The Leading Business Publication For Nonprofit Management ...€¦ · 5 Partnership for Public Service 64 6 PRS, Incorporated 73 7 Alzheimer's Association 475 8 DonorsChoose.org 63

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The Leading Business Publication For Nonprofit Management • www.thenonprofittimes.com • $6.00 U.S. April 1, 2014

BY MARK HRYWNA, PATRICK SULLIVAN & MARTIN C. DAKS

Ask almost anyone who works at a nonprofit to tell you thebest part about working there and the answer generally willbe: the mission. And, that’s great. But loving the missiondoesn’t pay the electric bill.

Employees of nonprofit organizations likely understand that con-cept. Things such as salary aren’t going to be at the same levels of

for-profit companies. They do it for other reasons or find other bene-fits (monetary or otherwise) that fulfill them in their careers.

Leaders at organizations in the 2014 Best Nonprofits To Work Forseem to understand that inclination. What makes an organization aBest Nonprofit To Work For? If you subscribe to the idea of SevenHabits of Highly Effective People, then there are a number of common

NPT’s Best Nonprofits To Work For 2014Compensation, communication and development fuel employee satisfaction

Best Nonprofits, page 2

BestNonprofits-2014_Layout 1 3/21/14 3:31 PM Page 1

1 National Older Worker Career Center, Inc. 23 2 AHC Inc 61 3 Wounded Warrior Project 420 4 Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Midlands 23 5 Partnership for Public Service 64 6 PRS, Incorporated 73 7 Alzheimer's Association 475 8 DonorsChoose.org 63 9 The Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults 17 10 Young Community Developers, Inc 22 11 PENCIL Foundation 2212 National Institute of Aerospace 8513 Make-A-Wish Illinois 4114 Pathway Homes, Inc. 9515 Children's Law Center 8816 American Heart Association 2,85717 Arts Midwest 2218 DoSomething.org 4519 The National Society of Collegiate Scholars 3320 Community Technology Alliance 1921 Emmaus Community of Pittsburgh 5822 The Mission Continues 3123 Kessler Foundation 10224 Brighton Center 9125 SightLife 10726 Harlem RBI 8327 Military Officers Association of America 9128 NeedyMeds Inc. 1529 Caring Voice Coalition. Inc 4430 Soles4Souls 3731 Human Rights Campaign 16232 Year Up 35333 Pearl S. Buck International Inc. 1634 Career Path Services 9335 Public Health Institute 64636 Emerge! Center Against Domestic Abuse 8437 Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society 221

39 NOLS 18340 Summer Search 11341 Space Foundation 4442 Great Lakes Capital Fund 5243 Better Business Bureau serving Central, Coastal, 65 Southwest Texas and the Permian Basin 44 ZERO - The End of Prostate Cancer 1745 Catholic Charities of Dallas 13346 Palm Beach Habilitation Center, Inc. 9247 Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona 11848 American Diabetes Association 83549 iMentor 9850 The Children's Home of Cincinnati 266

38 National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy 29

U.S. EmployeesRank Organization Listing

NPT’s BEST NONPROFITS TO WORK FOR Top 50

2014

National Older WorkerCareer Center, Inc. AHC Inc.

WoundedWarrior Project

Alzheimer’sAssociation

2 APRIL 1, 2014 THE NONPROFIT TIMES www.thenonprofittimes.com

The assessment process was man-aged for The NonProfit Times by BestCompanies Group (BCG) in Harrisburg,Pa., an independent workplace researchfirm specializing in identifying and rec-ognizing great places to work through-out the United States, Canada and theUnited Kingdom.

The BCG Employer Questionnaire(EQ) is an 81-question gauntlet used tocollect information about benefits, poli-cies, practices and other information. Itcomprised 25 percent of an organiza-tion’s overall evaluation. The other 75percent of the evaluation was derivedfrom a confidential 76-question Em-ployee Engagement & Satisfaction Sur-vey (EESS), which was used to evaluatethe workplace experience and organiza-tional culture. More than 10,000 em-ployees working for the nominatedorganizations were surveyed.

Leaders at organizations that toppedthe list of Best Places to Work appear toshare some common approaches, such asempowering employees and encouragingthem to find their own creative solutions.

The operational strategy at NOWCC re-volves around cooperation. As a $24-mil-lion operation with 600 constituents anda staff of 24, the No.1 Best Nonprofit ToWork For has to be nimble. “That’s a lot ofwork for 24 people to manage,” Chief Fi-nancial Officer German “Cito” Vanegas.

NOWCC had struggled with internalcommunication, Vanegas said. WhenGregory Merrill joined in 2006 as thenew chief executive officer, he listened toemployees’ needs and concerns. “Com-munication was one of them. We startedusing teams from different departmentsto tackle challenges,” Vanegas said.

At The Partnership for Public Servicein Washington, D.C., CEO Max Stier saidthere’s a work environment that encour-

traits among nonprofits on this year’s list,regardless of their size, with the best or-ganizations focusing efforts on:

• Pay, Benefits and Incentives: Someorganizations benchmarked at higher-than-average percentiles for salaries whileothers provided generous benefits to tryto offset potentially lower salaries. Someemployees receive incentives and healthybonuses for reaching goals or going aboveand beyond.

• Employee Engagement and Com-munication: Leaders at the best organiza-tions often ask their staff what they want,and keep them abreast of what’s going onand where the organization is heading.

• Staff Development and Growth:When organizations ask their employeeswhat they’re looking for, very often it’sthe ability to grow and learn.

The National Older Worker CareerCenter (NOWCC) ranked No. 1 overallon this year’s list, beating out fellow Ar-lington, Va., nonprofit AHC, Inc., andWounded Warrior Project (WWP). Jack-sonville, Fla.-based Wounded Warriorhad taken the overall crown in the BestNonprofits study three years running.

The top three organizations overallwere an equal mix of the small (15 to 49employees), medium (50-249) and large(250 or more) categories. Among the 50organizations in the Best Nonprofits2014 study, 18 were categorized assmall, 25 as medium and seven large.

PICKING THE WINNERSThe Best Nonprofits To Work For was-

n’t a simple nomination process or pick-ing names out of a hat. The program wasopen to all nonprofits with 501(c)(3) sta-tus that have a facility with a minimum of15 employees, in the United States. Or-ganizations had until Oct. 31, 2013 to reg-ister to go through the 2014 assessment.

Continued from page 1

Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Midlands

The Ulman CancerFund for YoungAdults

Continued on following page

In their own words ... hear from executives at the best nonprofits about their workplace strategies. Go to http://bit.ly/1dtdybS


ages “accidental meetings,” so employ-ees can mix with people from other de-partments and share ideas.

Employees at DonorsChoose can takeadvantage of the Playground -- a socialarea at its New York City headquartersthat encourages teamwork across depart-ments. Melanie Duppins, senior directorof policy and learning, said staff can“reset their creativity by working from thePlayground.” Employees also can arrangeto arrive a little early or stay late or workfrom a standing desk or a yoga ball.

Satisfaction with pay and benefits atorganizations with fewer than 50 em-ployees tracked with the aggregate ofnonprofits on the Best Places list thisyear, at 89 percent for both. Respon-dents at small organizations on the listwere significantly more satisfied withtheir pay and benefits than small organi-zations that did not make the list, whichonly had 70 percent positive responses,and all organizations that did not makethe list, which scored 69 percent.

Small organizations can find it withintheir budgets to competitively pay em-ployees. High pay is necessary to attractand retain employees, especially in thetechnology-focused Bay Area in Califor-nia, according to D.J. Brookter, deputydirector of Young Community Develop-ers. The San Francisco-based nonprofitranked 10th overall on the Best Non-profits To Work For and was 4th amongsmall organizations. “We have a very ed-ucated staff and we make sure to treatthem correct,” he said. Of the 22 em-ployees at Young Community Develop-ers, at least half have college degrees,and three have advanced degrees.

Some 92 percent of respondents atsmall organizations on the list said theywere satisfied with their employer’s bene-fits package, compared to 74 percent ofsmall organizations that were examinedbut did not make the list. That’s only onepercentage point off from all organizationson the list, 93 percent of which respondedpositively. Of respondents from all organi-zations not on the list, 69 percent were sat-isfied with their benefits package.

For organizations that might thinktheir salary offerings lag competitors,they make a point to try to make it up tostaff on the benefits end of things.

The Mission Continues in St. Louis,Mo., added a suite of new benefits sincelast year. “Our health care package is phe-nomenal across the board when you con-sider employees are only spending $5 permonth,” said President Spencer Kympton.Benefits include vision and dental. Be-tween last year’s Best Places survey andthis year’s, the organization added an em-ployer match of up to 3 percent for its401(k) plan, as well as long-term disabilityand life insurance at no cost to workers. Italso did not increase health insurance pre-miums for staff, Kympton said, in spite ofrising healthcare costs this year.

Large organizations such as theAlzheimer’s Association and the Ameri-can Diabetes Association made commit-

ments to offering generous matchingcontributions to retirement plans. Whilematching contributions were scaled backor suspended after the economy de-clined in 2008, the nonprofits were ableto eventually restore them retroactively.

The board of Year Up has made 100-percent employer-paid health benefits akey a priority for the organization, evenreallocating money elsewhere after the re-cession to keep health benefits, accordingto Sara Holt, director of capacity buildingand recruitment at Year Up in Boston,

Mass. “I’m not sure how much it attractspeople but it definitely helps hire peo-ple,” she said, as well as retain employees.

New employees at Year Up get threeweeks vacation in their first year, whichincreases to four weeks after the firstyear. “The balance people can find be-tween their work and life is well met butwe’re also really careful about in theearly application process to assess whatsomeone’s needs are,” Holt said.

“We don’t just say what are your min-imum qualifications, we ask how would

your lifestyle be impacted by joining as amember of the nonprofit group and tak-ing a significant pay cut. So we’re prettydirect about the fact that nonprofits arenotoriously trying to sell themselves onthe value of the mission but we reallyneed you to be on board financially, andsupported, and make sure that’s part ofthe conversation,” she said. NPT

APRIL 1, 2014 THE NONPROFIT TIMES www.thenonprofittimes.com 3

Continued from preceding page



BY MARK HRYWNA

Large nonprofits are faced withunique challenges when itcomes to things such as com-munication, training or em-

ployee engagement. You can’t typicallyjust walk down the hall and ask a col-league a question or stick your head outof your office and shout an update to thehandful of staff. Large nonprofits mighthave as many staff in a new orientationprogram as some charities have in theirentire organizations.

Leaders at the American Heart Associ-ation (AHA) in Dallas, Texas, believe thatunderstanding the organization’s mis-sion as part of an employee’s founda-tional knowledge is critical to success.“We make sure that tools are available toreally develop that foundational knowl-edge,” said Katherine Neverdousky, vicepresident, human resources and corpo-rate learning. Having staff disbursedaround the country can pose a chal-lenge, she said, making it all the moreimportant to do it consistently for all.

AHA, the largest organization in thestudy with more than 2,800 employees,ranked 16th overall in the 2014 Best Non-profits To Work For and 3rd in the largecategory (250 employees or more). Largeorganizations in the study emphasizedtraining and orientation for staff and theability to be competitive with salary andbenefits, with many contributing 75 per-cent, if not full healthcare care benefits.

AHA has shifted some of these trainingresources to deliver information electron-ically, available to new employees online,with a mix of activities and experientiallearning. AHA rolled out a new on-board-ing program for new employees.

American Heart University is a train-ing program where employees can au-thorize off-the-shelf courses, withtraining that they can both attend in per-son as well as participate in online. Italso helps minimize costs, Neverdouskysaid, in some cases cutting down on theneed for trainers to travel.

“What makes American Heart a greatplace to work – it’s really the focus on

Large OrganizationsIt’s all about staying connected to message

developing our staff, to be the best thatthey can be and make sure they’re ableto communicate our mission,” saidNeverdousky. “Whether in the form oftraining and development, or makingsure there’s greater interaction with su-pervisors or that they’re being paid ap-propriately for the job they’re doing.”

Training is critical at the national officeof Alzheimer’s Association in Chicago, Ill.,as it has folded eight traditional chaptersinto the organization since July, addingsome 100 full-time employees. Chapterswere able to eliminate back-office and ad-

Grisby said. Most salaries are bench-marked at the 50th percentile, butAlzheimer’s Association benchmarks itsleadership positions at the 75th percentileor above and closer to the 60th percentilefor other positions. “We might not bemeeting 100 percent of the market butwe’re ahead of the market curve,” Grisbysaid, examining comparative data everytwo to three years to remain competitive.“We’re always looking to enhance our ben-efit programs. Each year we go out to mar-ket to make sure employees are not havinga huge impact in their paycheck,” she said.

ministrative tasks, such as benefits pro-cessing, while enjoying the national of-fice’s benefits and focusing on planning,fundraising and awareness.

Some 26 chapters have been foldedinto the national organization in recentyears, leaving approximately 60 chaptersin all, according to Mary E. Grisby, direc-tor, human resources operations. Be-cause of so much growth, she said thattraining is “high on the radar” for the or-ganization, focusing on staff trainingsuch as leadership and office skills asthey conduct a needs assessment surveyto evaluate what staff are seeking and de-veloping a plan to move forward.

“We’re leaders in looking at totalcompensation, in our ability to attractand retain the best employees,” Grisbysaid. “We’re able to bring in the right tal-ent because we have those programs tosupport the talent,” she said.

“Where we see ourselves and what wehear from brokers, our benefits programsare very rich compared to competitors,”

Whether cash or extra time off, Grisbysaid the association has come a long wayin making sure employees are taken careof since she started there 10 years ago.The organization provided for a handfulof employees during some recent badweather, ranging from hotel rooms to cov-ering cab fares to ensure a safe commute.

REPEAT PERFORMANCEAmong large nonprofits (250 employ-

ees or more), four organizations re-peated as a Best Nonprofit To Work thisyear: Wounded Warrior Project (WWP),which ranked first overall last year;Alzheimer’s Association, Year Up andAHA. Others ranked among large com-panies this year were Public Health Insti-tute in Oakland, Calif., and TheChildren’s Home of Cincinnati.

Honorees separated themselves fromaverage large organizations most notablyin the categories of pay and benefits, lead-ership and planning, and corporate cul-ture and communications (numbers

represent percentage of positive re-sponses). See the accompanying chart.

Large Best Nonprofits scored betterthan 93 percent in most every subcate-gory within Pay and Benefits. Evenamong two subcategories that didn’tscore 90 percent (“My pay is fair for thework I perform,” and tuition reimburse-ment benefits) large organizations thatmade the list were still 20 percent betterthan those that did not.

American Diabetes Association (ADA)is competitive with its benefits, not onlywith other nonprofits but against for-profit companies as well, according toDon Laing, senior vice president,human resources at the Alexandria, Va.,headquarters.

ADA pays more than 80 percent of thecost of healthcare premiums for employ-ees while also adding a number of featuresinto the plan around wellness benefits andpreventative care. Part of it is a more holis-tic approach, making sure people have op-portunities to have various preventativecare and physical tests, Laing said.

Several benefits are targeted towardfitness, such as reimbursement for gymmemberships, smoking cessation pro-grams and Weight Watchers.

“It’s about increasing one’s healthi-ness,” Laing said. About 35 to 40 percent

1 Wounded Warrior Project 209

1 Wounded Warrior Project 420 2 Alzheimer's Association 475 3 American Heart Association 2,857 4 Year Up 353

7 The Children's Home of Cincinnati 2666 American Diabetes Association 8355 Public Health Institute 646

U.S. EmployeesRank Company Listing

2014LARGE NONPROFITS (250 or more Employees)


Alzheimer’sAssociation

WoundedWarrior Project

American HeartAssociation


On Best List Not on List

Pay, Benefits91 (+16) 65

Corporate Culture, Communications86 (+15) 71

Leadership, Planning87 (+12) 75

Training, Development, Resources82 (+9) 73

Relationship with Supervisor91 (+5) 86

Role Satisfaction88 (+5) 83

Work Environment90 (+4) 86

Overall Employee Engagement88 (+11) 77


Year UpAmerican Diabetes

AssociationPublic Health

Institute


of the workforce takes advantage ofADA’s reimbursement-type programs,compared with the more typical 20 per-cent that its insurance broker typicallysees, he said.

As part of ADA’s retirement plan, em-ployees get a contribution equal to 4percent of base salary and can get an ad-ditional 4 percent based on their owncontributions. “Regardless of economictimes, employees, I think, appreciatewe’re still making those kinds of contri-butions to a retirement plan,” Laing said.ADA cut back contributions after theeconomic downturn in 2008 but wasable to restore the cuts.

“Certainly it’s a balance between bene-fits, salary and the mix of those twothings,” Laing said. “We’ve had for the past

couple of years, a 3-percent merit pool.That’s probably lower than what you’dfind in some other places, particularlycompared to the commercial world. Partof how we’re managing it is we’re lookingat it from a total compensation standpoint:How much do you want to give to UncleSam, or take in other forms,” Laing said.

For Steven Nardizzi, executive direc-tor of Jacksonville, Fla.-based WoundedWarrior Project (WWP), successful or-ganizations boil down to focus on theculture and alignment with mission andattracting, retaining, engaging and sup-porting incredible people. Growing or-ganizations must give employeesopportunities to grow, increase profes-sionalism and build skills, whetherthey’re in management, technology orprograms. “We spent a lot of time over

the past three years continuing to addcomponents necessary to add to the or-ganization and to grow,” he said.

Growth is one of the most criticalchallenges for WWP, which has opened asmany as five new offices annually andnow has 17 offices and counting. To keepup with expansion and keep employeesengaged, “team leads” are designated ineach office, in addition to their regularjob. They “take on the responsibility ofensuring there’s a healthy culture in eachof our offices,” said Nardizzi. They couldbe managers, coordinators or in somecases staff who answer phones. It’s who-ever might be the best fit in that office tokeep the office engaged.

Team leads get a budget for teambuilding among staff, which is increas-ingly important, he said, as WWP adds

more offices around the country andoverseas, “making sure program staff arealigned, working as a great team.” Thenonprofit surveys team leads to keep upon how offices are doing, to ensure toolsand resources are available to staff, andkeeping a healthy office environmentthat’s “aligned with core values and con-stantly committed to mission,” he said.

“I imagine when you’re 10 or 40 peo-ple, it’s very easy to keep everyone ingood communication and working wellas a team, aligned with mission and val-ues. You start getting to 100, 400, 500,you need to be a lot more thoughtfuland purposeful in ensuring that thathappens,” Nardizzi said. “It’s why weadded these office leads, why we focuson culture in performance evaluationand all-staff training,” he said. NPT


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AHC Inc Pathway Homes Emmaus Community of Pittsburgh


BY MARTIN C. DAKS

Leaders at PRS Inc., offered tohelp when they found out thatWashington, D.C., officials werestruggling to implement effec-

tive programs for young adults livingwith serious mental illness.

“We had developed a model in north-ern Virginia, where we had operated for50 years, that provided improved out-comes for 18- to-35-year-old clients re-garding their return to work and school,”said Wendy Gradison, CEO of PRS in Mc -Lean, Va., which focuses on assistingadults who suffer from mental illness,substance abuse and other disorders.“We worked with the District of Colum-bia Department of Behavioral Health toimplement a pilot program that startedin April 2013, and that is now a part ofthe certified programs in D.C.”

Gradison credits the organization’semployees for the success of this programand others. “They’re the ones who help totransform lives, one relationship at a time,with each client,” she said. “Their partner-ship with each client is, simply, the key in-gredient to our clients’ successes.”

PRS ranked 3rd on the list ofmedium-sized organizations (50-249)and 6th overall in the 2014 Best Non-profits To Work For.

Encouraging employees to have thatkind of empathy and creativity requiresan effort on everyone’s part, she added.

“We require face-to-face supervision aminimum of every other week for everyemployee,” Gradison said. “We also focuson employee well-being and satisfactionin many ways, including providing state-of-the-art equipment, so em ployees canwork with the client in an office, in thecommunity, or in the client’s home. Weperiodically do ‘pulse checks’ to deter-mine staff satisfaction on several key vari-ables that they have told us really matterto them.”

PRS employees’ job knowledge, su-pervisory skills, and professional intelli-gence are enhanced via internal andexternal training that uses face-to-facecontact, online self-paced courses, class-room settings, and group case studies.

“We also find many ways to say ‘thankyou’ and show our appreciation in anumber of ways, including closing theagency one day a year for Staff Apprecia-tion Day, and giving personal notes andgifts on employees’ anniversary date ofemployment that are delivered by theCEO,” she said. “We also communicatethe fact that PRS is always a work in

employees: autonomy, mastery and flexi-bility,” said Duppins. “To the extent pos-sible, decisions are made at the lowestlevel by the individuals who will own theoutcome. We also encourage employeesto master new skills, offering them pro-fessional development opportunitiesand exposing them to great thinkers viaour Speaker Series.”

progress. We are never done.”Just because your nonprofit’s budget

isn’t huge doesn’t mean you can’t do bigthings for your employees, according toMelanie Duppins, senior director of pol-icy and learning at DonorsChoose.org, anonprofit that uses crowdsourcing toraise funds for educators and educa-tional institutions.

The New York City organizationranked 4th on the list of medium-sizedorganizations and 8th overall. Donors -Choose.org recently partnered withprinter manufacturer MakerBot to place3D-printers into “hundreds of class-rooms” in Brooklyn.

“We deliver three key incentives to

The company’s approach to empow-ering employees has led to some signifi-cant bottom-up program innovations.“Some of our best ideas -- digitizingteacher feedback, offering companiesopportunities to double their impact viamatch offers, and several of our top-per-forming website enhancements -- havecome from staff members. When theseideas succeed, our entrepreneurial cul-ture is strengthened and our staff mem-bers feel even more comfortablesuggesting their best ideas,” she said.

Other organizations also work dili-gently to synchronize external goals withinternal operations. The Partnership forPublic Service (number 2 on the me -

dium-sized list and 5th overall) is a non-partisan organization that works to revi-talize the federal government byinspiring a new generation to serve andby transforming the way governmentworks. Leaders at the Washington, D.C.-based organization have also thought alot about the best way to structure theirown operations.

“As a mission-based organization weneed talented people to do goodthings,” CEO Max Stier said. “Early on,we realized that you have to create theright environment to attract, retain andstimulate those individuals.”

That means having conversationswith employees about the way their ac-tivities fit into the organizational goals,and sharing with staff, in real time, infor-mation about why the nonprofit’s lead-ers choose to do things in a certain way,and then incorporating their feedback.

“The goal is to get employees to feelresponsible for the whole organization,”Stier said. “We also encourage employ-ees to come forward with initiatives andsuggestions, and we carefully considerthem.”

One young woman had an interest inpromoting healthy lifestyles, and was en-couraged to design an employee well-ness program. “She launched a series ofworkshops that focus on shopping forhealthy food, exercises, meditation andother topics,” Stier said. “It’s becomevery popular.”

The Partnership for Public Servicecontinues to examine its employee moti-vation programs and continues to lookfor ways to improve efforts. “You have tobe like a shark,” Stier said. “If you don’tkeep pushing forward, you’ll drown.”

Establishing an environment wherecollaboration is a hard-wired value hashelped to promote employee satisfac-tion and efficiency at the National Insti-tute of Aerospace (NIA), according toDouglas O. Stanley, president of the re-search and graduate education institute.The Hampton, Va.-based organiza tion(number 5 on the medium list and12th overall) conducts leading-edge

Medium-Sized OrganizationsDecisions made where they are implemented feed satisfaction


1 AHC Inc 61 2 Partnership for Public Service 64 3 PRS, Incorporated 73 4 DonorsChoose.org 63

7 Children's Law Center 886 Pathway Homes, Inc. 955 National Institute of Aerospace 85

8 Emmaus Community of Pittsburgh 58

10 Brighton Center 919 Kessler Foundation 102

11 SightLife 10712 Harlem RBI 8313 Military Officers Association of America 9114 Human Rights Campaign 16215 Career Path Services 93

17 Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society 22118 NOLS 18319 Summer Search 113

21 Better Business Bureau serving Central, Coastal, 65 Southwest Texas and the Permian Basin

20 Great Lakes Capital Fund 52

22 Catholic Charities of Dallas 13323 Palm Beach Habilitation Center, Inc. 9224 Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona 11825 iMentor 98

16 Emerge! Center Against Domestic Abuse 84


2014MEDIUM NONPROFITS (50 - 249 Employees)




Brighton Center Harlem RBIKesslerFoundation

7

aerospace and atmospheric research,develops new technologies and helpsinspire the next generation of scientistsand engineers.

“We’ve established an atmospherewhere employees feel the value of col-laboration,” he said. “Our approachtakes its cue from Major League Base-ball: the executives and managers arethe ‘staff ’ that supports the researchersand educators, who are the ‘talent’ thatreally makes things happen.”

To enhance the culture of collabora-tion, NIA maintains a relatively flat organi-zational structure. “Our goals are set forthon a single page, and we maintain opencommunications among all employees atall levels,” said Stanley. “Many of the peo-ple who are attracted to our organization

are self-motivated to begin with, and ourstructure affords them a great deal of au-tonomy and decision-making authority.”

When employees share a commongoal of wellness and teamwork, it spillsover to their work and performance, since“there is a more positive, human interac-tion,” according to Stania Romain, direc-tor of human resources at AHC, Inc. TheArlington, Va., nonprofit topped the list ofmedium-sized organizations and wasnumber 2 overall. It develops affordablehousing in the mid-Atlantic region.

Approximately 75 percent of staff par-ticipates in a wellness rewards program.“Officially, it provides a year-end mone-tary incentive for employees to adopt ahealthy lifestyle by engaging in Zumba,kickboxing, mental health, nutrition andother activities. But the exercise pro-

grams also encourage staff members tohang out with each other and to commu-nicate more, benefiting everyone by get-ting them more involved.”

AHC immerses employees in a “cul-ture of customer service” from the start,she added, noting that the organiza-tion’s new-hire orientation programspells out its commitment to teamworkand communication; dedication to theenvironment, and a pledge to offer op-portunity, respectability and accounta-bility to employees.

“We engage everyone here with con-sistent communication, and solicitationof their thoughts and suggestions,” Ro-main said. “We encourage employees tosend in suggestions by email or onpaper, and we recognize their contribu-tions at a year-end party when we dis-

tribute gift cards to everyone who sub-mitted a suggestion.”

Employees go above and beyond in anumber of ways, she added.

“We work with a number of commu-nities, and at Thanksgiving we hostedcelebrations at our housing centersacross the region,” Romain said. “Manyemployees participated, cooking andserving 500 turkeys to residents. It gaveour employees a chance to meet thefamilies we serve, which meant a lot toeveryone who participated, and alsogave the people who work ‘behind thescenes,’ like the accountants, a chanceto step out and be seen.” NPT

Martin Daks is a freelance businesswriter in Bethlehem Twp., Pa., and a reg-ular contributor to The NonProfit Times.


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BY PATRICK SULLIVAN

Rich Sagall, M.D., president ofNeedyMeds, will trust you 100percent if you’re an employeeof the organization. It’s up to

you to blow it. “I once had an employeeask me, ‘How do you know I’m doingwhat I should?’ Because you tell me,”Sagall recalled telling a staff member.

NeedyMeds, a Gloucester, Mass.,nonprofit that helps people with med-ical costs, ranked number 28 overall and12th among small organizations on TheNonProfit Times’ 2014 Best NonprofitsTo Work For. The policy is an earnedtime off model. “We got rid of holidays,vacation days, sick days, personal days.Everyone just has days,” Sagall said. “Weprefer planning (to take time off), butsometimes it just works that way (onshort notice).”

NeedyMeds’ staff has a large amountof freedom when it comes to the hoursworked. It all comes down to trust. “Westrive for a very flexible situation interms of hours,” Sagall said. “Most of thethings we do are not emergencies, soemployees have flexibility with theirhours.”

Flexible working arrangements makeemployees happy, and they’re a hallmarkof organizations that scored highly on2014 Best Nonprofits To Work For. Some89 percent of the smallest Best Places,those with fewer than 50 employees,have flexible hours, compared to 73 per-cent of small nonprofits that competedbut did not make the list.

Small organizations have an advan-tage by virtue of size in that it’s easy forthe C-level executives to stay plugged-into staff. Instead of annual or even quar-terly reviews, executives at the NationalOlder Worker Career Center (NOWCC),the number one best place to work over-all, meets with staff every month. “It’s re-ally great for communication,” said CitoVanegas, CFO of the Arlington, Va.-basedNOWCC. “People know what’s going on,and it makes people feel involved.”

Frequent assessments help employ-ees refine and reach their goals, and giveexecutives a better idea of how employ-

ees are faring in their roles, wherethey’re struggling and how they want togrow. NOWCC’s assessment program iscalled CAMP: Coaching, Assessment andMentoring Program. “We assess howpeople are doing so we can providegood feedback,” said Vanegas. “We haveindividual development programs tohelp people develop their careers,

things like training and identifying peo-ple’s career growth goals.” And, saidVanegas, the CAMP program “is some-thing that the staff created.”

Professional development is a touch-stone of small organizations on the 2014Best Nonprofits list. Some 86 percent ofsurvey respondents at small organizations

sonally,” said D.J. Brookter, deputy di-rector of Young Community Developersin San Francisco, Calif. YCD came in atnumber 10 overall and 4th among smallorganizations. Brookter cited in-housetraining in grant writing and case man-agement as examples of the types of pro-fessional development employees can

on the list were happy with their organiza-tion’s training and development pro-grams, compared to 82 percent of allorganizations on the list, 69 percent ofsmall organizations not on the list and 67percent of all organizations not on the list.

“Each employee gets at least threetrainings a year, pending funding, to en-hance everybody professionally and per-

undertake.The company-wide motto of Arts Mid-

west in Minneapolis, Minn., according toExternal Relations Manager Anne Romens,is to be curious. “Arts Midwest continues tonurture a lot of growth among our staff,”she said of the number 17 overall organi-zation and number seven small nonprofit.“We have many opportunities for profes-sional development and opportunities inthe organization for different teams to col-laborate with each other, which fosters anopen environment where we exchangeideas, help out on projects, learn fromeach other and work as a group for com-mon goals.”

Romens said professional develop-ment opportunities range from casualconversations to formal training. “Theyreally vary depending on employees’ in-terests and needs,” she said. “It could bescheduling time to have an informa-tional interview with someone you wantto add to your network, or more formalworkshops and conferences. There areonline courses to dig into new technol-ogy. Professional development is notseen as something exclusively as a work-shop for entry-level employees, buteveryone has the opportunity to en-hance their career.”

The familiarity between executives andstaff allows for sharply targeted develop-ment opportunities, said Laura Ross, fi-nance and human resources director forthe PENCIL Foundation in Nashville,Tenn., number 11 overall and five amongsmall organizations. According to Ross,the organization budgets between $250and $1,000 per person per year for profes-sional development. “We really try to gear(professional development) to the needsof the individual and the job,” she said.“It’s not one-size-fits-all.”

Ross said employees hash out goalseach quarter, both on an organization-wide level and as individuals. The cozyatmosphere of a small nonprofit allowsorganization leadership “to know eachemployee on a personal level, wheretheir strengths are and how to capitalizeon the assets in a way to benefit both the

Small OrganizationsYou shouldn’t have to leave the office to have fun

National Older WorkerCareer Center, Inc.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Midlands

The Ulman CancerFund for YoungAdults


1 National Older Worker Career Center, Inc. 23 2 Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Midlands 23 3 The Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults 17 4 Young Community Developers, Inc 22 5 PENCIL Foundation 226 Make-A-Wish Illinois 417 Arts Midwest 228 DoSomething.org 459 The National Society of Collegiate Scholars 3310 Community Technology Alliance 1911 The Mission Continues 3112 NeedyMeds Inc. 1513 Caring Voice Coalition. Inc 4414 Soles4Souls 37

16 National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy 2917 Space Foundation 4418 ZERO - The End of Prostate Cancer 17

15 Pearl S. Buck International Inc. 16


2014SMALL NONPROFITS (15 - 49 Employees)

‘‘Professional developmentis not seen as somethingexclusively for a workshopfor entry-level employees,but everyone has theopportunity to enhancetheir career. --Anne Romens





person and the organization,” she said.Another advantage small nonprofits

have compared to their larger counter-parts is the ease of cross-support andcommunication among the different de-partments in the organization. Smallnonprofits on the Best Nonprofits listrated highly for satisfaction regardingcommunication and corporate culture,with 92 percent of respondents at thoseorganizations responding positively.That’s 16 percentage points more thansmall nonprofits not on the list. Only 76percent of those respondents were satis-fied with their organizations’ communi-cations and corporate culture.

Increased interaction between peo-ple of different roles adds to companycohesiveness. Executives at The Mission

Continues, a veterans services nonprofit,must work particularly hard to keepeveryone focused, as only 60 percent ofemployees work at headquarters in St.Louis, Mo. The rest are split betweenboth coasts and Texas.

“There’s only so much you can do vir-tually,” said Spencer Kympton, presidentof the number 22 overall and number 11small nonprofit. “We want to ensureevery one has an opportunity to engagewith each other and reconnect to our corevalues. That often means we have to be to-gether. We find opportunities to bring theentire staff together. Whether that’saround mission-driven like service proj-ects and orientations, or organization-driven like team retreats and vets gala, weconsciously make investments in opportu-nities for team to come together.”

Some organizations go beyond cock-tail hours and holiday parties to bringemployees together. Every six months,the New York City office of DoSome-thing.org is the setting of a game of mu-sical chairs. “You get 15 seconds to picka desk,” said CEO Nancy Lublin. “Youcan meet entirely different teams andnobody gets stuck in one spot. It fostersa mutual respect for each other, allowsyou to always be learning, and it’s fun.”

Something else DoSomething.org,the eighth ranked small nonprofit andnumber 18 overall, does differently:there’s no human resources. “We havemade a conscious decision not to haveHR,” said Lublin. “If you’re frustratedwith your manager or not gettingenough feedback, you need to talk toyour manager. That’s fostered good

communication.”Making the work environment fun is

a concerted effort for Lublin and herfull-time staff of 47. “Too many peoplethink fun is going to a baseball game ordrinks after work or cupcakes on yourbirthday,” she said. “We believe the jobitself should be fun. You shouldn’t haveto leave the office to have fun.”

Working at a small nonprofit can beenjoyable, and the best small nonprofitsto work for do everything they can tomake it that way. “It’s a matter of the at-mosphere I want to foster,” saidNeedyMeds’ Sagall. “If you treat youremployees well and treat them likeadults and make them part of theprocess, they’ll give you more back. Idon’t want to be the curmudgeon run-ning things; It’s no fun for me.” NPT

PENCILFoundation

Make-A-WishIllinois

Young CommunityDevelopers, Inc.


2014Nonprofit OrganizationsSalary & Benefits Report

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