Becoming a nonprofit manager is a career path that can provide highly rewarding opportunities to develop a wide skillset, lead with purpose, and unite a team of passionate individuals toward a common goal. However, because the nonprofit landscape is so diverse, there’s no universal roadmap for charting your course toward a successful management career.
Instead, it’s important to embody and nurture the skills you need to build cohesion, uphold a positive workplace culture, and adapt to changing needs in your community. In this article, we’ll discuss four essential management skills and how you can develop them in your role.
1. Clear and Open Communication
Fulfilling your nonprofit’s mission is no solo initiative. Every team member and volunteer contributes through their own tasks and responsibilities, and it’s up to you to turn their individual efforts into a coordinated endeavor. By practicing clear and open communication with your team, you can boost their morale, confidence, and productivity.
Use these strategies to become a more proficient communicator:
● Prioritize face-to-face conversations and maintain eye contact.
● During virtual meetings, keep your camera on and use gestures to reinforce what you are saying.
● Practice active listening by minimizing interruptions and recapping important points.
● Schedule weekly or biweekly one-on-one meetings to exchange more regular, informal feedback than performance conversations.
Remember to encourage two-way communication by making yourself available for your team’s concerns and questions. Build open “office hours” into your schedule to give team members an easy way to start conversations with you. By doing so, you’ll promote transparency, trust, and accountability among your staff.
2. Team Building
While establishing the foundation of a strong team lies in the hiring process, nonprofit managers need to focus on ongoing team-building efforts, too. Cultivate cohesive teams that are motivated to work toward a collective goal, rather than overly focused on completing their individual objectives.
To increase collaboration and respect within your team, follow these best practices:
● Organize outings to give team members a chance to get to know one another.
● Create a peer-to-peer recognition system using eCards or a physical staff shout-out board.
● Engage in problem-solving as a team to brainstorm solutions and collectively choose the best path forward.
● Encourage staff to share ideas based on their diverse backgrounds and perspectives.
Team building is especially essential if you’re managing hybrid or remote staff who have limited opportunities to work together in person.
According to a recent nonprofit trends report, nonprofit staff in operations and human resources (HR) consider managing remote employees and volunteers their top issue, and 46% of nonprofits are placing a higher priority on retaining staff. As a manager, you can bridge the virtual distance by establishing clear communication protocols and planning virtual team bonding activities like trivia contests and escape rooms.
3. Delegation
Delegating is an invaluable skill for nonprofit managers, allowing you to enhance your team’s performance while making your staff feel empowered in their roles. While entrusting various tasks to your direct reports can free up your time and energy, however, it can be challenging to know when and what to delegate.
Keep these tips in mind to hone your delegation skills:
● Identify tasks that would improve your team’s efficiency or help a team member grow.
● Assign tasks based on your staff’s strengths and interests.
● Establish expectations for communicating progress, such as whether you’ll have weekly or monthly check-ins.
● Celebrate team members when they complete a difficult task and provide detailed feedback in a follow-up meeting.
To promote confidence and inspire your staff to put in their best effort, avoid outlining exactly how you want them to accomplish their task. Instead, focus on the desired outcome and how you’ll evaluate their results.
For example, say that one of the priorities outlined in your nonprofit’s strategic plan involves strengthening connections with your stakeholders. You could put one of your team members in charge of creating a feedback survey or poll, but leave the number of questions, length, and communication channels up to their judgment. Let them know that you’ll look at the responses or response rate to measure engagement, but allow them to decide how they’ll tackle the task.
4. Adaptability
As the world changes, so does the nonprofit sector. Between evolving government regulations, AI fundraising innovations, and shifting philanthropic trends, there’s a lot for your team to factor into its strategies. To stay at the forefront of nonprofit progress, you need to learn how to lead your staff through change.
Fortunately, that doesn’t mean you have to navigate change management alone. By signing up for nonprofit management training courses, you can learn from and discuss challenges with professionals who have been in your shoes. Depending on your time and resources, you could consider:
Alt Text: Popular training formats for improving nonprofit management skills, as listed below.
● Signing up for an online cohort-based program.
● Tuning into a podcast series.
● Enrolling in asynchronous classes.
Whether you’re dealing with a leadership change, implementing new fundraising software, or launching another program, make sure your team feels supported throughout the entire process. Organize a dedicated meeting to align everyone on how the change will provide opportunities to grow and further your mission in the long run.
When developing your nonprofit management skills, remember that it’s a journey—not a destination. By reflecting regularly on your management approach, embracing learning opportunities, and maintaining an improvement mindset, you can create a model of excellence for your team and drive improved performance over time.