow suit. This might be a rotating award, like a special parking spot, or something tangible, such as a gift card or provided lunch. 

Tailor your appreciation efforts to your nonprofit’s team. For example, if you have a highly social team, they might jump at the chance to engage with a peer-to-peer recognition program. Or, if your team tends to be more private, they might shy away from public shout-outs but still appreciate a reward or personal thank-you message. 

4. Provide managers with the resources they need.

You’ve likely heard the phrase, “People don’t quit bad jobs; they quit bad managers.” At any workplace, including your nonprofit, managers directly influence whether their team feels engaged and motivated. Your nonprofit can set managers up for success by providing them with the resources they need to support their teams. 

A few ways you can help your nonprofit’s leadership and managerial team engage employees include 

  • Leadership training. Leadership is a skill all of your employees can develop with proper training. When employees enter manager roles, provide training around how to provide feedback, set expectations, and communicate productively. 
  • Structured processes. While some managers might rise to the challenge of creating new team structures and processes as needed, most will appreciate having stable systems they can rely on. For example, you might have a structured process where all managers meet with their direct reports for ten minutes at least once a week to help teams maintain strong, open communication. 
  • Achievable goals. Your nonprofit should set goals for all teams and employees. While these goals should be challenging, managers will have a far easier time motivating their teams if the goals are possible. Assess past data and work with managers to set objectives they feel confident they can help their team achieve. 

Additionally, help managers create positive work environments and listen to their feedback about how various programs might influence employee engagement. For example, if you create a new incentive plan, ask managers to provide frank reports about how it affects employees, such as whether it encourages greater productivity or is potentially leading to inter-team conflict. 

Even nonprofits with limited resources can create positive workplaces where employees feel engaged and motivated. When employees are engaged, they produce better work, and your nonprofit will have an easier time finding new workers who want to join your thriving workplace environment. 

Start improving your employee engagement strategy by communicating with managers and employees alike to ensure they feel heard, appreciated, and supported.