Effective employee benefits for nonprofits begin with culture

With unlimited resources, offering enticing employee benefits would be easy, but how do you balance this with managing the cost?(Photo: Shutterstock)

What would you say if I asked you to name the most important aspect of your nonprofit organization’s benefit plan that starts with “C”? Did “cost,” “coverage” or “carrier” immediately spring to mind? While those are very important, the most important aspect is CULTURE. Effective employee benefits for nonprofits start with understanding your employees’ needs and values.

Most organizations use their employee benefits to help attract and retain top talent. For nonprofits, this is even more important – while salaries at nonprofits will usually benchmark below average, their benefits will usually be in the top quartile. In a recent national survey, 66% of nonprofit leaders named offering competitive pay as a top challenge. This places more weight on the benefits offering and more importance on employee satisfaction with their benefits package.