Finding Capable Leaders for the Nonprofit Sector Ezine for Nonprofit Employers
June 2005

 

Capability Company is a leading executive search firm serving nonprofit organizations, institutions of higher learning and government agencies.

This is the summer edition of our e-zine, a periodic newsletter to provide information on personnel issues to employers in the nonprofit sector. I hope you find this edition's article informative and useful.

Regards,
Rebecca L. Worters, CFRE

In this issue. . .
  • Capability Company's New Calculators and Wizards
  • Can you afford a search firm? You might be surprised!

  • Can you afford a search firm? You might be surprised!

    By Rebecca Worters

    You're a volunteer or a busy staff person for a nonprofit organization. Judy or Fred just took another job and you need to fill the vacant position. The dread settles in. You picture stacks of resumes, endless phone calls, interviews, reference checks. A light briefly appears -- "I could hire someone to do all that for us!" and then is immediately snuffed out by -- "Yeah right, I can't afford it, it's not in the budget."

    Do yourself a favor and take a closer look.

    Time. A thorough search takes about 200 hours. This includes defining the position, placing ads, screening, interviewing and reference checking. To make an outstanding hire, you need to recruit quality candidates who are happy in their current positions. That takes research, hundreds of phone calls and timely communication with potential candidates. It's helpful to multiply the number of hours you spend on the search by your hourly wage to gauge the value of the time spent.

    Money. When a revenue producing position such as a development director or executive director is vacant, you can assume your organization will realize about 70% of its normal revenue during the vacancy. This loss of revenue can continue for up to 6 months after the position is filled. A search firm can reduce the time of vacancy by up to 8-12 weeks.

    When a position is vacant, the money to pay the salary is budgeted. Those savings allow you to expend the money necessary to do a top-notch search with an experienced recruiter.

    If you are in a revenue producing position, consider how spending your time outside of your normal duties will detract from your organization's bottom line.

    Public Relations. In nonprofits, everyone is busy. That's why candidates' resumes are not always acknowledged promptly. That's why you may advertise the position in March and not get around to reviewing resumes until June. Maybe the niece of an important donor is part of the applicant pool, and her candidacy is mishandled. Working with a search firm is a sure way to make sure you are communicating with applicants appropriately and moving the search along as quickly as possible.

    If you've got an opening, check out our online calculators. They will help you decide if you can afford search firm services. You may find out you can't afford not to.


    Capability Company's New Calculators and Wizards
    Calculator Image

    Try our new Calculators and Wizards to analyze your options to:

    • conduct an employee search for yourself, or
    • utilize the services of a professional executive recruiter

    Calculate your Cash Flow from using an Executive Recruiter

    • Try our four-step calculator to estimate the value of using an Executive Recruiter instead of attempting to fill a vacant position without assistance.
    • Learn how the unpaid salary provides the finances for the recruitment fees.
    • Calculate the losses from inactive development efforts.
    • Determine the value of management and clerical time devoted to the recruitment process

    Score your Internal Recruiting Strengths

    • Try our six-step appraisal of your abilities to fill the position without the assistance of an executive recruiter.
    • Compare your score with industry norms to make a more rational judgment of your strengths and weaknesses.

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