(Or, What Nonprofits Get Wrong About Talent Recruitment)

After years of leading organizations and watching hundreds of hiring decisions, I’ve noticed something uncomfortable: many nonprofits unintentionally repel the very talent they are trying to attract. 

Nonprofits often talk about talent as a staffing challenge. The strongest organizations treat it as a strategic advantage. The difference shows up in who they attract, who they hire, and ultimately the impact they achieve.

By the time she retired, OFS Founder Linda McNay had completed more than 10,000 executive searches. While I do not come close to that number, I have managed roughly 2,000 people over the course of my career. Between search and management experience, our team has learned a great deal about what works and what does not when staffing nonprofit organizations.

Most hiring advice is directed at candidates on how to be more marketable. Far less is written for nonprofits about how to attract and hire strong talent. So, let’s tackle it.

Six Recruiting Mistakes that Push Talent Away

  1. The Poverty Mindset 

    When an organization operates from a poverty mindset, it assumes talented people must accept sacrifice as proof of commitment. Nonprofits often confuse mission motivation with economic martyrdom. Talented professionals want impact. They also want sustainability. Nonprofits must pay a fair, market-based salary and say so transparently. Organizations that recruit well compete on the total value proposition: mission, autonomy, growth, and flexibility. Mission alone does not attract great talent. Great leadership does.

  2. Placing Too Much Emphasis on Technical Proficiency

    This problem is especially common at the senior executive level. Technical excellence does not automatically translate into leadership capacity or organizational impact. Systems, tools, and program details can be taught. Judgment, curiosity, and executive presence are much harder to develop. Strong organizations look beyond credentials. They ask interview questions that test how candidates think, and they evaluate whether a candidate will make the organization more effective.

  3. Confusing Compassion with Competence

    Many nonprofit job postings effectively say, “Must be passionate about our cause.” Passion is valuable, but it is also easy to claim. The harder question is whether a candidate can translate passion into disciplined execution. Strong organizations look for evidence of impact, not just enthusiasm. They ask questions such as: “What did you build in your last role? What changed because you were there?” Passion is fuel. It is not a substitute for skill.

  4. Writing Job Descriptions that Repel the People They Want

    Nonprofit job descriptions often read like compliance documents: forty bullet points, ten required qualifications, and no salary information. Strong candidates interpret those signals as organizational confusion or risk. A strong job description focuses on the problem the new hire will solve, not just a list of duties. It should describe what success looks like in the first year. Good candidates want to know what they are walking into.

  5. Hiring for Culture Comfort

    Many organizations describe this as “fit.” In reality, it often means hiring people who feel familiar. The same networks. The same backgrounds. The same communication styles. Comfortable organizations rarely become exceptional ones. Strong organizations hire people who expand the organization’s capabilities and thinking. Interview processes should test whether candidates will challenge assumptions constructively.

  6. A Slow, Unstructured Hiring Process

    Many organizations unintentionally signal disorganization during hiring. Slow responses to applicants, last-minute interviews, and no clear timeline suggest internal chaos. Strong missions attract attention. Strong teams deliver impact. A strong hiring process is structured and communicated in advance. It respects candidates’ time and moves decisively when the right person appears. Talent often chooses the organization that demonstrates clarity and momentum.

Shameless plug: helping organizations avoid these pitfalls is exactly the work OFS does.

Five Best Practices to Recruit and Land Talent

Effective nonprofit recruiting follows these core principles.

  1. Sell the Mission, But Also the Work

    Mission attracts attention. The actual work attracts professionals. Describe the intellectual challenge, the leadership opportunity, and the scale of impact.

  2. Treat Recruiting Like Relationship Building

    The best candidates rarely appear through a single job posting. Strong organizations cultivate talent long before a position opens. Board members, partners, and funders can all be part of the talent network.

  3. Be Honest About the Job

    Nonprofits sometimes oversell roles. Ironically, candor attracts stronger candidates. If the organization is in a turnaround phase, say so. If systems need rebuilding, say so. Serious professionals are drawn to meaningful problems.

  4. Make Growth Part of the Offer

    Many nonprofit leaders assume candidates want only mission and stability. High performers want growth, influence, and learning. Show how the role will expand their leadership.

  5. Decide Faster Than Your Competitors

    Nonprofits often lose candidates because they deliberate too long. Top candidates rarely stay on the market. When you find the right person, act with conviction. 

Key Takeaway

Across thousands of employees and thousands of hiring decisions, one lesson stands out. The organizations that attract strong talent are rarely those with the biggest budgets. They are the ones that treat talent as a strategic asset rather than a staffing problem. They design recruiting processes with the same seriousness they bring to fundraising, strategy, and program delivery. In the end, the difference between a struggling nonprofit and a transformative one is rarely the mission. More often than not, it is the people.

Strong missions attract attention. Strong teams deliver impact.