As labor unions experience a resurgence, workers attempting to organize at mission-based organizations are facing industry-related complications, the New York Times reports.

According to Gallup, approval of labor unions has reached its highest point since 1965. As workers at private companies start to unionize, nonprofit employees are following suit, with concerns cited by organizers including transparency, standardized pay scales, and racial equity, in addition to improving salaries and benefits. “Workers, organizers, rank and file staff in nonprofits are trying to interrupt this ‘martyrdom’ syndrome, that by doing this work, your job is grueling, you work long hours, and you are paid very little,” said Kevin Simowitz, co-director of All Due Respect, which aims to set new labor standards for community organizers.

Yet, given nonprofit culture, mission-based employees are finding negotiations to be particularly awkward. Nonprofits face issues that don’t necessarily impact large corporations, such as a culture of money scarcity, as many organizations rely on individual donations and institutional grants, and funds often are earmarked for a specific program, but not for the administrative costs of running it.

Suggestions for improving the process include nonprofits voluntarily recognizing employee unions, or in the larger context of the industry, shifting philanthropic giving to unrestricted grants akin to how MacKenzie Scott has chosen to give, which affords organizations more authority to determine how the money is spent.

“In the social justice, pro-change, progressive movement, the leaders and the staff are often aligned,” said Amy Smoucha, a consultant whose firm focuses on social justice organizations. “But unionization can be a blunt instrument, and it can be difficult—even for the most well-intentioned nonprofit—to find a collaborative path.”