The “Great Resignation” is far from over. This might be cause for concern for some employers, but it presents an opportunity for the nonprofit sector to attract workers who are aligned with the organization’s values and, better yet, want to make an impact.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, approximately 4.5 million Americans left their jobs in November 2021—an all-time high. Why are so many people quitting? According to Anthony Klotz, the psychologist who coined the term the “Great Resignation,” people are having pandemic epiphanies, that is, the pandemic has forced many of us to reevaluate our priorities and various aspects of our lives. We’re living through a collective moment of consciousness where we are no longer allowing ourselves to let life pass us by. In fact, a survey commissioned by Indeed found that 92 percent of workers who voluntarily resigned from at least two jobs since March 2020 agreed that “life is too short to stay in a job they weren’t passionate about.”

In the nonprofit sector, recruitment and retention challenges are ongoing. The rate of attrition in the sector is high, with a 2020 Nonprofit HR survey finding that 45 percent of nonprofit employees were planning to seek new jobs by 2025. While nonprofits have recovered a good portion of their pandemic job losses, nearly half a million nonprofit workers are still missing from the workforce.

This may sound like a lot of doom and gloom, but nonprofits are actually well positioned to attract, develop, and retain talent if they can rethink the traditional workplace. For the nonprofit sector to seize this opportunity and shift the tide from the “Great Resignation” to the “Great Attraction,” it must amplify the focus on our mission to make an impact every day. If organizations can demonstrate this through value-based action in impact-focused job seekers’ networks, they’ll be sure to draw in top talent. Here are three tips to maximize your nonprofit’s recruiting opportunities:

1. Demonstrate how a role at your organization will make a difference.

Impact is the number-one tool in the talent acquisition toolkit for nonprofits. Employees (especially Gen Z) are looking for more engaging work, and nonprofits—a sector focused on making a difference—can stand out in a sea of job ads. Millennials, more than any other generation, want to change the world, and those of us in the nonprofit space should reinforce this message. Unlike their predecessors, who were more likely to volunteer in a soup kitchen or stuff envelopes with checks, Gen Z and Millennials want to do meaningful work tied to specific outcomes and impact—and if they can get paid for mission-driven work, then it’s a win-win for both the employer and employee.

In order to leverage this moment, nonprofits need to invest in the tools, resources, and technology to best attract these workers and keep in mind the significant return on investment they will bring.

2. Flexibility is critical, especially for women.

Historically, the nonprofit sector has been very dependent on the physical aspect of philanthropy—walkathons, opening direct mail in the office, marching on Capitol Hill, etc. When the pandemic hit, suddenly nonprofits that had been reluctant to truly embrace a digital transformation were forced to evolve business processes and adopt new technology. We moved events online, shifted to a remote workforce, and made significant changes to maintain our ongoing fundraising, engagement, and mission operations.

With the recognition that they can work from anywhere, many nonprofits have decided not to reopen their headquarters, and while nonprofits will return to some level of in-person fundraising, they have proven that major gifts can be solicited and stewarded via Zoom. In fact, in many ways, digital engagement has expanded the reach of and accelerated timelines for fundraising.

For many workers, flexibility is the number-one priority—especially for working moms, and women make up nearly 75 percent of the nonprofit workforce. With the pandemic finally starting to subside, I see many more working moms and nonprofit leaders embracing opportunities to find a more flexible work schedule that better supports their careers. Supporting a work-life balance in this “new normal” is essential to ensuring that employees stay and grow with your organization. Remote work also opens up the talent landscape and helps attract a larger, more diverse talent pool.

3. Engage your employees and volunteers in a meaningful way.

According to the Nonprofit Leadership Alliance, the most common reasons for voluntary turnover in nonprofits  are a lack of opportunity for upward mobility and career growth and dissatisfaction with the organizational culture. And replacing disengaged employees is costly—Gallup's State of the Global Workplace: 2021 Report found that low engagement teams endured turnover rates up to 43 percent higher than highly engaged teams, and replacing exiting workers costs one-half to two times the employee's annual salary.

We all know that nonprofit staff are overworked, busy, and often underappreciated, but there are some easy steps you can take to strengthen relationships, ensure that your employees feel seen and valued, and celebrate successes.

First, be human. Ask your employees questions about what’s most important to them. Listen, have empathy, and deliver on those requests. Plan one-on-one time with team members to connect on a personal level—ask how they’re doing and get to know their interests and passions outside of work. It’s been a tough couple of years, and many of us are facing mental health struggles. This is an important time to show up as empathetic and compassionate leaders. If we’re able to find that human connection, we can boost morale and increase employee loyalty.

Second, carve out social time within working hours to celebrate birthdays and work anniversaries, and plan team-building activities for employees and volunteers. While this may seem like one more item on an already strained workforce’s schedule, making time to show appreciation often means as much to employees as a financial incentive.

Capitalizing on the “Great Attraction”

The pandemic has been an impetus for change, forcing innovation in a very real and exciting way, and I don’t think we’re ever going back. Our sector had been slow to change because of the pressures of year-over-year growth and the dependency on reliable income streams to feed our missions (the overhead myth is still very real). We’ve now been given permission to embrace change and innovation.

Many people are rethinking what work means and are looking for more fulfilling roles that are aligned with their passions. The key differentiator that will enable a nonprofit to stand out in this job seekers’ market will be aligning on the organization’s values and impact and reinforcing its mission. Nonprofits must continue to evolve its policies and practices to stay relevant to all potential employees and embrace this opportunity to turn the “Great Resignation” into the “Great Attraction” and make a big impact.

Emily Eakin is vice president of client engagement at Traction on Demand, the world’s largest dedicated Salesforce implementation partner. She has more than 20 years of experience in the nonprofit sector and was previously principal nonprofit strategist for the company.