Nonprofit talent recruitment: An online experiment on new ways of working and leadership development opportunities

Abstract

Recruiting talented employees is challenging for nonprofit organizations. This study examines the effects of two possible human resource recruitment practices—offering new ways of working and leadership development opportunities—on the intention of talent to apply for a position at a nonprofit organization. Building on the self‐determination theory, the authors conducted an online survey experiment (n = 389) with aspiring employees in Germany. The results show that, of the offered practices, only “new ways of working” significantly increase individuals' intention to apply. Regarding work sector preferences, nonprofits are in a war for talent, as only 13.6% prefer the nonprofit sector, with most participants (47.8%) preferring to find a job with a for‐profit company or in the public sector (38.6%). As a key nonprofit management implication, recruiters should develop and implement new ways of working to attract talented employees to the nonprofit sector.