2023 Nonprofit Workforce Shortage Survey

In April 2023, more than 1,600 charitable nonprofit organizations throughout the United States completed the nonprofit workforce shortages survey designed to gauge whether job vacancies continue to be a problem for the missions of those organizations, how the vacancies impact communities, and what actions have been taken and are proposed for alleviating the challenges. More than forty Florida nonprofits shared insights that provide the substance of this report.


 

Key Findings

  • Four out of five (80%) Florida nonprofits completing the survey reported experiencing
    job vacancies
  • Nearly seven out of ten (68.9%) nonprofits in the state responded that they have more vacancies compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic, and 26.7 % have longer waiting lists for services. Four out of five (80.6%) respondents with vacancies identified program and service delivery as a category with vacancies.
  • 80.0% of responding organizations said salary competition affects their ability to recruit and retain employees, followed by budget constraints/insufficient funds (71.1%).
  • Almost two-thirds (64.5%) of respondents anticipate the amount of donations will decline or remain flat for 2023. 
  • More than half (53.4%) expect the number of donors to decline or remain the same this year.

The Scope of the Problem


One of the key questions in the survey was, “What is your nonprofit’s current job vacancy rate?” Nearly two out of five(38.9%) nonprofits with vacancies shared rates fewer than 9%, while another 22.2%  responded that their vacancy rates ranged between 10% and 19%. One quarter (25.0%) of nonprofits in Florida with vacancies have rates between 20% and 29%.  Disturbingly, another 13.9% of nonprofits have vacancy rates greater than 30%. 

The job category with the most vacancies at Florida nonprofits is program and service delivery, which affects 80.6% of nonprofits that reported vacancies.       

Vacancies in entry level positions and administration and human resources impact 38.9% of nonprofits. More than one out of ten (13.9%) nonprofits in Florida cannot fill communications positions, while only 2.8% have vacancies in senior management. 

The impact of increased job vacancies is visible in Florida’s communities, as demonstrated in comments provided by survey participants. One respondent shared that vacancies have burdened the existing staff and led to burnout. Their nonprofit filled some roles with contractors, but that has cost “more than we have budgeted for those positions.” Another nonprofit has less engagement with the community, affecting their ability to implement “projects which advocate for health and social services and resources.” A mental health provider expressed concern that with more individuals on a waiting list, they may experience “worsening of mental health, increased likelihood of suicide attempts, and worse.”

 

 

Solutions and Recommendations

 

Recognizing that the people leading, working in, and volunteering for charitable nonprofits are, by nature, problem solvers, the 2023 survey invited participants to share the solutions they had already implemented or identified for addressing the nonprofit workforce shortages crisis. They provided practical solutions and proposed public policy solutions.

Florida nonprofits have responded to the workforce shortages crisis by: increasing salaries, providing remote work options, and increasing career advancement opportunities.

Even with these policies, they are struggling to hire and retain staff, which makes it essential to continue to advocate for solutions at the federal, state, and local levels.

Nonprofits on the frontlines shared solutions they think lawmakers, philanthropy, and others should consider. One respondent suggested that creating more “unrestricted funding opportunities, simpler contracting,” or something similar could allow nonprofits to offer more competitive benefits.
            

  • To download the full PDF of the report, which includes detailed charts and graphs, click here.
  • To read the overall 2023 Nonprofit Workforce Survey Results from the National Council of Nonprofits, click here.