Talent acquisition is a persistent challenge across the nonprofit world. Research shows that nearly three in four nonprofits have job vacancies, making it harder to keep pace with the increased demand for programs and services that 71% of organizations reported.

The solution is to power your talent acquisition efforts with software custom-made for the task. Leveraging the best talent acquisition software solutions allows your organization to take control of your hiring efforts without the extra effort and budget required for an in-house recruiter.

If you’re new to this topic and don’t know where to begin, no worries—this guide has you covered. Let’s review the top talent acquisition software features nonprofits should look for in their search.

1. Automated resume screening

Understanding how to properly interpret and draw actionable insights from resumes is the foundation of any effective hiring strategy. However, poring over resumes can be incredibly time consuming—but it doesn’t have to be. Many recruitment software solutions come with resume-screening features that allow you to instantly glean information about your candidates, such as their:

  • Educational background
  • Experience
  • Connections in the field
  • Recommendations from nonprofit professionals
  • Skills

These features are particularly helpful for developing current and future talent pools. These are groups of candidates that share common traits or status in your hiring process. For instance, some talent pools are based on whether the candidate is currently being considered for a role, while others represent individuals the nonprofit wants to reconnect with later once they’ve developed their skills. Resume-screening technology can automatically sort the candidates into different pools based on parameters the nonprofit sets.

2. Diversity and inclusion tools

Left unchecked, implicit bias can significantly undermine organizational success. After all, research shows that diverse teams are more likely than homogenous ones to innovate and retain a competitive edge over other organizations. Talent acquisition software can mitigate the adverse effects of unconscious bias, providing opportunities for underrepresented communities while achieving the best possible outcomes for your mission.

On a hire-by-hire basis, talent acquisition technology can remove bias from the decision-making process altogether with bias-blocking features. The software removes any identifying demographic information from resumes, allowing hiring teams to focus on what really matters—the candidate’s skills, experience, and mission alignment—without interference.

On a larger scale, recruitment software gives you insights into metrics that can impact your overall approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. For instance, your software can analyze extensive datasets to determine how many successful hires and initial applicants came from underrepresented groups, as well as their satisfaction with your nonprofit’s workplace culture. By collecting this data with your hiring software, you can create reports that shed light on opportunities for improving your hiring activities with DEI in mind.

3. Candidate communication

70% of candidates believe poor communication from their potential employer is a red flag—which is also why over half of all candidates drop out of the hiring process. Communicating effectively with candidates keeps them engaged and excited about your nonprofit’s opportunities—but maintaining a consistent flow of communication is easier said than done.

Talent acquisition software is the key to achieving an ideal candidate communication cadence. In particular, it can help by handling:

  • Coordination. Diligently sending communications to candidates is much easier said than done. Talent acquisition software will send relevant messages when specific triggers are met, such as when you advance a candidate to the next round of interviews.
  • Personalization. Your candidates go through the effort of learning about your nonprofit, so it’s only fair to treat your candidates respectfully by personalizing your messages to them. Even if you’re sending mass communications, ensure your software can customize the message with their name and the role they applied for.
  • Delivery. Manually inputting all of your candidates’ emails (or sending messages individually) is cumbersome. Recruitment software will automatically pull candidates’ contact information and send them messages with the press of a button.
  • Interview scheduling. Between your programs, fundraising campaigns, and donor stewardship efforts, you have a lot on your plate without even considering your hiring efforts. Hiring software can schedule interviews with candidates based on their and your team’s availability.

Don’t just communicate with your candidates during the hiring process. Reach out to participants after they’ve either accepted a position or left the hiring. Understanding what you did well and how you can improve helps you tailor efforts to candidates’ preferences and retain more hires going forward.

4. Reporting and analytics

Recruiting data is the most objective way to chart a path to improvement. The right talent acquisition software can translate abstract data into nuanced, digestible insights. For example, Lever suggests tracking the following talent acquisition data and configuring it into reports:

  • Time to fill, which is the amount of time it takes from opening a new position to filling it
  • Cost per hire, which is the total budget spent on recruiting a single new hire
  • Offer acceptance rate, which is the number of candidates who accepted their offer versus those who turned their offer down.
  • Source of hire, which measures the popularity of hiring sources
  • Application completion rate, which is the percentage of your total applicants who actually complete and submit their application

Compare these metrics with your employee satisfaction data to see how you can improve your recruitment performance. For example, if you find that employees prioritize a comprehensive compensation package when choosing a job, emphasize your benefits during the hiring process to increase your offer acceptance rate and boost satisfaction among current employees.

5. Integration with other tools

Implementing hiring software into your workflow is a marathon, not a sprint—but you can certainly speed up the process by strategically acquiring the right software. Choose solutions that integrate with your existing tools to transfer data easily and get up and running faster.

To confirm if your potential recruitment software integrates with your existing tech stack, look on their website and find their integration list—it might be under a tab that reads “marketplace” or “partners.” Then, locate your tools on their list.

Suppose your tools aren’t on the list, but you’re dead-set on this hiring software. In that case, you might be able to request the development team to build an integration—but this can take time and extra money. Touch base with your team to confirm your ideal integration budget and timeline before requesting one.

As Double the Donation’s guide to employee engagement highlights, your software can improve your candidate experience and your overall employee engagement. By determining what makes a successful contributor to your team using employee data, you can configure your hiring software to pick out the best candidates during the resume-screening stage and ensure a greater cultural fit.