Few Nonprofits Have Taken Concrete Steps to Become More Diverse, According to New Report

Widespread discussion about the need to diversify nonprofits hasn’t translated into action, according to a new survey by Nonprofit HR, a human-resources company that focuses on charities.

The company surveyed leaders in human-resources or “talent-management roles” a at 566 nonprofits. Only about half of survey respondents said their organizations had a formal diversity statement. And only 31 percent had a formal diversity strategy. Even fewer groups — 22 percent — had a staff person responsible for diversity efforts.

“We thought it was important to get a baseline reading of where nonprofits are in their diversity journey,” says Lisa Brown Alexander, CEO of Nonprofit HR. “While many organizations aspire to be diverse, their practices don’t necessarily align with that goal.”

The nonprofit work force is dominated by women, but leadership remains largely male, she says. People of color are not represented at the same levels they are found in the population at large, especially among management. In the survey, 42 percent of groups said that racial diversity was the most challenging type of diversity to achieve.

Size Matters

Larger organizations were more likely to have systems in place to address diversity issues. While only 41 percent of groups with budgets under $1 million had diversity statements, 63 percent of those with budgets over $40 million had them. Similarly, only 23 percent of groups with the smallest budgets had a person responsible for diversity efforts, compared with 35 percent of the largest groups.

Board members are important to achieving real diversity within a group, Alexander says. “The board sets the strategic direction of the organization and approves the budget that supports those priorities,” she says. However, she adds, boards that lack diversity might be reluctant to draw attention to the issue.

When groups do try to measure the success of diversity efforts, results are often not shared with all staff members. More than half of the groups surveyed said those results were shared either only with senior management or with the board and senior management.

Lack of HR Expertise

Alexander argues that problems with diversity are part of a much larger issue in the nonprofit world: the lack of an organized effort to recruit, develop, and retain employees.

According to Alexander, diversity should be a top priority of such efforts. In some organizations, this might be part of human resources, while at a smaller group it might be part of the CEO’s responsibilities.

Without systems for implementing diversity programs, as well as other professional development programs, they are unlikely to succeed, she says. “The vast majority of these organizations don’t have an HR function, let alone a diversity function,” she says. “The larger the organization, the more they realize the value and importance of talent.”

Hiring, retaining and, supporting the right workers might actually be more important for small organizations, she says. In a group with only a handful of staff members, each individual is vital to its success. “Diversity is one element of a strong talent-management approach,” she says.

CEOs of small organizations should embrace the effort to attract and retain high-level, diverse employees as an important part of their jobs. “They can’t just be fundraisers or program people,” she says. “They need to understand the value of having a diverse work force, even if it is just five people.”

Of course, not everything has to be handled internally. Groups can hire an external diversity coach. But few take advantage of that. Only 28 percent of survey participants said their organizations had done so.

“Even the large organizations may not be taking full advantage of the resources available to them,” Alexander says. “I think part of it is because talent isn’t a priority.”

But groups have a lot to gain from diversity and shouldn’t shy away. “There are simple things organizations can do, but they first have to recognize the opportunity,” Alexander says. “Set a destination and then go about the business of getting there one step at a time.”

Jim Rendon is a senior writer who covers nonprofit leadership and fundraising for the Chronicle. He recently reported from Independent Sector’s Upswell conference about a session in which participants said diversity training can backfire. He has also written about the challenges that leaders of color face at nonprofits. Email Jim or follow him on Twitter.