When you think of workplace benefits, you likely envision competitive compensation, paid time off, and health insurance. However, there’s another promising option to consider when crafting a desirable hiring package: professional development.

Nearly half of all prospective employees expect their employer to provide access to development resources or opportunities, giving you a competitive edge in talent acquisition. It’s not only employees who benefit from professional development—employers also benefit from having a more loyal and experienced team by their side.

Unlocking professional development opportunities in nonprofit organizations doesn’t have to mean sacrificing quality or stretching budgets. With innovative strategies and a focus on maximizing resources, nonprofits can cultivate talent and enhance skills effectively and affordably. In this guide, we’ll explore how to strike this balance and use it to power your purpose.

What Defines Professional Development?

Professional development is any activity sponsored by your nonprofit that helps staff members grow their current skills or learn new ones. Here are some of the most fulfilling and effective types of professional development programs: 

  • Continuing education courses
  • Higher education tuition assistance
  • Tickets to external conferences, workshops, and other skill-development events
  • Access to educational resources such as books, worksheets, and pamphlets
  • Internally-organized mentorship and skill-development activities

These are only a few of the possible professional development experiences your nonprofit can offer. To find the best opportunities for your organization, work with your employees and ask them directly what they’d like to learn and how they’d like to learn it. 

1. Set Clear Program Goals

Professional development opportunities provide long-term benefits, making goal-setting and planning ahead crucial. After all, it takes time for your employees to grow their abilities and for your organization to fine-tune its offerings.

As you set professional development goals, focus on these important aspects:

  • Long-term organizational vision. Similar to any other initiative, your mission and vision should drive your professional development activities. Consider the skills employees would like to learn and the skills that would be beneficial for your organization’s staff to have.
  • Role-specific programs. Your nonprofit has numerous staff members with differing responsibilities that require unique skills. Consider how you’ll support your staff members in developing within their specific roles.
  • Measurable outcomes. Concretely measure program success so you can assess return on investment (ROI). Brainstorm which data you’ll collect and how you’ll collect it, such as via assessments or feedback forms. 
  • Soft and hard skills development. Employees should have the chance to improve their technical abilities and people skills, so ensure your offerings cover both. Also, delineate how you’ll facilitate leadership development to boost internal mobility.

Ensure you include all team members in these goal-setting conversations so you have diverse perspectives to consider. It’s important to collaborate with leadership, staff, and potential candidates on which approach and topics your professional development program should include.

2. Prioritize Skills that Provide the Highest ROI

Professional development is an investment in your staff, and to receive a return on that investment, your program should offer training that directly benefits your organization. This varies for every nonprofit, so to identify the programs your nonprofit should offer, follow these strategies:

  • Assess current skill gaps. JazzHR suggests looking at past and current recruitment data to set the foundation for your plan and pinpoint any weaknesses. For instance, if your team doesn’t have enough Salesforce certifications, you might partner purchase a training course focusing on Salesforce.  
  • Evaluate industry trends. Research other nonprofits and small businesses within your niche to discover potential gaps in your strategy. For instance, if other nonprofits are launching extensive ad campaigns on social media platforms your team is unfamiliar with, you might focus on digital marketing training. 
  • Prioritize scalability. Always keep the big picture in mind while shaping your strategy. Offerings that can support numerous team members will yield a higher return than those that only benefit a few people.  

It takes time to determine ROI, which makes establishing consistent and quality data maintenance practices crucial for managing your professional development offerings. Jobvite recommends using software with built-in data hygiene features, such as duplicate record detection and automatic formatting standardization, to get accurate insights faster. 

3. Leverage Affordable Training Options

For nonprofits concerned about their budget, there are affordable and effective options available. Here are some tricks you can use to lower professional development costs:

  • Find nonprofit discounts. Many learning platforms offer discounted or free resources and software licenses to nonprofits. If you can’t find information online, reach out to the vendor to ask about custom pricing plans.
  • Leverage your existing resources. Your nonprofit already has significant assets on your side: your own team members. Start programs like mentorships where experienced staff members educate other team members on their craft.
  • Collect free industry resources. Between YouTube, LinkedIn, and nonprofit forums, there are many free educational resources available online. Just ensure you verify the resource’s quality before adding it to your offerings.

As you grow and refine your program, you’ll likely find areas for improvement. Set aside time for your team to create development resources like pamphlets and guides explaining your offerings and how employees can access them. This allows you to adapt to new trends and keep your knowledge base fresh.

4. Pitch Sponsored Opportunities

Your nonprofit might already have corporate sponsors who support your fundraising efforts, but did you know that they can also help with your professional development initiatives? For example, sponsors may bolster your offerings by providing the following:

  • In-kind educational resources
  • Free passes to conferences and workshops
  • Financial grants for professional development materials

As you craft your sponsorship pitches, be sure to highlight how supporting staff members furthers your mission. Once you’ve secured sponsors, report back on your team’s growth and achievements to encourage them to renew their support. 

Professional development doesn’t only help your staff learn valuable skills they can take with them throughout their careers—it also helps your nonprofit stand out in the competitive talent acquisition space. By properly marketing your opportunities, you can compete against bigger nonprofits and even businesses for top talent.