Navigating the Talent Gap: Hiring & Retaining the Nonprofit Workforce

The nonprofit sector is the backbone of community impact in West Virginia, but many organizations struggle to attract and retain qualified professionals – particularly younger workers who want flexible, purpose-driven work. Generation West Virginia has worked at the intersection of workforce development and nonprofit leadership, helping organizations respond to this challenge with innovative, locally informed strategies. This session will provide a deep dive into GWV’s approach to nonprofit workforce development, highlighting lessons learned from the field, data-informed practices, and real-life success stories. The presentation will explore:

  1. Reimagining Work in the Nonprofit Sector
    Participants will learn how remote and hybrid work have shifted the expectations of Gen Z and Millennial professionals – and how nonprofits can meet those expectations while still achieving local impact. Generation WV will share examples of organizations using
    flexible work models to expand their reach and retention.
  2. Purpose-Driven Retention
    The session will spotlight how nonprofits can leverage their mission and community
    impact as a key talent attractor. Drawing from interviews, surveys, and program data, GWV will demonstrate how mission visibility, leadership opportunities, and transparent career growth pathways make nonprofit work more appealing to young professionals.
  3. Equity and Total Compensation
    While compensation remains a challenge in the sector, GWV will present frameworks that address total compensation: including flexible schedules, community connection, and career development. The session will include practical steps to implement skills-based hiring, eliminate degree barriers, and apply equitable recruitment strategies.
  4. Building Pipelines
    Attendees will get a behind-the-scenes look at Generation WV’s Career Connector, which places emerging leaders in high-impact roles, including nonprofit roles. The session will show how similar workforce partnerships and mentorship initiatives can be scaled to support long-term retention and leadership development.

Participants will engage in a guided activity where they reflect on their current recruitment and retention practices, identify barriers, and work in small groups to apply new strategies. A resource packet will include:

  • A hiring audit checklist
  • Inclusive job posting templates/guidelines
  • A hybrid work readiness guide
  • Program info for partnerships with GWV

Outcomes:

  • Concrete tools for inclusive hiring and retention
  • A clearer understanding of how to position nonprofit work as a meaningful career path
  • New partnership ideas with workforce development programs

This session is ideal for organizations ready to evolve their workforce strategy and build a resilient talent pipeline rooted in equity, flexibility, and mission alignment.

alongsidepoverty

Impact Alongside Poverty: A Strengths Based Approach

This interactive workshop begins with a hands-on activity that illustrates a powerful truth: everyone possesses unique skills and strengths, regardless of their access to resources. Rooted in a strengths-based perspective, the training invites participants to shift the narrative around poverty and resilience. After the activity, attendees will explore practical ways to recognize and harness individual and community strengths to enhance the impact of their services and support more equitable outcomes.

Learning Objectives

  1. Participants will become familiar with the benefits of a working from a strengths-based approach.
  2. Participants will be able to recognize and understand the “hidden rules” of class as they work with clients.
  3. Participants will become familiar with specific, common service provider situations that are influenced by an experience of poverty and strategize effective ways to respond to them.

collaborativeleadership

Collaborative Leadership

Collaborative Leadership is about building and managing both internal and external relationships, starting with the board, staff, and community. As a nonprofit leader, we need to leverage both our executive and legislative leadership skills to manage the complexity of relationships. In this session we will outline what those skills are and how to apply them for success.

Learning Objectives

  • Define what Collaborative Leadership is,
  • Define the internal and external relationships we should all have,
  • How to get started,
  • How to evaluate and further develop those relationships, and
  • An action plan to get started.

smartmachines

The Rise of Smart Machines – Harnessing AI Tools in Mission-Driven Organizations

Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a distant concept, it’s here, shaping industries, automating processes, and transforming the way mission-driven organizations achieve their goals. From nonprofits to social enterprises, AI has the potential to supercharge impact, making operations more efficient, enhancing decision-making, and driving innovation in ways we’ve never seen before.

Mission-driven organizations often face unique challenges, including limited resources, high demands for transparency, and the need to maximize impact. AI offers solutions to these challenges by providing data-driven insights, automating routine tasks, and enhancing the effectiveness of human efforts. Whether it’s optimizing fundraising strategies, improving donor engagement, or using predictive analytics to anticipate community needs, AI can be a game-changer.

One of the most promising applications of AI in mission-driven work is automation. Administrative tasks, from managing communications to processing paperwork, can be streamlined using AI-powered tools, freeing up valuable time for professionals to focus on strategic initiatives. Chatbots and AI-driven customer service models help organizations provide timely responses to inquiries, reducing workload and improving engagement.

Personalization and engagement are also key benefits. AI enables organizations to tailor communications and outreach efforts by analyzing behavioral patterns and preferences. A nonprofit might use AI to personalize donation appeals, ensuring that supporters receive relevant messages that resonate with their interests. Similarly, AI can enhance educational programs, providing personalized learning experiences that adapt to individual needs.

However, ethical considerations must be at the forefront of AI adoption. Mission-driven organizations have a responsibility to implement AI in ways that align with their values—ensuring fairness, transparency, and accountability. Bias in AI algorithms, privacy concerns, and the impact on employment are legitimate issues that require careful attention. Organizations must prioritize responsible AI use, embracing policies and practices that support equitable outcomes.

Rather than replacing human effort, AI should be seen as a collaborative tool that enhances human potential. The most successful implementations of AI in mission-driven work happen when technology augments human capabilities, enabling professionals to focus on creativity, empathy, and strategic problem-solving.

As we stand on the brink of an AI-driven future, mission-driven organizations must take a proactive approach, identifying opportunities to leverage AI effectively while maintaining ethical integrity. The robots are coming—but they don’t have to be feared. Instead, they can be harnessed as powerful allies in advancing social good, driving impact, and shaping a future where innovation and purpose go hand in hand.

Workshop participants will leave with an understanding of AI technologies and possible use cases for application in their organizations.

Learning Objectives

  1. Understand AI’s Role in Mission-Driven Work – Gain insight into how AI can support nonprofits, social enterprises, and other mission-driven organizations.
  2. Explore Practical AI Applications – Identify key ways AI can enhance efficiency, donor engagement, fundraising, and operational effectiveness.
  3. Recognize Automation Opportunities – Learn how AI can streamline operations
  4. Address Ethical Considerations – Discuss responsible AI usage, tackling concerns related to bias, transparency, and privacy.
  5. Collaboration Between AI and Humans – Explore how AI works best as an augmentation tool rather than a replacement for human effort.

dataevaluation

Data Evalution in Nonprofit Organizations

Description coming soon.

beyondgrants

Strategic Refresh: Fundraising Beyond Grants

This Strategy Lab is designed for nonprofit professionals who are ready to reimagine their fundraising with long-term sustainability in mind. The session opens with a brief discussion to surface common fundraising frustrations and introduce the core belief that sustainable fundraising is rooted in community-building and clarity—not just financial targets.

Following this reframing, participants will receive five concise teaching segments covering the following strategies:
– Individual Giving
– Recurring Giving
– Events
– Corporate Partnerships
– Earned Income

Each segment offers context, practical examples, and reflection prompts to help participants think about how each revenue stream might apply to their own work.

Participants will then break into small groups to dive into one strategy in more detail. With guided worksheets, they will:
– Assess whether and how they currently use the strategy
– Identify missed opportunities or challenges
– Generate one realistic action or experiment to explore post-summit

Each group will share their insight with the full room, allowing for rich peer-to-peer learning and idea exchange. The session concludes with individual planning time where participants choose one small shift they can implement immediately and leave with a simple worksheet to bring back to their team.

Participants will leave with:
– A “Fundraising Refresh” worksheet to guide discussion and planning
– A one-page summary of key fundraising strategies discussed
– A commitment to one personalized next step

This session supports the Resourceful track by offering practical strategies, peer-driven collaboration, and tools participants can use to strengthen and diversify their fundraising efforts right away.

campuscommunity

Campus to Community: Leveraging Higher Ed Partnerships to Strengthen the Next Gen of Nonprofit Leaders

Description coming soon.

ceosuccession

CEO Succession Planning: Lessons Learned & Best Practices

Nonprofit CEO succession planning is unique; unlike private and public companies, the Board is typically composed of community volunteers, with widely varying skills and experience.

Attendees will come away equipped with actionable insights on the key challenges and best practices in succession planning, including:

  • The role of succession planning in attracting and keeping the right people
  • How to contribute to an orderly process and mitigate organizational and reputational risk;
  • The importance of an educated governing board in proactively pursuing the development of a board-driven, CEO acceptable succession plan,
  • Recognize the difference between a succession plan and an emergency plan,
  • Identify the critical dependencies between the three types of succession planning:
    • Board succession planning (board governance)
    • CEO succession planning (executive performance development and planning)
    • Organizational succession planning (leadership development
    • Understand, anticipate and pre-emptively prepare for the Impact of
      • A slow or high growth trajectory on succession planning
      • Bench-marking internal and external talent
      • Unique role and responsibilities of the Board and CEO

challengingtimes

Sustaining Impact: A Strategic Approach to Nonprofit Resilience in Challenging Times

In today’s rapidly changing environment, nonprofits face mounting pressures—from shrinking public funding and evolving donor expectations to increased service demands and workforce instability. To thrive, organizations must look beyond annual fundraising goals and embed sustainability into their culture, strategy, and operations.

This interactive, discussion-based session equips nonprofit leaders with a practical roadmap for achieving long-term sustainability using the Brown School of Social Work’s Nonprofit Sustainability Framework. Facilitated by Dr. Michelle Mickle Foster—philanthropic executive, nonprofit strategist, and author—participants will examine six interdependent capacities critical to organizational endurance.

Through guided reflection, small group dialogue, and peer-sharing activities, attendees will assess their organization’s current sustainability posture and identify concrete next steps. Drawing from 18 years of experience as a nonprofit CEO, her books and her leadership of The Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation, Dr. Foster will provide real-world examples of how organizations in resource-constrained environments have successfully built resilience and lasting impact.

Key Topics:

  • What sustainability really means for nonprofits
  • Understanding and applying the six capacities framework
  • Organizational self-assessment for sustainability
  • Strengthening internal systems, governance, and adaptive strategies
  • Leveraging partnerships, data, and innovation for long-term success

Session Outcomes:
By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

  1. Understand and articulate the six dimensions of nonprofit sustainability.
  2. Conduct a rapid self-assessment of their organization’s strengths and vulnerabilities across the framework.
  3. Identify and prioritize one or two key capacity areas for focused improvement.
  4. Engage in peer-to-peer exchange to explore common challenges and successful strategies.
  5. Begin to craft an actionable sustainability plan tailored to their organization’s unique context.

Tools and Resources Provided:

  • A customized Sustainability Self-Assessment Tool aligned with the Brown School Framework
  • Excerpts from Journey to Maximizing Impact: A Guided Journal for Dynamic Nonprofit Leaders highlighting sustainability in action

Format & Engagement:

The session will be highly interactive, featuring:

  • Real-time polling and reflection exercises
  • Small group discussions on challenges and lessons learned
  • Partnered brainstorming on capacity-building solutions

Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of nonprofit sustainability, renewed energy, a set of tools, and a peer-supported action plan for navigating their organization’s future with purpose and resilience.

This workshop is ideal for executive directors, board members, senior staff, and fund development professionals ready to move beyond survival mode and lead their organizations toward long-term thriving.

lifecycles

Stop Guessing, Start Planning: The Lifecycles Approach to Budgeting

Budgeting is one of the most critical and often stressful tasks in nonprofit management. The Stop Guessing, Start Planning: Lifecycles Approach to Budgeting reframes budgeting as a strategic conversation grounded in organizational reality, not just aspiration. Instead of projecting income based on hope or historical assumptions, this method organizes revenue into three categories—certain, reasonably certain, and uncertain—and applies percentage-based discounts to each based on the organization’s comfort with financial risk.

At the heart of this approach is a simple but powerful principle: organizations in different lifecycle stages—such as startup, growth, or maturity—will view income risk differently. A new organization may apply a lower probability to pledged donor income, while a more established one might reasonably project higher confidence in multi-year grants or earned revenue.

While inspired by the broader Nonprofit Lifecycles model, this session focuses specifically on how lifecycle awareness can inform budgeting choices—no deep lifecycle knowledge required. Participants will explore how their organization’s stage and readiness influence how aggressively or conservatively they should forecast revenue.

Key session elements include:

  1. A walk-through of the Lifecycles Approach to Budgeting framework.
  2. Definitions and examples of certain, reasonably certain, and uncertain income.
  3. A tool for setting and applying risk-based discount percentages.
  4. A board and staff conversation guide for bringing the approach into internal discussions.

Participants will walk away with:

  1. A customizable income projection worksheet.
  2. A structured conversation guide for board or finance committee use.
  3. Actionable insights on defining risk tolerance and aligning projections to capacity.
  4. Peer-shared strategies and language for introducing the approach in their own organizations.

While the session introduces a structured budgeting framework, its primary focus is on building shared understanding around income certainty, organizational risk tolerance, and how lifecycle stage can shape financial decision-making. Participants will engage in guided discussion using a brief case study to explore how different organizations define “certainty” and apply percentage-based adjustments. The format encourages reflection, cross-organizational learning, and the exchange of practical ideas—not one-size-fits-all answers. Whether your organization is in startup, growth, or maturity, this session will help you rethink how budgeting conversations can foster alignment, clarity, and more strategic use of your financial resources.