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Springfield, MO
Springfield is home to many wonderful nonprofits doing important work. The metro has more than 3,200 registered organizations, according to IRS filings, including well-known social service groups like Habitat for Humanity, the YMCA and Boys & Girls Club, private universities, two major health care systems, and foundations. Also in the mix are tax-exempt entities, such as electric cooperatives, credit unions and associations.
Although the organizations differ in size and purpose, nearly all of them share a similar struggle: finding enough employees to fill critical positions.
Staffing struggles
Using feedback from FORVIS LLP trainings and surveys, nearly 5,000 representatives nationwide in the nonprofit, education and public sectors ranked the workforce/staffing issue as their most urgent challenge. Over 36% of those surveyed in the nonprofit sector rated it as the No. 1 challenge.
Workforce issues include difficulty attracting/recruiting quality candidates; high turnover; limited staff capacity; maintaining adequate staffing levels; and shortage of available workers.
These are punctuated by the fact nearly 3 out of 4 organizations have job vacancies, according to the FORVIS 2024 State of the Nonprofit Sector Report. The nationwide survey of more than 325 nonprofit leaders found that 74% of responding organizations are struggling to fill positions. Health, education and human services have the highest levels of vacancies within the industry.
Possible causes
There are six key factors contributing to the industry workforce crisis. Some are new and some have existed for decades.
Response
If organizations are to survive and thrive, the call to action is clear. Nonprofit leaders, boards and funders must focus on five key areas:
Dan Prater is a senior managing consultant at FORVIS LLP. He can be reached at dan.prater@forvis.com.
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