3 Practical Ways to Bring Equality and Justice to the Nonprofit Workplace

The nonprofit sector exists to make the world a better place — to right wrongs and correct injustices. Hundreds of thousands of nonprofit organizations exist to:

• combat domestic violence
• help the impoverished
• protect the marginalized
• fight against racism
• stand up for human rights
• and so much more

And yet, the nonprofit sector itself is rife with injustices.

3 Practical Ways to Fight Inequality in the Nonprofit Sector

Sadly, nonprofits are not always pleasant, fair places to work — especially for women and minorities. With that in mind, here are three practical things you can do to combat “ism’s” in the workplace.

1. Provide equal pay

Women make up approximately 75% of the fundraising workforce. And yet, they only hold less than 50% of the top jobs. Certain nonprofits exist to fight for equal pay for equal work. And yet, many women in the sector remain grossly underpaid compared with their male counterparts.

I recently spoke with a colleague who said he had to fight with his own HR staff at a big hospital system to raise the pay levels of the women in the office to equal that of the men. But for so many reasons, this is a fight worth having.

2. Recruit diverse board and staff members

Does your staff and board reflect the community you serve? What about the world in which you live?

It’s likely that your organization would benefit from some different perspectives, new ways of thinking and distinct perceptions. In order to create a diverse workplace, it’s important to be proactive in your approach. That’s because it’s easy to stick with what you know and never deviate far from your inner circle. However, this leads to stale ideas and homogeneous, monotonous perspectives.

If you truly want to have diversity in your organization and not simply token representatives of one group or another, it’s important to make a conscientious effort to ensure diversity among board and staff members.

Think about the diversity you wish to have. It will include diversity in a wide variety of areas, including race, gender, age, sexuality, ability, skillset and more. Then make a real effort to go out and recruit people who don’t look, talk, act or think like you do to join your important cause.

3. Promote a healthy work-life balance

We want people to have work-life balance, but we’re not necessarily promoting that at our own organizations. On the contrary, we’re often working so hard for the causes we promote and often burning ourselves out in the process.

I was chatting with a friend the other day who works at an organization which helps people with mental illness. She told me that her job is so stressful (too much work, not enough staff to do it) that she started seeing a therapist and taking anti-anxiety pills because for the first time in her life, she can’t sleep. Thank goodness her particular job promotes the mental health of their employees, but not every job is so forgiving (even in the industry in which they work).

Think of three things you can to help alleviate stress from the lives of your staff members. Can you allow some work from home? What about flexible schedules? Extra days off? These are all strategies which don’t cost your organization anything and will promote a sense of well-being, happiness and allegiance among staff members.

Eliminate Inequality in Your Own Backyard First

As nonprofit organizations, you’re fighting to make the world a better place. You won’t succeed if your own staff is miserable or discriminated against.

So start where you can make the biggest impact — with your own people. They’re the beginning of much larger ripple effect.

Know other ways nonprofits can help fight the good fight? Let me know in the comments.