What Drives Nonprofit Employees

October 10, 2002 | Read Time: 4 minutes

Reasons for Taking Their Jobs
Note: Respondents were asked to choose which of two motivations was more important.
	Nonprofit organizations	For-profit organizations	Federal government
Job security	34%	71%	65%
Helping the public	60%	20%	32%
Don’t know/refused to answer	6%	9%	3%

Salary and benefits	34%	72%	69%
Chance to make a difference	61%	22%	27%
Don’t know/refused to answer	5%	5%	4%

Doing something worthwhile	65%	28%	37%
Having a secure paycheck	30%	68%	59%
Don’t know/refused to answer	5%	5%	4%

Pride in the organization	52%	36%	29%
Job security	39%	57%	66%
Don’t know/refused to answer	9%	7%	4%
Job Satisfaction
	Nonprofit organizations	For-profit organizations	Federal government
How satisfied are you with your job overall?
Very satisfied	58%	44%	49%
Somewhat satisfied	37%	46%	40%
Not too satisfied	4%	7%	7%
Not satisfied at all	1%	4%	3%
Don’t know/refused to answer	0%	0%	0%
How satisfied are you with your salary?
Very satisfied	24%	29%	35%
Somewhat satisfied	53%	50%	52%
Not too satisfied	16%	12%	7%
Not satisfied at all	7%	9%	5%
Don’t know/refused to answer	0%	1%	0%
How satisfied are you with your job security?
Very satisfied	61%	51%	66%
Somewhat satisfied	32%	37%	28%
Not too satisfied	4%	6%	3%
Not satisfied at all	3%	5%	2%
Don’t know/refused to answer	0%	1%	0%
How satisfied are you with your job benefits?
Very satisfied	50%	46%	66%
Somewhat satisfied	33%	31%	28%
Not too satisfied	8%	11%	3%
Not satisfied at all	7%	11%	2%
Don’t know/refused to answer	2%	1%	0%
Attitudes About Co-Workers
	Nonprofit organizations	For-profit organizations	Federal government
To what extent are your co-workers competitive with each other?
Great extent	11%	24%	23%
Somewhat	33%	37%	44%
Not too much	30%	22%	21%
Not at all	21%	13%	11%
Don’t know/refused to answer	5%	4%	2%
To what extent are your co-workers open to new ideas?
Great extent	46%	36%	33%
Somewhat	43%	48%	49%
Not too much	8%	11%	12%
Not at all	1%	4%	5%
Don’t know/refused to answer	1%	2%	0%
To what extent are your co-workers willing to help other employees learn new skills?
Great extent	67%	51%	52%
Somewhat	26%	33%	36%
Not too much	4%	10%	8%
Not at all	1%	3%	4%
Don’t know/refused to answer	1%	3%	0%
To what extent are your co-workers concerned about achieving your organization’s mission?
Great extent	72%	56%	63%
Somewhat	23%	31%	28%
Not too much	3%	8%	5%
Not at all	1%	3%	3%
Don’t know/refused to answer	1%	2%	1%
Competency of Managers and Co-Workers
	Nonprofit organizations	For-profit organizations	Federal government
How competent are the senior people who run your organization?%
Very competent	n/a	52%	37%
Somewhat competent	n/a	37%	46%
Not too competent	n/a	6%	13%
Not competent at all	n/a	3%	4%
Don’t know/refused to answer	n/a	2%	0%
How competent is the board of your organization?
Very competent	47%	n/a	n/a
Somewhat competent	40%	n/a	n/a
Not too competent	8%	n/a	n/a
Not competent at all	2%	n/a	n/a
Don’t know/refused to answer	3%	n/a	n/a
How competent is the executive director of your organization?
Very competent	59%	n/a	n/a
Somewhat competent	31%	n/a	n/a
Not too competent	4%	n/a	n/a
Not competent at all	2%	n/a	n/a
Don’t know/refused to answer	5%	n/a	n/a
How competent are the middle-level employees at your organization?
Very competent	45%	37%	40%
Somewhat competent	46%	51%	52%
Not too competent	5%	5%	4%
Not competent at all	1%	2%	2%
Don’t know/refused to answer	2%	5%	3%
How competent are the lower-level employees at your organization?
Very competent	34%	25%	29%
Somewhat competent	54%	53%	56%
Not too competent	7%	11%	8%
Not competent at all	1%	4%	3%
Don’t know/refused to answer	4%	7%	3%
Resources and Training
	Nonprofit organizations	For-profit organizations	Federal government
To what extent does your organization have the information it needs?
Always	40%	51%	40%
Often	39%	28%	34%
Sometimes	18%	17%	22%
Rarely	2%	3%	3%
Don’t know/refused to answer	1%	0%	0%
To what extent does your organization have the technological equipment it needs?
Always	37%	45%	36%
Often	34%	31%	34%
Sometimes	24%	19%	24%
Rarely	4%	5%	6%
Don’t know/refused to answer	1%	0%	0%
To what extent does your organization have enough employees?
Always	21%	28%	15%
Often	35%	33%	25%
Sometimes	32%	28%	34%
Rarely	11%	11%	25%
Don’t know/refused to answer	1%	0%	1%
To what extent does your organization have access to the training it needs?
Always	32%	40%	30%
Often	36%	28%	30%
Sometimes	25%	22%	29%
Rarely	6%	9%	11%
Don’t know/refused to answer	1%	1%	0%
Overall Perceptions of Non-profit Organizations
	Nonprofit organizations	For-profit organizations	Federal government
How good a job does your organization do running its programs and services?
Very good	56%	44%	41%
Somewhat good	39%	47%	48%
Not too good	3%	6%	9%
Not good at all	1%	1%	2%
Don’t know/refused to answer	1%	2%	1%
How good a job does your organization do helping people?
Very good	73%	51%	51%
Somewhat good	24%	38%	38%
Not too good	2%	6%	8%
Not good at all	1%	3%	3%
Don’t know/refused to answer	1%	2%	1%
How good a job does your organization do being fair in its decisions?
Very good	45%	36%	29%
Somewhat good	47%	51%	55%
Not too good	6%	9%	13%
Not good at all	1%	2%	3%
Don’t know/refused to answer	1%	1%	1%
How good a job does your organization do spending its money wisely?
Very good	44%	36%	22%
Somewhat good	38%	41%	43%
Not too good	11%	13%	22%
Not good at all	4%	6%	11%
Don’t know/refused to answer	2%	4%	2%
n/a Not applicable.