the nonprofit timesdehayf5mhw1h7.cloudfront.net/.../04/06130853/4-1-17_b… · · 2017-04-06the...

THENONPROFITTIMESTM

The Leading Business Publication For Nonprofit Management • www.thenonprofittimes.com • $6.00 U.S. April 1, 2017

2017 NPT Best Nonprofits To WorkStrong Focus On Organizational Culture Drives

Staffing Choices At The Best Nonprofits

Staff from different departmentscome together at a competitive fieldday team at DonorChoose.org'sthree-day summer staff retreat.

BY MARK HRYWNA

Aclassic source of frustration in many workplaces goes some-thing like this: An employee expresses an idea during ameeting. The boss hears that comment but lodges it in theback of the brain and weeks later it comes out

as the boss’s idea, forgetting that the colleague started it.“It’s classic that managers do this accidentally, deliver

it as if it’s their own idea. Obviously, that’s frustrating forthat employee,” said Charles Best, founder and CEO ofDonors Choose.org, a 17-year-old nonprofit in New YorkCity. “Whenever there’s a workplace where employeesfeel like they will be acknowledged and get the justified glory for beingthe one to come up with an idea, they’ll come up with kick-ass ideas,”he said.

“Giving credit where credit is due is one reason why people wouldwant to be here,” Best said.

Recognition, trust and support -- both monetary and otherwise -- are

among the critical tenants that make up a great nonprofit to work for, ac-cording to The NPT’s 2017 Best Nonprofit To Work For. The NonProfitTimes partnered with Harrisburg, Pa.-based Best Companies Group for

the seventh annual report, which ranked Donors -Choose.org as the No. 1 organization among medium-sized employers and No. 1 overall among the 50 nonprofitsrecognized. Donors Choose.org last made the list in 2015,ranking No. 3 overall after a No. 8 rank ing in 2014.

The Best Nonprofits To Work For report is data com-piled from a thorough organizational assessment. Each

participating nonprofit completes a questionnaire along with a confi-dential survey completed by employees. Business partners are alsopolled. The information then is combined to analyze and rank the work-places. The organizations were further categorized as small, mediumand large. Explanations of the categories accompany those stories.

Best Nonprofits, page 2

NPT’sBESTNONPROFITSTOWORK FOR★2017★

4-1-17_BestNonprofits_Layout 1 3/31/17 4:10 PM

2 APRIL 1, 2017 THE NONPROFIT TIMES www.thenonprofittimes.com

The NPT’s 2017 Best Nonprofits To Work Foridentified the top 10 key drivers for employeesacross the 50 organizations:

• I feel I am valued in this organization;• I have confidence in the leadership of this

organization;• I like the type of work that I do;• Most days, I feel I have made progress at

work;• At this organization, employees have fun at

work;• I can trust what this organization tells me;• Overall, I’m satisfied with this organiza-

tion’s benefits package;• There is room for me to advance at this or-

ganization;• I like the people I work with at this organi-

zation; and,• I feel part of a team working toward a

shared goal.The Employee Benchmark Report represents

the average percentage of positive responses toalmost 80 statements or questions spreadacross eight focus areas. The percentage of re-spondents represents those who answered“Agree somewhat” and “Agree strongly.”

For the most part, the same statements andquestions scored highest and lowest in a cate-gory among nonprofits that made this year’s listand those that did not. The difference was in justhow big a disparity there was between nonprof-its. Organizations that made the list tended toscore near 90 percent across all categorieswhile those that did not scored anywhere from70 percent to as low as the middle 80s.

Among the eight categories of questions, thelargest disparity overall between organizationsthat made the Best Nonprofits list and those thatdid not was found within “pay and benefits” (18-point differential) and “leadership and planning”(16-point differential):

• Leadership and planning, 90 percent com-pared with 74 percent;

• Corporate culture and communications, 88percent to 73 percent;

• Role satisfaction, 90 percent to 81 percent;• Work environment, 89 percent to 83 per-

cent;• Relationship with supervisor, 92 percent to

85 percent;

• Training, development and resources, 84percent to 69 percent;

• Pay and benefits, 88 percent to 70 percent;• Overall employee engagement, 92 percent

to 82 percent; and,• Survey average, 89 percent to 77 percent.Within “leadership and planning,” the dispar-

ities among seven questions were in the double-digits, with the highest (18 points) on thestatement, “There is adequate follow-through ofdepartmental objectives,” and “The leaders ofthis organization care about their employees’well being.”

Although statements and questions withinthe pay and benefits category most consistentlyhad the largest disparities between organiza-tions that did or did not make the list, the largestfound in the survey overall was on the state-ment, “Staffing levels are adequate to providequality products/services,” within the categoryof corporate culture and communications.Three-quarters of organizations on the list re-sponded positively to that statement comparedwith barely half of those that did not.

Recognition is important to employees andnot just at DonorsChoose.org but consistentlyacross all 50 of the Best Nonprofits. One of thestatements where Best Nonprofits diverged from

others was: “This organization gives enoughrecognition for work that is well done.” About 84percent responded positively to that statementcompared with just 66 percent among organiza-tions that didn’t make the list.

“You hear about places where employeescan bring their true selves to work. It’s impor-tant, especially for younger people,” Best said.“We want to express a personal passion or intel-lectual purposes, or about current events. It cre-ates a colleague who feels more connected tothe organization, more committed to the organi-zation, because they’re able to express all ofwho they are,” he said.

Best credits the implementation of a new in-stant messaging tool with helping to do that.DonorsChoose moved from Skype to Slack forintra-office instant messaging during the sum-mer of 2015. He described Slack as a sort of“next-generation bulletin board” in which userscan subscribe to particular topics.

“At first we transitioned because we simplythought it would enable group chat a little moreseamlessly. Of course, it turned out do a lot morethan that,” Best said.

The 550 Slack forums at Donors Choose helpnurture camaraderie as well as organize around

Continued from page 1

Continued on page 4

NPT’s BEST NONPROFITS TO WORK -- 2017

‘‘You hear aboutplaces whereemployees canbring their trueselves to work.It’s important,especially foryounger people.

--Charles Best

Team Rubicon rankedNo. 1 on last year's BestNonprofits To Work and

returns this year at No. 3.Photo by Kirk Jackson.


taking you

1601 ELM STREET | SUITE 1700 | DALLAS, TEXAS 75201-7241 | 214.922.0125 | 800.747.5564 | highgroundadvisors.org

Offering asset management, planned giving and account administration for 87 years to nonprofit organizations and charitably minded families dedicated to transforming lives.

Our goal is to take care of the details so you can focus on serving your higher calling.


AUGUST 2-4, 2017 | GAYLORD NATIONAL HOTEL & CONVENTION CENTER | NATIONAL HARBOR, MD (ADJACENT TO WASHINGTON, DC)

BRIDGE TO INTEGRATED MARKETING & FUNDRAISING CONFERENCE

ncgpc.org

PROGRAM PARTNERS

THE BRIDGE CONFERENCE – designed specifically for:• Direct Response Fundraisers• Major Gift & Planned Giving Officers• Chief Development Officers & Staff• Membership Staff• Nonprofit Chief Executives & Executive Directors• Nonprofit Board of Directors• Writers, Designers and Creative Professionals• Digital & Social Media Marketers

Join us at the 12th Annual Bridge Conference where we will help you Think BIG, Think BOLD and Take ACTION!

You’ve got a job to do! It’s time to raise funds that truly elevate your organization’s mission. You can’t do it by doing the same thing over-and-over again. You need to Think BIG, Think BOLD and Take ACTION!

Be inspired by 3 keynote presenters; gain fresh ideas from over 80 breakout sessions and more than 120 vendor partners; discover new tools and insights; be invigorated by our industry’s leading experts; and leave with actionable ideas.

YSRLLY

TE7

Y BIRDEARLLY

AAT5.28.17TE ENDS

RAAT

g

oue and yatue ralest vr the bor ffoeistgeRRed in theerente ey bllyicalmattotl auillwwi

,ingwwiaawdr * n up at:r sig o

ing/wg rnf.oocoeidggerB201h 23,ccharn Mld oe heell billling wwiwwiaawDr

ir thed,ereistgey rdear has alrinne the wf*Id.eharge cl not bile wen ffeioatristger

WIN A FREE TION!REGISTRAAT

ou

2017.

ir


projects. It allows for direct, one-on-one privateconversations, dialogue within teams, and connec-tions with staff across different personal interests.

Some teams use Slack exclusively for projectmanagement but the organization lets teams de-cide how to use it. Affinity groups have formed,ranging from cat lovers to fitness buffs to neigh-borhoods. “It’s a great way to get out organiza-tion-wide messages, instead of email or it mightnot merit emails,” Best said, adding that Slackhas become the way that employee anniver-saries are acknowledged.

“It’s created a greater sense of kinship, en-abled colleagues to bring their true self to work,”he said, and know more about what they’re col-leagues are up to yet without feeling overbur-dened or over-sharing.

“Slack actually conveys a lot more informa-tion to people than email ever did. Yet people arespending less time, or at least much more pro-ductive time, with their colleagues,” Best said.

The founder is confident that DonorsChoosehas enough of a performance-minded culture --“everyone thinking like an owner culture” -- thathe doesn’t believe there’s an issue of employeesspending more time on cat lover Slack channelsthan work.

Last year’s No. 1 organization, Team Rubi-con, returns to the list this year ranked No. 3overall after growing some 40 percent.

The Los Angeles, Calif.-based charity hiredan additional head on the human resources teamand initiated programs around growing and sup-

porting remote staff, supervisory developmentand automated/real-time performance manage-ment that will roll out this year.

Team Rubicon saw improvement in commu-nication across offices by implementing bestpractices that are now habitual behaviors,” ac-cording to Director of Human Resources CandiceSchmitt. During virtual meetings with a meetinglead, a moderator monitors the chat bar, acting

as a voice in the room for those dialed in or ask-ing for a chance to speak. Even something assimple as rearranging all-staff meeting space toidentify where speakers should stand and look toengage the remote audience has received goodfeedback, she said.

With about half of its staff in satellite officesor working from home, Team Rubicon put a lot ofeffort into making perks and fun employee en-gagements suitable for participation across alllocations. The hope was that employees would

by a different name: The Denver Center for CrimeVictims.

“We wanted something that was more posi-tive and more directly reflected what we did,”said Kathi Fanning, director of training. “We dealwith trauma all the time. We’re hoping to movepeople toward resilience,” she said. The formername left people identifying as a crime victimbut not reflective of the progress that they make.

The name change helped to expand the cir-cle of people the center works with, despite

feel included and “grow a strong sense of work-place culture regardless of where they sat, but itturns out they felt it was cheesy and a waste oftime,” Schmitt said. This year, Rubicon will focuson reinforcing benefits of each location and rec-ognizing and celebrating their differences versustrying to create a virtual office culture, she said.

The last time that the Center for Trauma &Resilience made the Best Nonprofits list, it went

some initial hesitation and even unhappinessfrom peers in their community.

The center has a contract with the sheriff’sdepartment to do trauma sensitive yoga groupswith jail inmates. Fanning said that incarceratedpeople typically also have been victims at somepoint in their lives and cope with that stress andanxiety. Staff often want the assignment andhave no hesitation because inmates are such anappreciative group, she said. “Folks in jail are re-ally appreciative of someone coming in and tak-ing the practice to heart,” she said, using thepractice to calm themselves.

There is a sort of counter-intuitiveness to it --that a victim services group is doing service forperpetrators -- but “we try to have a bigger lensthan that. They had victimization in their life aswell and that’s who we should be serving,” Fan-ning said.

“We look at trauma as a health issue not justa victimization issue. Look at both victims ofcrime and other service providers, and what im-pact trauma has on someone’s health,” Fanningsaid. “Trauma is more than just momentary psy-chological impact but affects someone’s entirehealth,” she said.

The center’s name change has helped toshift attitudes around that as well as empoweredstaff to be able to address trauma in a bigger cir-cle, helping people increase social support, re-duce the risk of health problems. “It’s brought tothe forefront as a staff, health disparities andthose kinds of more community and long-termimpact of trauma, she said. NPT




THENONPROFITTIMES TM & BLUEWATER NONPROFIT SOLUTIONS

Enrich your organization’s competitive edge with thenonprofit sector’s most comprehensive, data-rich Salary

and Benefits Report. The newly released 2015 Nonprofit

Organizations Salary and Benefits Report provides currentsalary information on 251 nonprofit positions from entrylevel to the executive office – including detailed trend datafor 2015 – and complete data on 94 employee benefitofferings including healthcare, retirement, executive perks,vacation, and much more.

What can it do for you?

✔ Avoid trouble with the IRS by being able to check YES onyour Form 990 regarding salaries for your chief executiveand key employees set using comparability data forsimilar positions.

✔ Learn about 94 employee benefits, going way beyonddental plans and summer hours.

✔ Get data by nonprofit field, budget size, number ofemployees, and region throughout the U.S.

✔ Attract and retain the best employees by knowinghow to offer fair and competitive compensation.

Purchase your digital copy of the 2015 Nonprofit

Organizations Salary and Benefits Report today.

www.ShopTheNonProfitTimes.com

2015

Nonprofit OrganizationsNorth Carolina State

Salary & Benefits ReportCollaborating Partner

2015

Nonprofit OrganizationsNew York StateSalary & Benefits Report

Collaborating Partner

2015

Nonprofit Organizations Top Executive Positions

Salary and Special Perks Report

2015

Nonprofit OrganizationsBenefits Report

2015

Nonprofit OrganizationsSalary Report

2015

Nonprofit OrganizationsSalary & Benefits Report

2015 SALARY & BENEFITS REPORT



Continued on page 7

BY MARK HRYWNA

A t The SAFE Alliance, employees areallowed to bring their babies towork for six months after they re-turn from family leave. More than a

dozen employees took the organization up onthe perk last year.

“There were just babies everywhere,” saidDaniel Cox Malyszka, chief human resource offi-cer, at the Austin, Texas-based nonprofit. “As longas it doesn’t interfere with their jobs, people arelike, ‘A baby!’, passing them back and forth,” hesaid. That’s on top of the on-site daycare, whereemployees get priority and a discounted rate.

It’s not just daycare that made The SAFE Al-liance among the Best Nonprofits To Work Forlast year. It ranked No. 2 among large organiza-tions and No. 21 overall. With some exceptions,supervisors don’t oversee more than five people,according to Malyszka. The effort to keep a lowemployee-to-supervisor ratio aims to combathigh turnover at an organization that deals withfoster care, domestic violence and other sensi-tive topics. Supervisors also are required to havemeetings at least once every other week for anhour and help staff through difficult situations.“We want that time to connect,” he said.

If employees see an avenue for careergrowth, they won’t want to leave the organiza-tion but at the same time, SAFE has supervisorswho are very green. So Malyzska has writtenand delivered trainings on effective interviewing,performance management, sexual harassmentand other types of harassment, anti-retaliationand conflict resolution.

“We are growing this curriculum at one totwo trainings per year, and doing them in a rota-tion, one topic per month,” he said. “Attendancehas been excellent and trainings are collabora-tive with group work that gets participants in-volved and encourages them to apply real-lifescenarios to the material they are learning,”Malyszka said. “The idea is to get the supervisorteam to a great place that can lead better,” hesaid, opining that people don’t quit their jobs butrather their bosses.

Adequate staffing levels appear to be thebiggest issue among large organizations in theseventh annual report. In response to the state-ment, “Staffing levels are adequate to providequality products/services,” an average of 72percent of employees at nonprofits that madethe list answered positively, compared with 47percent that did not.

SAFE operates two large campuses and onesatellite office downtown, which in total com-prise more than 20 acres and 17 buildings. Thealliance is the result of a merger of Austin Chil-dren’s Shelter and SafePlace. The consolidationtook effect Jan. 1 but discussions started as farback as 2011. SAFE Alliance in 2013 began pro-viding coordinated planning, human resources,finance and other administration functions toboth organizations. Late last year, the two boardsvoted to complete a full merger.

Part of what made the merger easier was theCEO at the time at children’s shelter, used to beCEO at SafePlace.

“Having people at both ends made it easier to

make it happen but the culture of each organiza-tion was very different,” Malyszka said, being veryregulatory at the shelter given the rigorous, gov-ernment-indoctrinated feeling while SAFE Placewas more of a grassroots, feminist organization.

“We had a lot of conversations about whatvalues from each organization were going to beforwarded to this new organizations,” he said.Both were comparable in size, budget and staff,so it “was more about giving each legacy organ-ization a place at the table to talk about whatwas important to them.”

When the alliance first was formed, it wasn’tinitially meant to be a merger nor was it in theplans. “We pooled the employee group and of-fered everyone the same benefits but we oper-ated with different employee handbooks,”Malyszka said. There even were three differentboards of directors: one each for SAFE, AustinChildren’s Shelter, and SafePlace.

As the chief human resources officer,Malyszka was leading two different sets of poli-cies, depending on which office he was in thatday. “As an employee I needed to follow differentpolicies, too. We finally realized that merging

was necessary to fulfill our mission – and thenall those other things that were troublesome fellinto place,” he said.

Among large organizations, the gaps be-tween nonprofits that made the list and thosethat didn’t were most pronounced in the area ofpay and benefits. An average 88 percent agreedstrongly or somewhat that they were satisfiedwith assorted benefits and vacation and sickleave policies, compared with just 65 percentamong employees of organizations that did notmake the list. The amount of healthcare paid forwas the biggest disparity, with 90 percent of em-ployees at Best Nonprofits agreeing comparedwith 59 percent at other organizations.

Pay and tuition reimbursement benefits wereareas of the lowest satisfaction among all organ-

izations surveyed but a wide gap still remainedbetween employees at the Best Nonprofits, thataveraged more than 71 percent in agreement,while those at organizations not on the list werecloser to 50 percent.

Alzheimer’s Association went through amerger of sorts of its own, and yet still made theBest Nonprofits To Work For list for the eighthyear in a row. The Chicago-based charity wasthe top-ranked large organization (250-plus em-ployees) and No. 19 among the 50 recognized.

This year’s recognition comes after a reorgan-ization, consolidating 81 chapters and 48 stand-alone affiliates into one national entity. Thereorganization took effect July 1, after affiliatesdecided by Jan. 15 whether to remain the organi-zation. About six affiliates broke from the processto remain stand-alone local nonprofits.

The organization included several specificemail communications for news related to thechanges occurring in the association and unifyingthe organization (“ALZ United Minute” and “ALZInsider”) as well as a human resources/payroll re-location class, with news intended for newlymerged chapters to assist in transition activities.

President & CEO Harry Johns said communi-cation and commitment to mission were para-mount throughout the multi-year reorganizationprocess. “Certainly before, during and after thechanges, we worked hard to communicateacross the organization,” Johns said, includingseveral town halls with staff across the country.“We were a participative organization in terms ofthe way we work before the changes, certainlywe had lots of chances at discussion,” he said.

“The thing that’s most critical is engaging peo-ple in a real way and paying attention to the input.You can’t follow every piece of input because itdoesn’t always agree. But paying attention to it,staying true to the mission at the same time --that’s what driving us, to be true to the missionand people, that’s the core of it,” Johns said.


Large Organizations

Career Growth, Life Balance Keep Staffing StableFamilies, caregiversand staff gather for anAlzheimer's Associationwalk fundraiser.

Employees of the SAFE Alliance pose in a photobooth during a Superhero Party to celebratetheir win in the Austin Chronicle's "Best InAustin" - Best Real Life Superheroes Award.

An employee engages a child duringone of CAP Tulsa's reading programs.


APRIL 1, 2017 THE NONPROFIT TIMES www.thenonprofittimes.com 7

While everyone didn’t agree with makingchanges, Johns said, they all agreed on mission.“Those types of things are important in gettingthrough changes of this sort,” he said.

Due to hard work of people in the field, acrosschapters at headquarters, the organization hastransitioned pretty smoothly compared with whatit could have been. “A lot of it is working togetheron this; it’s not me, it’s not us at the Chicago of-fice making decisions without including people.Not everyone agrees with decisions, but whenwe do them we try to do them openly, communi-cating about them. That’s critical even if weweren’t making those changes,” Johns said.

“It’s cliché but if committed to that every day,acted on that every day, engaging people in thatprocess, it makes a difference.”

Service Access and Management, Inc. (SAM)ranked seventh among large organizations andNo. 48 overall. With more than a dozen offices inPennsylvania and New Jersey, the Reading, Pa.-based corporate office has a budget to encour-age satellite offices to do team-building events.

One office hosted a murder-mystery dinnerand another visited a local ropes course. OfficeOlympics take on a seasonal theme, with indooractivities in the winter, like stacking mini-marsh-mallows, and outdoor events like relay races inwarmer weather.

“We encourage each office to do any teambuilding events they want to do,” Human Re-sources Officer Kristin Clark said. “They make it

a fun thing,” she said, composing teams andsometimes pitting staff against supervisors inlight-hearted competition.

“We have a lot of outgoing, young staff thatreally get into it,” Clark said, estimating about

engagement with our employees,” she said.CEO Nan Haver has made it her mission to

increase employee engagement, Clark said, be-cause there’s lots of data that indicate that’show you get the best out of staff. SAM will com-



Not-for-Profit I N D U S T R Y C O N F E R E N C E

JUNE 21–23, 2017

Learn more at not.aicpastore.com

GAYLORD NATIONAL RESORT & CONVENTION CENTER NATIONAL HARBOR, MD

SAVE $75

VESAAV

REGISTER BY 5/7/17when you75$

REGISTER BY 5/7/17

Get your FREE Unemployment Cost Analysis at

www.chooseUST.org/2017NPT

$34,980,275.96*

Serving Nonprofits Since 1983

* That’s how much UST saved

state returns and cash back.

How much will you save?

UST

‘‘The thing that’s mostcritical is engagingpeople in a real wayand paying attentionto the input. --Harry Johns

memorate its 20th anniversary and is planningevents throughout the next year. Haver has madeit clear she wants the celebration to be about theemployees.

Like many nonprofits, SAM recognizes em-ployees when they reach certain milestones withthe organization. For their fifth anniversary, em-ployees receive a pen but after that, they get to

half of the staff are Millennials. It’s a differentgeneration in that they’re a lot more mobile andless likely to stay at jobs as long as previous gen-erations. “The challenge is to engage with themso they choose to stay with us,” Clark said. Moti-vation is not always related to pay for Millennials.“They like the team-building kind of things. As awhole, we're really trying to focus a lot more with

choose their own award from a catalog at eachfive-year increment. It can be anything from apurse to a toolset or clothing, embroidered withSAM’s logo or not. “People really like it, being ableto pick what they want, they appreciate gettingsomething they would like or use,” Clark said.

Satisfaction surveys of employees show thatthe No. 1 draw is the flexibility of schedules,Clark said. Staff can meet with consumers whenit’s convenient for them so they’re not just sittingin the office but out in the field on case manage-ment. “We get a lot of productivity out of peoplethat way,” she said. SAM serves different popu-lations, ranging from mental health to the devel-opmentally disabled and in some counties earlychildhood intervention.

Employees have been taking advantage ofSAM’s various wellness programs throughout theyear, including stress management, smokingcessation and exercise, among others. Initially,the program started with a trainer visiting offices,meeting with several staff in person, according toClark. It has since transitioned online with toolslike GoToMeeting.com, so any site can partici-pate. “People who’ve done the courses needsomething more,” she said, so it might be time tore-tool the program again.

Step challenges and weight loss competitionsa la “The Biggest Loser” have worked better forwellness than seminars and classes. “That’sbeen a work in progress,” Clark said, as they tryto find ways to get staff more motivated and par-ticipating. NPT



BY ANDY SEGEDIN

DoSomething.org’s Manhattan of-fice might look like any number ofswanky, employee-friendly workplaces scattered throughout New

York City. Despite the open layout and amenities,it would all be for naught without the people inthe seats, according to Sam Arpino, talent andculture manager.

“The people make this a fun place to be,”said Arpino. “I think a lot of places try to buildthis culture and too much time is spent on props.‘How can we get scooters and foosball tablesand catered lunch?’ We have a lot of thosethings, but, at the end of the day, if you don’thave people who are invested in your mission,the foosball tables will just be sitting there oryou’ll have people who are unproductive andwon’t be there for a while.”

If striking that balance seems tricky, it’s be-cause it is, according to Arpino, which is why herjob is dedicated to finding it. The key, she said, isbeing intentional and strategic in the hiringprocess, searching in particular for a cultural fit.Cultural fit does not mean seeking out a homog-enous work environment, but rather a blend ofpeople from various backgrounds who learn andcommunicate differently, but are all capable ofactively contributing early on.

Arpino described hiring as “monumental”and the most important thing an organizationcan do aside from becoming self-sustaining.With just 56 full-time employees, the staff is toosmall for a poor fit to fly under the radar and theopen-office setting adds to the sense that eachemployee makes a cultural difference. As such,Arpino said that DoSomething.org doesn’t settlewhen it comes to making a hire and holds out forcandidates who fit the office culture. “If you havepeople who follow your core values, you’re goingto have people contributing positively to the cul-ture,” she said.

DoSomething.org is among several medium-

sized organizations, defined as having between50 and 249 employees, that has identified the im-portance of employees in creating positive workenvironments. Having fun at work (92 percent vs.77 percent), feeling as though leaders representorganizational core values (91 percent vs. 76 per-cent) and being in a position to do their best work(90 percent vs. 73 percent) were among thelargest difference makers between employees oforganizations that made this year’s Best Nonprof-its To Work For list and those that didn’t. As such,the hiring process has been used by some non-profits as a means of gaining an edge.

Checking in at No. 6 among medium-sized or-ganizations and No. 8 overall, DoSomething.orgoffers a bevy of additional perks including a four-week volunteer sabbatical for every two yearsworked and student-loan forgiveness of up to$20,000 after five years on the job provided thatprevious monthly payments have been made.

The loan forgiveness program was identified asa way to increase diversity in the workplace asthose from low-income backgrounds might be lessinclined to enter the nonprofit sector with hefty stu-

dent loans given the generally lower salaries.The organization has also instituted FailFest,

a biannual meeting geared to promote the valueof taking risks, failing fast and learning quickly,Arpino said. Participants, usually about five perFailFest, dress up in pink boas and discussstrategic initiatives undertaken recently, whythey failed and what was learned from the expe-rience. Staff in director-level roles or above areespecially encouraged to present as a means ofboth providing organizational transparency andprofessional development.

One recent example of a FailFest presenta-tion was when the organization’s chief technol-ogy officer presented on big-batch projects,discussed that the organization took on toomany of them in 2015, how he could have no-ticed that other projects weren’t shipping quicklyenough and should have encouraged his team tofocus on highest priority projects, and how toavoid the mistake in the future.

Even with all the perks offered, Arpino saidthat the one tactic used by DoSomething.orgthat she’d recommend to other organizationscomes back to building staff, particularly in the

cultivation of an internship program. The organi-zation is very intentional through its vetting of in-terns and makes sure to avoid the typical go-fortasks of administrative work or fetching coffee.About 20 to 25 percent of staff are made up offormer interns, Arpino said, describing the in-ternship program as DoSomething.org’s “secretsauce” and a pipeline to future sponsors, donorsand colleagues even if the interns eventuallymove on elsewhere.

The National Institute of Aerospace (NIA),which checks in at No. 25 among medium-sizedorganizations and No. 45 overall, too, has devel-oped an employee pipeline. A research institu-tion, NIA draws heavily from its consortium ofuniversity partners including the University ofVirginia, University of Maryland and Georgia In-stitute of Technology, as well as NASA’s LangleyResearch Center, which is near NIA’s Hampton,Va. headquarters.

Headquarters is often full of students, re-searchers and employees from a wide variety ofbackgrounds, many of them from outside thecountry, according to Douglas O. Stanley, Sc.D,president and executive director. NIA seeks tocelebrate that diversity during many of its annualevents, which include a winter gala. The organi-zation hosts, for instance, an international lunch-eon in which everybody brings in an interna tionaldish to reflect their heritage.

The same mindset led to sushi becoming apopular item during Thanksgiving festivities. Stan-ley, a New Orleans native, said that he steps in dur-ing Mardi Gras by making favorites such as shrimpcreole while another Louisiana native in the officemight make traditional red beans and rice.

The nature of NIA’s work, with researchersoften collaborating with peers in other organiza-tions on long-term projects, led to an emphasison autonomy. NIA’s policy is that employeesneed to work 80 hours every two weeks, but it isup to them how that time is divvied up. Likewise,employees are free to conduct research at home


Medium-Sized Organizations

Team Building And Feedback Keeps Office Positive

Continued on page 9

From Top: DonorsChoose.org ranked No. 1overall in this year's report, and the nationaloffice of Communities In Schools rankedNo. 2. Last year's No. 1 organization, TeamRubicon, ranked No. 3 this year.


APRIL 1, 2017 THE NONPROFIT TIMES www.thenonprofittimes.com 9

when needed, Stanley saying that with threechildren he has taken advantage of off-site tele-conferences.

NIA uses annual performance plans so anabuse of flex-hours and off-site working could bemonitored but it hasn’t been an issue, he said.Employees tend to be self-motivated enough intheir research to avoid the need for microman-agement. “It’s like herding cats. You just wantthem to be happy,” Stanley said of employees,comparing the dynamic to the sports analogywhere the players -- in this case the researchers-- are the stars and everybody else, Stanley in-cluded, falls under the generic “staff” label.

Partnership for Public Service (PPS) placessimilar faith in employees, according to Tim Mc-Manus, chief operating officer. In an effort to pro-mote work-life balance, PPS does not requireemployees to take leave when they need to go tothe doctor or wait around for the cable guy. Sim-ilarly, employees are free to work from homewhen their children are sick or they don’t feelcomfortable driving during inclement weather.The key, McManus said, is the expectation thatemployees use their best judgment and makesmart choices, which the organization tries togive them the freedom to do.

That trust in good judgment extends to theworkplace. PPS, based in Washington, D.C., andranking No. 17 among medium-sized organiza-tion and No. 33 overall, has instituted FridaySnack, an opportunity to serve snacks and let

colleagues interact whether it be by watching aWorld Cup match or March Madness game or byplaying a board game. The theme is providingstaff a regular opportunity to unwind, McMahon

said. The idea is that if such opportunities are of-fered during the week, employees will be able tofocus when at their desks. Larger such eventsinclude Partnership Olympics, which features

teams competing in events such as relay races,golf putting and Nintendo Wii games. Staff havemade the event their own, according to Mc-Manus, with teams developing their own cheers.

“One thing that makes us successful, it’s notone person’s job to engage people here, it’s re-ally everybody,” McManus said. “A lot of theideas that we’ve come up with, it’s not the seniorteam or human resources or the CEO; It reallycomes from staff. I think that speaks volumesabout the kind of organization we are.” NPT



The job board you’ve always dreamed ofat a price you’ve never imagined.

InstantJob Listings

EasyMaintainence

QuickSet-Up

FullyBranded

GenerateRevenue{ }

Check out Boxwood GO, a totally new job board platform with technology like no other - built for associations.

In a snap, get a great looking job board, build brand awareness, increase website traffic and generate more revenue opportunities.

Engage your audience and connect the right job seekers and with the right employers. Become a valuable industry resource and

achieve more with Boxwood GO.

JOB BOARDS

STARTIN

G AS L

OW A

S

$ 49 m

o.GO

{Achieve More.}A NAYLOR COMPANY

‘‘The peoplemake this a funplace to be.

--Sam Arpino



BY ANDY SEGEDIN

Figuring out how long a staff memberhas been working at Crossroads inDuxbury, Mass., is sometimes as easyas looking at the design and color of

their T-shirt. Staff receive “office swag” -- shirts,fleeces, sweatshirts, tote bags -- every year tothe point where employees can identify howlong others have been around simply by notingwhat kind of swag they are proudly using.

“Swag at Crossroads is bold,” said Billi Solis-O’Brien, communications manager. “It creates asense of community. A recent organizational re-brand rendered older items “vintage” and thispast year’s Team Crossroads event featured dif-ferent logos for full-time and seasonal-staff foreach to represent and take pride in their role.

Employee pride, recognition and communica-tion have consistently served as difference makersamong small organizations, those with between15 and 49 employees, that make The NonProfitTimes’ Best Nonprofits To Work For and those thatdon’t. This year is no different with employeerecognition (93 percent to 74 percent), employersopen to input (93 percent to 77 percent) and em-ployees feeling like a person and not a number (98percent to 84 percent) serving as some of thelarger gaps between the cultures of workplacesthat made the list and ones that didn’t.

Crossroads, which ranks No. 4 among smallorganizations this year and No. 11 overall, at-tempts to promote useful communication andownership among employees in a number ofways. For one, programming takes place out-of-office in camps in Boston, so Crossroads con-ducts quarterly all-staff meetings in whichemployees from all departments can learn aboutgoings-on across the organization. A Google Docthat can be accessed by all is also being workedon with the idea that the running document willbe able to highlight topics discussed in variousmeetings across departments.

Service days are another way in whichCrossroads managers look to promote organiza-tional ownership among staff, according toSolis-O’Brien. Crossroads owns three Boston-area camps. Local companies are invited to con-duct service days with their employees. Outsideemployees are often joined by staff at Cross-roads who get their hands dirty cleaning andpainting. “It’s all hands in,” said Solis-O’Brien. “Itcreates a sense of ownership. It’s not just some-thing the organization owns. You put your ownsweat in.”

Organizational transparency can sometimesbe a two-edged sword, according to Ellen McSh-erry, chief operating officer for the New JerseySociety of Certified Public Accountants (NJSCPA)which ranked No. 13 among small organizationsand No. 39 overall. NJSCPA seeks to strike a bal-ance between the two edges by holding regularmeetings and being open as to how decisionswithin the organization will impact them, butstaying away from a 38-person decision process.NJSCPA’s volunteer board helps chart much ofthe organization’s course, McSherry said.

Of additional importance in creating a posi-tive workplace is the promotion of a family envi-ronment, McSherry said. Employees are able to

work remotely when needed and a condensedwork week, which allows staff to arrive late on aMonday or leave early on Friday so long as theymake up the time in between has been used bysome staff, particularly parents with active chil-dren. The fact that staff at the Roseland, N.J.-based organization are willing to chip in onduties outside their job description helps pro-mote the family atmosphere, according to Mc-Sherry. It is a quality that leaders try to identifyearly on in potential hires. “You’d hope that whenyou get to the interview stage, the person hasthe skills for the position so you’re really lookingfor a fit in culture,” she said.

The concept of promoting positive workplaceculture early on is shared by Big Brothers Big Sis-ters of the Midlands (BBBS), which ranked as thisyear’s top small nonprofit and No. 5 overall. Man-agers at the Omaha, Neb. - headquartered organi-zation takes a deliberate approach to the hiringprocess and prioritizes onboarding. A bagel break-

fast with co-workers is typical for a first day on thejob, according to Michelle Drake, director of opera-tions, followed by a 90-day on-boarding processthat includes spending time with leaders fromevery department and making sure that newcom-ers understand each aspect of the agency.

From there, employees’ work anniversariesare recognized every month during staff meetingsand gifts are given at the three, five and 10-yearmarks during the annual holiday party. Staff mem-bers who have been on board for 10 years aretreated to a special party and a slideshow is madein their honor. Drake said that a current employeeis closing in on 15 years at BBBS and so a new tra-dition will be created to mark that anniversary.

Nichole Turgeon, CEO, makes it a point to goout to lunch each month with those celebrating awork anniversary -- a tradition that has alsoserved as a means of knocking down departmentsilos and promoting interoffice communication.“A lot of what drives employee satisfaction is

feeling that somebody at work cares aboutthem,” Turgeon said.

BBBS figures out ways to recognize em-ployee achievement on a more regular basis byasking the employees what they appreciate.Some employees have no preference, accordingto Turgeon. Some want to be recognized by theirsupervisor, some might want to be commendeddiscretely.

Monthly metrics and the organization’s StartWith Me award are two means that BBBS hasidentified in acknowledging quality work amongstaff. Monthly metrics allows for those who per-formed particularly well in a key area, such astime taken to enroll a volunteer or support callscompleted, to be recognized by co-workers, Tur-geon said. Start With Me is a peer-nominatedmonthly award given to those who go above andbeyond and is marked by a certificate and theemployee’s name on a plaque. Drake has heardduring employee interviews that the recognitionmakes staff members strive to do better.

“When people see their peers recognized,they feel like it makes them want to do better,not so that they can be recognized, but becausethey appreciate working with other people whoare engaged,” Drake said.

The National Board for Certification in Occu-pational Therapy (NBCOT) in Gaithersburg, Md.,builds workplace camaraderie from a host of of-fice events such as a monthly bowling lunch andWhite Elephant holiday celebration featuring aluncheon that takes place the week beforeChristmas as the organization closes its doorsduring Christmas week.

Back at the office, significant effort is made inensuring that staff have the resources they needto work efficiently, according to Allan Freedman,chief operating officer. The typical work stationhas ergonomic chairs and dual screens withcomputers rotated out every three years. Thougha nonprofit office space might not be the firstplace one thinks to find up-to-date technology,Freedman described holding on to old equipmentas a “misplaced savings” when it takes staff 20minutes to print out a document because theircomputers are too slow.

“We spend a lot of time on the internal tech-nology process,” Freedman said. “It’s hard to dosometimes, but it works.”

An eye toward efficiency also creates situa-tions in which NBCOT employees might bemoved around as part of organizational strategy.One thing that leaders have been sure to do dur-ing such periods is communicate with staffabout changes and provide updated charts illus-trating the organizational hierarchy that alignswith processes for employee review and im-provement. The structuring, staff events andother office initiatives all boil down to a focus oncommunication -- the most important element ofa quality workplace, Freedman said of the or-ganization that ranked No. 16 among small em-ployers and No. 47 overall.

“People talk about transparency, but whatthey’re really talking about is communication,Freedman said. “People talk about it, but unlessyou do it right -- and by right I mean doing it -- itfails.” NPT


Small Organizations

Recognition, Community Support Staff Efforts

Big Brothers Big Sistersof the Midlands wasrecognized as one ofthe Best Nonprofits ToWork For for the sixthyear in a row.

Employees of the EducationCommission of the Statesenjoy a staff retreat to aDenver Broncos game.


the nonprofit timesdehayf5mhw1h7.cloudfront.net/.../04/06130853/4-1-17_b… · · 2017-04-06the...

Documents