Read this if you work for a not-for-profit organization.
Our annual not-for-profit Recharge event provides attendees with an opportunity to hear about hot button issues in the not-for-profit industry. We polled registrants from across the country to see where they are focusing their attention in the current landscape.
Employee retention
Overwhelmingly, employee retention is a number one concern for organizations, with 78% of respondents saying they were strongly focused on it in 2022. Not surprisingly, financial stability (67%), cybersecurity (50%) and concerns about access to government funding (43%) were of common concern among respondents.

Remarkably, employee retention in 2022 weighed more heavily on respondents than concerns around the remote workplace in 2021. While over 57% of respondents were concerned about the remote workforce in 2021, employee retention did not even make it into the top four concerns for organizations. This shift is consistent with what we are seeing in our client base, as organizations embraced hybrid and remote working arrangements and are well into codification of and adherence to the policies in place. Organizations reported taking significant efforts toward employee retention, most commonly looking at increasing salaries and allowing hybrid and flexible work arrangements as methods to help retain employees.
Financial stability
The concern around financial stability is slowly starting to decline. While financial stability was a top concern for 83% of organizations in 2021, that percentage dropped to 67% of respondents listing it as a top concern in 2022, While multiple factors certainly contribute to these results (availability of COVID relief funds, for example), the decline is significant, especially in this time of inflationary growth and demands on the labor market. This decline may be reflective of the continued transition away from short-term emergency response and toward a more future-oriented mindset.
Other concerns
Both cybersecurity and government funding concerns held relatively steady in 2022 compared to 2021, with 45% of respondents concerned with cybersecurity and government funding in 2021, compared to 50% and 43% in 2022, respectively.
Participants also reflected on the perceived top concerns for their board members, with employee retention and recruitment and overall financial stability leading in top importance. These mirrored concerns are of no surprise, but speak to the continued need for regular and reliable reporting to boards to allow for continued rapid response by those charged with governance.
If you have any questions about your specific concerns or situation, please don’t hesitate to contact our not-for-profit team. We’re here to help.