Between managing volunteers, organizing donor data, coordinating marketing campaigns, and filing taxes, your nonprofit’s team has no shortage of activities on your to-do list. That said, you need the right team members to share the workload and achieve your goals, making dedicated staff recruitment critical.

Like with any other nonprofit activity, there are software solutions that streamline and simplify your recruitment processes—and just like any other tool, it might not be strictly required for your organization’s needs. After all, each nonprofit has different budgets, staff capacities, and long-term goals that impact its ability to expand its tech stack, making it crucial for organizations to choose solutions wisely. 

Let’s explore the pros and cons of adopting recruiting software for nonprofits so you can make the right decision for your organization. 

Pros

1. Increased Efficiency

Regardless of a software solution’s specific features or niche, well-designed tools will boost your nonprofit’s efficiency in completing mission-centric tasks. Recruiting software improves your hiring process by:

  • Automating repetitive manual tasks. Want to achieve bigger goals, but feel bogged down by menial tasks? Recruiting software can free up your team’s bandwidth by automating simple functions of your recruitment process, like data synchronization and candidate communications.
  • Expanding your reach. Post to multiple job boards and leverage communication channels with a single click, reaching more potential candidates with none of the extra hassle. 
  • Integrating with other solutions. Using tools that can “talk” to each other eliminates extra time spent adapting your workflow, training your team, or implementing new solutions to bridge the gap between disparate software.

2. Improved Candidate Experience

When it comes to recruitment, your nonprofit’s reputation certainly precedes it—in the form of your employer brand. After all, would you apply to an organization notorious for having slow interview processes or unresponsive hiring teams?

Current employees and potential team members shape your overarching employer brand, so it’s important to make a first good impression from the moment they view your job posting. Lever suggests using recruiting software to:

  • Block bias. Not only is hiring discrimination unethical, but it can also undermine your results, as diverse teams make better decisions 87% of the time. Even implicit bias can impact your efforts. Recruiting software addresses this issue by removing identifying traits from a resume that might activate implicit bias.
  • Streamline candidate communication. Leaving candidates hanging significantly decreases the likelihood that they’ll remain interested in your roles. Recruiting software ensures that there are no unanswered questions or confusion with push notifications, automatically triggered messages, and email segmentation.
  • Create and stick to a standard schedule. For a candidate, nothing is more frustrating than a decision deadline coming and going with no word from a potential employer. Use your recruiting software to set realistic deadlines and receive notifications as they approach, ensuring you stay on track throughout the hiring process.

3. Data-Driven Decision-Making

Scaling up your hiring efforts requires more than following general industry trends and best practices. Hone your path with custom insights that only your recruitment metrics can provide. 

Instead of tediously building your recruitment strategies from paper records, use software for a more streamlined experience. Here’s how recruiting software can power your nonprofit’s data-driven decision-making:

  • Centralizing candidate information. Candidate data is the foundation of your future hiring success. Your recruiting software will create profiles for each candidate, configure data fields, and highlight missing information for you to append.
  • Generating reports. Per JazzHR’s list of recruiting metrics, there are many metrics you can (and should) track. Your software solution can create progress reports for these analytics, reducing human error and the time required to get results.
  • Maintaining your database over time. Well-kept data ensures your hiring process stays on track and impacts your future hiring efforts, as it provides the foundation for your growth. Many tools automatically clean and maintain your system for you.
  • Predicting future hiring needs. While some hiring swings are out of your control, software can easily predict others. Analytics help you anticipate hiring changes based on factors like employee turnover, upcoming projects and fundraisers, and seasonal trends. 
  • Improving campaigns with real-time insights. A real-time dashboard of data as it’s inputted into your system helps you adjust your strategies quickly and capitalize on opportunities. 

Cons

While recruiting software can take many organizations to the next level, it isn’t feasible for everyone. Here are some downsides to choosing recruiting software:

  • Financial investment. Some providers require you to pay a monthly subscription to use their software. Aside from this initial investment, you may also have to pay for a tech consultant to set up your new tools.
  • Timeline restraints. If you urgently need a position filled, you might not have time to implement and onboard your team onto a brand-new software solution. 
  • Learning curve. Like any other system, recruiting software has a learning curve and may require specialized training to master. 
  • Maintenance and updates. Your solution will evolve over time (with some updates being more comprehensive than others). Regardless, you must stay alert for new changes and host additional team training if needed.
  • Compatibility with current tech stack. As previously mentioned, integrations reduce manual data transfer, but it’s always possible that your current software won’t integrate with new recruiting tools. 

Note that all of these cons are based on each organization’s specific circumstances. Collaborate with your team to define which disadvantages are most pressing, given your resources, recruitment needs, and financial situation. That way, you can find out if adopting recruiting software is feasible for you.

Whether you implement software or not, establishing a strong recruitment approach is crucial for cultivating a more qualified and skilled team (along with professional development). Research the components of a nonprofit recruitment strategy and start building your process from there, keeping your long-term goals in mind.