Retaining High-Quality People You Worked So Hard to Bring On
- Tom Iselin
- Mar 20, 2021
- 4 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
This video teaches you tactics for how to retain the quality people you bring (staff, board, and volunteers) at your nonprofit: respected leadership, engagement, praise and gratitude, benefits, professional development, and more.
Retaining High-Quality People
You Worked So Hard to Bring On
How do you keep those A-players once you have them?
People are the most precious commodity in the nonprofit world. Staff, board members, and volunteers are the engine that generates your resources and impact. Without people, you can’t raise money, run programs, or move your mission forward.
So if you’ve done the hard work to assemble a team of high-quality people—great! But now
what?
A-players know they’re A-players.If they don’t feel valued, engaged, supported, or respected, they will leave—and take their time, money, skills, relationships, and expertise to a nonprofit down the street where they are valued.
Retention isn’t luck.Retention is a plan.
Here are seven proven tactics to retaining the high-quality people you’ve brought on.
1. Have Respected Leaders at the Helm
Leadership sets the tone for the entire organization.
We’ve all experienced the rogue ED, the micromanaging board chair, or the leader who dominates meetings and shuts people down. Leaders like this suffocate engagement and inevitably push great people out the door.
But when respected, admired, and trusted leaders guide the ship:
Retention goes up
Morale goes up
Productivity goes up
Collaboration goes up
If you have leaders who are not respected—or are actively damaging your culture—it may be time to consider a change of guard.
2. Give People a Voice
People want to contribute.People want to be heard.People want to help.
But if a few loud voices dominate the conversation while others sit quietly on the sidelines, polite silence eventually becomes quiet discontent—and then resignation.
Encourage your team to:
Talk less
Listen more
Ask better questions
One of the simplest and most powerful engagement questions you can ask is:
“What do you think?”
That single question unlocks ideas, buy-in, commitment, and connection.
3. Engage Your A-Players (Don’t Bench Them)
A-players hate sitting on the sidelines.They want action. They want impact. They want to contribute at a high level.
Your job is to:
Match their skills with your needs
Put them into meaningful roles
Challenge them appropriately
Keep them in the game
If you don’t engage your best people, they will find another organization that will.
4. Thank People—A Lot
The “altruist” mentality is outdated.Yes, people serve nonprofits because they care about the mission, but they also want to feel valued.
Deep down, everyone wants appreciation—for what they do and for who they are.
You cannot say “thank you” too often.
Make it:
Personal
Authentic
Frequent
Ask yourself:When was the last time you personally thanked each of your staff, volunteers, and board members?
5. Offer Simple, Inexpensive Perks
People love perks—especially the small, meaningful ones. These don’t need to be expensive to make an impact.
Possible perks include:
Flex-time days
Casual celebration parties
SWAG giveaways
Prize drawings
“Volunteer of the Month” recognitions
Team lunches
Coffee gift cards
Take a poll. Ask your people what perks would excite them. Then pick a few and implement them.
It’s simple—and powerful.
6. Build a Team, Not Silos
People like working with people they like.If you isolate great people into silos, they will eventually drift away.
Instead, build a unified team culture by creating opportunities for genuine connection:
Host a wine-tasting social
Combine a board meeting with a staff dinner
Plan fun off-site activities (bowling, escape rooms, hikes, whatever fits your culture)
Have board members help staff on a project
Have staff attend part of a board meeting
Hold a “Board + Staff Meet & Greet BBQ”
When board, staff, and volunteers enjoy each other, collaboration skyrockets and retention becomes effortless.
7. Provide Professional Development Opportunities
People want to grow.People want to learn.People want to evolve professionally.
In today’s fast-paced, digital nonprofit environment, professional development is more important than ever.
Offering learning opportunities:
Increases your organization’s “knowledge index”
Boosts engagement
Strengthens confidence
Supports retention
Ask your staff, volunteers, and board members:
“What would you love to learn this year?”Then help make it happen.
Summary: Retention = Engagement + Appreciation + Leadership
Quality people always have options. Everyone is a free agent.
Just because you’ve hired or recruited an A-team doesn’t guarantee they’ll stay. Retention requires intention. To keep great people:
Ensure respected leadership
Give everyone a voice
Actively engage A-players
Thank people often
Provide perks
Build team unity
Offer ongoing development
When people feel valued, appreciated, heard, and supported—they stay. And they stay engaged.
Tom Iselin
Rated One of America’s Best Board Retreat
and Strategic Planning Facilitators
About the Author
Tom Iselin is recognized as one of America’s leading authorities on high-performance nonprofits. He has built nine sector-leading nonprofits and two software companies, written six books, sits on multiple boards, and has been rated one of America’s Best Board Retreat and Strategic Planning Facilitators. His work on nonprofit strategy, board leadership, and culture has been featured on CNN, Nightline, and in Newsweek.
Tom is the president of First Things First, a firm specializing in board retreats, strategic planning services, fundraising strategy, and executive coaching for nonprofit CEOs.
Board Retreats & Strategic Planning
If you’re looking for a board retreat facilitator or strategic planning facilitator who has been in the trenches and understands real-world nonprofit challenges, Tom can help your board gain clarity, build alignment, and create an actionable plan that improves performance and impact. His sessions propel organizations to the next level of performance and impact . . . and they're fun!
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