Studies appear regularly that address new trends in the nonprofit sector or changes in the way nonprofit organizations operate to fulfill their missions. It would be impossible to capture all of these developments, but a few key ones are particularly relevant to the nonprofit sector job seeker. These include

• the growing leadership needs of nonprofit organizations
• attention to nonprofit sector compensation
• active recruitment of a diverse workforce
• increasing collaborations among nonprofits, government, and business
• a surge in social entrepreneurship
• increased accountability and oversight of nonprofit organizations

Nonprofit organization leadership needs = Advancement opportunities
The “Nonprofit Sector Size and Scope” page presents some statistics on the sector’s employment, its sizeable share of the U.S. economy, and its dramatic expansion. People interested in rapid career movement may find it in the large, vital, and evolving nonprofit sector with its pronounced leadership needs.

Opportunities abound, not only because of the sector’s growth, but also because many of its Baby Boomer leaders are expected to retire. Nonprofit organizations are hungry for talent, both for entry-level workers and to build their “bench strength”—the talent in their ranks prepared to assume leadership positions. A number of recent studies estimate the nonprofit sector’s forthcoming leadership needs:

• The Bridgespan Group released The Nonprofit Sector’s Leadership Deficit in 2006. The study found that over the next decade, “organizations will need to attract and develop some 640,000 new senior managers—the equivalent of 2.4 times the number currently employed.” By 2016, almost 80,000 new executives per year will be in demand (in contrast to 56,000 needed in 2006).¹
• Daring to Lead 2006: A National Study of Nonprofit Executive Leadership by CompassPoint Nonprofit Services found that 75 percent of responding executives planned to leave their posts within five years (and smaller organizations are more likely to experience transitions than larger organizations). Although the majority of those planning to leave their positions said they expected to stay within the sector, the pipeline of talent will be tested. CompassPoint found that “bench strength, diversity, and competitive compensation are critical factors in finding future leaders.”²
• An earlier study by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Nonprofit Executive Leadership and Transition Survey 2004, found that of 2,200 executives surveyed, 65 percent planned to leave their positions by 2010. This study also pointed to the lack of leadership diversity: 84 percent of executives are white, 10 percent are African American, and 4 percent are Hispanic/Latino.³
• The United Way of New York City offers one local example. It estimated that 45 percent of current executive directors of New York City nonprofit organizations planned to retire within five years of the survey.⁴

This scholarship bodes well for professionals looking for employment and leadership opportunities at nonprofit organizations. Visionary nonprofit organizations are paying attention to the talent wars not only for today’s frontline workers, but because they know these “new recruits” will be tomorrow’s sector leaders.

Notes

¹ Thomas Tierney, The Nonprofit Sector’s Leadership Deficit (Boston: The Bridgespan Group, 2006).

² Jeanne Bell, Richard Moyers, and Timothy Wolfred, Daring to Lead 2006: A National Study of Nonprofit Executive Leadership (San Francisco: CompassPoint Nonprofit Services, 2006).

³ Paige Hull Teegarden, Nonprofit Executive Leadership and Transitions Survey 2004 (Silver Spring, MD: Managance Consulting and the Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2004). www.aecf.org/upload/PublicationFiles/executive_transition_survey_report2004.pdf

⁴ A. Gordon, “Turnover Nears For Top Leaders of Nonprofits: Generational Change Approaches in City,” New York Sun (October 23, 2003): 1.