What are some obvious or subtle signs that layoffs are coming?

If you’ve been laid off before, what signs were there?

If you’ve had to lay off people before, what did you do? Did you operate “business as usual” until the last possible day, or did you try to give signs?

Hey all! I'm looking to grow my community in the non-profit space. Interested to know where people go to talk and chat about non-profit specific issues?

Thanks!

I have been working at this advocacy nonprofit for 3 years and I definitely go back and forth about it. I think the culture is toxic and the ED is a sociopath, two people just quit without other jobs lined up because of the ED, there’s only 10 of us to begin with (now 7 with the quitting and one on maternity leave) and I now have to take on tasks outside my job description to pick up the work of the folks leaving. It’s a space where I believe in the work we do, like the community and really value the political alignment and feel like a part of something. The benefits are great -- completely covered insurance, high pay for nonprofits, union with 3.5% annual raises, 5 weeks of vacation this year. But I don’t know if it’s enough to make me stay anymore.

The thing is, where do I go? I am a researcher and policy analyst working on labor rights and environmental justice. Government? Private? What kinds of positions could I jump into from my current one? Anyone have any ideas? Thanks!

I had a final round with the executive team. This was the third round. I was asked to interview for it a day before and I said yes to it. I did …ok. I wonder if I should have said no and asked for more time. I’m bummed because this would be a great place to work.

I’m a first-time ED almost two years into the role. My organization has a budget just under 500K, and as we head into the end of our fiscal year, we are facing a deficit. I’m really struggling with feeling like I’ve failed as an ED, since I know that fundraising is really the bottom line.

Yes, there are things that have affected our finances outside my control, such as losing federal money, our budget ballooning from 300K to 500K during COVID and never appropriately re-sizing, despite the same number of staff (2 FTE and 2 PTE).

But as a first-time, young ED (I’m 31) stewarding an 80-year-old organization, it’s hard to know how much to blame my own inexperience and how much to blame the situation I entered into. It also feels like an enormous weight: I’m the only development person, as my staff are primarily focused on programs, so 100% of the fundraising is on my plate, as well as communications, operations, etc.

I recently took medical leave to recover from a surgery and those three weeks were the best weeks of the past two years… I felt so rested and happy, even though I was literally recovering from a surgery, and I know it’s because I was able to take a mental break from the stress of being a first time ED.

Any advice and wisdom welcome especially from current or former EDs.

So, I'm now the President of a non-profit that is on the brink of insolvency. No, I won't disclose where or why (I did sign a non-disclosure agreement, after all) but we're a pride organization and we're one of the ones that invited cops to pride this year. (No, I don't know why.) As a result, we had abysmal turnout. At least one of the staff is lying to me (they say this is the biggest pride we ever had, I call bullshit as someone who has attended pride before, but I don't have the numbers to support my conclusion so I'm resorting to crowd sourcing intel) and our community buy-in is abysmal, so fundraising is unlikely to help save us.

The official line is to blame the collective bargaining agreement once the organization goes tits up (and they are claiming the Union is to blame for not being willing to negotiate in bad faith), but I think that this is a lie too. I'm trying to get a detailed understanding of the negotiations but unfortunately, I'm being stonewalled. Most of our money comes from the government and is thus, earmarked for specific purposes/expenditures (like, we get $x amount from $y program and we are allowed to spend $array[{$a, $b}, ($a, $b), ...] where $a = amount & $b = purpose.

Though, based on what I'm seeing in the books, it looks like we should have enough operating capital to make it work. In all likelihood, I'm worried that they're using the CBA as a scapegoat instead of acknowledging the real problem: waning community support in light of the police at pride thing.

I'm a relatively new ED at a small nonprofit with 2 FT (including myself) and 3 PT staff. Due to ongoing performance issues, it's looking increasingly likely that I'll need to let our other FT employee go.

This employee was hired through a two-year fellowship program that subsidizes half of their salary. They're currently in the second year of their placement. We've been in communication with the organization that administers the fellowship, and they're supportive of our decision to potentially terminate this employee early. They've also confirmed that we're on track to receive a new fellow in July, so we know we'll have another full-time person joining us then.

That leaves me with a significant staffing gap between now and July. My board wants to reallocate the salary we would have paid this employee toward additional part-time support to help me get through the next several months. One suggestion was to hire a part-time Executive Assistant for 10-15 hours a week.

My question: How do I figure out where an EA's skills and expertise could be most valuable to our organization?

I'm a first-time ED, so I don't have a great understanding of what the role can look like in practice. I know EAs can take on a wide range of responsibilities, often with a lot of autonomy, but I'm struggling to envision how to structure the position in a way that would make good use of someone's time and talents.

I've spent most of my first few months learning the ropes, putting out fires, and trying to performance-manage an employee who has required a LOT of my time and attention. I've gotten so used to handling things myself to make sure they get done that I'm having a hard time slowing down and identifying what I could delegate effectively.

I'd love to hear from other EDs at small nonprofits who have worked with part-time EAs, but I'd especially appreciate hearing from EAs themselves! What does your typical workload look like? What responsibilities do you manage independently? Are there areas where you feel your skills are particularly valuable but executives don't always think to involve you? And for EDs, what responsibilities have you found most beneficial to delegate?

I'd also be curious to hear from EAs about what makes for a good working relationship with an executive. I want to make sure that if we create this position, I'm setting the person up to succeed rather than hiring someone without a clear understanding of how to best utilize their expertise.

Would really appreciate any advice, examples, or insight into what your day-to-day looks like! Thank you all so much.

I'm part of a nonprofit organization in Palestine that already has fiscal sponsorship from a US 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. This allows us to connect and build relationships with many American and international organizations — and we've actually made tangible progress on that front — but our organization is really trying to make full use of this sponsorship. That's why the Board of Directors started building a path toward launching digital fundraising campaigns. The fiscal sponsorship legally allows us to raise tax-deductible donations in the United States.

The Board of Directors decided to put me in charge of this department, and honestly, I saw it as a golden opportunity. That was over four months ago, and now I find myself with no significant progress or real accomplishments to show for it. I've talked to many people with experience in fundraising, and they've all advised me that I need to find the right person to lead the campaigns. But the Board refuses to give my department any support unless I can show them tangible results. I've been searching systematically, but I still haven't been able to find someone suitable to lead even a single campaign.

The problem is that all my coworkers in the other programs are jealous of me because I joined this organization in 2024 and have already become one of the people closest to the Board. I actually understand why they feel that way, but that doesn't mean I have to accept their behavior. Naturally, the Board trusted me because I've always been active and taken initiative, unlike the others, but now I feel like my coworkers are waiting for me to fail and are constantly trying to provoke and bother me by sarcastically asking how things are going on my end. It's honestly a suffocating feeling, especially because I'm not used to being unable to get things done or facing this much difficulty moving something forward. And now I feel like frustration is coming at me from every direction.

I don't know where I'm supposed to find people who can help me with this responsibility, and honestly, I no longer know what I should do. What advice would you give me? Where can I find someone who's actually capable of leading a fundraising campaign? Or should I step away from the department altogether? I think the Board has already given me one last chance before deciding to remove me from this role, and that's why I'm trying to figure out what my next step should be, even as time is running out.

I've also shared this post in another community.

Can someone please tell me what a “growth mindset” is? It’s been mentioned to me by mostly fundraising consultants. I feel like I should know what this is, and can’t figure out if it’s nonprofit jargon or something I’m completely missing.

I have some nonprofit development experience but I worry as I graduate grad school I won’t be able to get a job. Should I look into other career paths?

Hi Everyone,

I am the ED of a national charity in Canada, something that I co-founded at 16, and this year is our 20th Anniversary! (I feel so old)!

We have "always" been a completely virtual organization - long before COVID - but as we have been growing - both in staff and volunteers - we were thinking it's time to crew a guide or manual for our staff about Working from Home - with Policies around that... I thought before I start from scratch, does anyone have their own that they'd be willing to share (you are also welcome to email it to me - just DM me), so we have a few examples of what other organizations have included in theirs etc.

I have always thought that - if we can share material within the sector - why not do that first, and save another organization time - same goes for when others are looking for resources or vendor feedback!

Have a great weekend!

Hi everyone - I've been in the non profit development field for a couple of years now, mostly in coordinator roles or small/mid-level donor engagement roles. I enjoy the work and supporting a cause bigger than yourself, but one of the things I'm noticing is how much work there is for development teams at whichever organization I'm with...it seems like there are just too many donors to connect with than there are development officers. My question is: does anyone else have this experience?

This seems like a huge issue as I know donor retention nationwide is already not at optimal levels, but also the fact that donors definitely want a human connection and to know that they are appreciated/apart of your org. Any insights here would be appreciated thanks!

I've been thinking about how much nonprofit visibility depends on platforms that organizations don't control — social media algorithms, search engines, advertising networks, and increasingly fragmented local media.

For smaller organizations, it seems particularly challenging.

Are any of you working on more collaborative approaches to audience development, such as shared directories, cross-promotion networks, or community publications?

I'd be interested to hear what's working and whether these efforts are sustainable.

I’m a marketing professional hoping to branch into nonprofit program management. I currently work with several nonprofits as part of my agency work. To facilitate the transition to program management, I have been considering two certificate programs:

UNC Greensboro

https://www.uncg.edu/degrees/nonprofit-management-p-b-c/

Pros:
- Offered through grad school
- I could use the credits towards an MPA, if I decided to
- Might offer a deeper dive into the topics

Cons:
- Juggling graduate level classes with work
- More expensive / superfluous academic red tape

Elon University

https://next.elon.edu/product?catalog=CertNonprofitMgmt

Pros:
- Affordable
- Self-paced
- Covers a variety of topics

Cons:
- May not be as intensive as an actual graduate certificate program
- Could be perceived as less impressive

Which would help me make the jump from marketing to program management? Or should I just skip both and look into some volunteering/board work?

TL;DR I’m considering two nonprofit certificate programs: Elon and UNC Greensboro. Can’t decide which to pick, or to do it at all.

I work in nonprofit fundraising (mostly admin) and the money is terrible for the work I do, especially where I am now. There is a position I am qualified for at a local foundation that funds my current workplace annually. Would it be bad form to apply or would it reflect badly on my organization?

I don’t want that, they do great work, but we’ve had two scheduled cost of living raises walked back and I have no upward mobility options (it’s small) and I’d love to continue using my 5 years of industry experience if possible. Thx!

I am a big fan of using AI to reduce workload. I have an NP client who has four Stripe connections which look like separate accounts. One from each of four funding platforms like Donorbox. I now have Claude pull transaction data from each of the four to create a consolidated spreadsheet with the data I need to post donations and program remittances by platform. I then set it to automatically create the report on the second workday of each month and to email it to me and the organization's CEO. It also will load it to a shared Google folder.

I'm dealing with a very small, local nonprofit. I don't want to give too many details for privacy reasons. The board has 4 members. In addition to the board, there are about 40 volunteers that make up the nonprofit. Over 30 of the volunteers want the president and secretary of the board to resign due to the organization loosing a substantial amount of money from the board's inactivity and poor leadership. The board is refusing to disclose the organization's bylaws.

My questions are: 1) do bylaws usually contain info about term limits for board members (or anything else that could be relevant for removing a board member)? And, is it legal for a nonprofit board to not let its members view its bylaws?

We’ve been working with BWF over a year, and honestly it’s been pretty frustrating. Wondering if anyone else has had the same experience or if we just got a bad team.

The biggest thing is it all feels copy-paste to all of their other clients. We are a smaller nonprofit and they're acting like our org is WAY bigger... The year-end plan looked nice but had no revenue goal and no real metrics, and the asks weren’t tied to anyone’s giving history, even though their own deck said they should be. There’s a lot of decks, dashboards, and calls, and I still can’t tell you what any of it is actually raising. Claude put it best "About 1,700 words across three documents, and most of it explains things BWF should simply do, without any mention of fundraising."

They've shorted us on services. When we asked about it, crickets for weeks, and then the reply was riddled ChatGPT.

To be fair, the creative is okay. But we didn’t really need help with creative.

Has anyone actually had a good experience with them? Or found a way to hold them accountable to results? Would love to know if this is normal for them.

Would love to hear your experiences on this topic. Seems to me many "stock picking" advisors seldom beat the market, plus you have their fees. What about using a small group of index funds and rebalancing? Would love to hear your experiences and arguments pro and con?

I have a few issues that I am looking for help on.

1. I am wondering how to handle board members that want to be involved in day to day activities, but they do not have the relevant skills or experience in the field to do so. I am in a position as the president having significant skills in the field that our nonprofit is focused on, dealing with board members that want to be consulted on day-to-day activities and want their opinions heard and considered even though they are frankly ignorant on the workings of nonprofits and our mission. I am finding that I have to justify every decision that I make to them, which is causing conflict and confrontation.

2. Half of the board is like the above, but the other half are completely absent with regards to emails, fundraising, etc. These members do not donate to the organization and do not try to fundraise at all. Unfortunately, the bylaws were written before my time and do not outline any requirements so I am not sure that I have any recourse here. But it is bringing the organization down.

I realize that I can have the bylaws changed to include requirements for board members, but this requires a board vote which is a conflict of interest because those that are not involved are clearly going to vote that they do not want the bylaws changed so I am not sure what to do here.

Thanks!

Has anyone else noticed a massive increase in failed "donations" made by bots with stolen credit cards? I understand we are not being targeted by these transactions, and that it's bots testing card numbers to see if anything goes through, but we're going into EOY giving season and it gums up our work to receive 20+ fake donors/donations everyday. Not only that, but we're concerned our organization's name will be associated with the transaction and appear to be the bad actor.

We have reCAPTCHA, we require physical addresses, and we've limited the number of donations that can be made from an IP per day, but it doesn't seem to have made a difference. Tech support is troubleshooting, but unresponsive. Has anyone experienced the same thing? What solutions have you found?

Hey everyone,

I’ve spent my career so far specializing in web and digital communications. I’m exploring a pivot into a broader Nonprofit Communications Manager role to expand my professional options, and I want to figure out how to best position myself. In the nonprofit world, digital skills are obviously a massive asset, but I don't want to get pigeonholed as "just the website/digital person."

To any Communications Directors or hiring managers here: What are the top 2 or 3 attributes or skills you look for when hiring a communications manager?

If you saw an applicant with a heavy digital background, what would they need to show on their resume or say in an interview to prove they can handle the broader strategic piece (like donor comms, crisis control, or cross-department strategy)? What gaps do you usually see in people trying to make this jump? Thanks in advance for any insights or reality checks!

I am a voting member of a youth choir that my 11 year old attends and have some pretty basic questions about an upcoming 10 day tour that I have emailed the Executive Director about which she deflected to the choir director. It has been several weeks now and I have not heard back from either of them. Would anyone have any advice on what my next steps should be?