|
|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 28, 2003
Why Nonprofits Need an HR Conference
What�s so special about nonprofit human resources?
Idealist.org asked that same question a couple of years ago; the answer convinced Idealist to host the first-ever nonprofit HR conference, being held in Philadelphia from June 11-14.
Back in 2001, Idealist.org launched a series of nonprofit career fairs. "We began career fairs to introduce job-seekers to the nonprofit world, said Russ Finkelstein, Idealist.org�s Associate Director. "There wasn�t an established route for job-seekers to find a career in the sector, so we decided to create one.
"But what we discovered was that the employers — the recruiters at the career fairs, the HR people themselves — also lacked support networks. And their needs were just as pressing as the job-seekers� needs."
Russ convened nonprofit HR meetings around the country, from Seattle to Denver to Washington, D.C. From these gatherings, Idealist got a sense of the unique challenges in nonprofit HR: high turnover; nontraditional employee incentives; unique government regulations; a wide variety of budget restrictions imposed by boards, foundations, or donors; understaffed HR departments; and many other issues.
According to Marcia Metlin, a nonprofit consultant who will speak at the conference, "Nonprofits constantly struggle with having enough resources — human, financial and otherwise — to stay alive and to provide the services they care about.
"Because these resources are scarce, some nonprofits must spend them on resolving immediate, short-term issues: making payroll, affording adequate benefits, and other basic needs. This translates into a firefighting mentality, dealing with whatever crisis presents itself."
The unique problems of the nonprofit sector aren�t addressed by traditional HR resources, so Idealist.org has stepped in to fill the void and to develop solutions. The conference in Philadelphia will be Idealist�s starting point, a place for HR professionals to learn from experts (over fifty experts will be speaking at the conference) and to lay the groundwork for a nonprofit HR network.
Who will attend the conference? There are two basic types of nonprofit HR professionals: executive directors of smaller organizations, for whom HR is just one of many duties; and experienced professionals at larger organizations, whose primary job is HR.
You might think that an ED would have a different set of concerns than the director of a five-person HR department. But because almost every nonprofit has a budget crunch, the needs of these two groups are pretty similar. They all need:
 staff training, and ways to get it done on a shoestring budget
ideas about nontraditional compensation
more recruiting tools to compete with corporations
methods for dealing with high turnover
a nonprofit HR network, to help find quick solutions to sector-specific problems
Currently, there is no national support system for any of these needs. "Putting People at the Center: The First National Conference for Nonprofit Human Resources" will tackle all of these issues, primarily focusing on nonprofit recruiting, compensation, training, and regulation.
This June in Philadelphia, Idealist.org is founding a national network of nonprofit HR professionals. Come be a part of it.
|
|
|
