Recording: Personnel Strategies in the Face of Impossible Choices

Find the webinar recording here

The economic fallout of the COVID-19 outbreak is forcing many nonprofits to consider salary reductions and/or staff cuts to survive financially. These are particularly painful options for mission-based organizations to imagine. Nearly all nonprofits can attribute the success of their missions to the dedicated, talented people who are at the core of their organizations.

Many nonprofits have worked hard to build strong workplace cultures. Many have taken steps to hire differently in order to bring more people of color and indigenous people into their program, administrative, and leadership teams. Others have invested in professional development plans to elevate the skill-level and expertise of their staff in significant ways. All of these accomplishments make it even harder for nonprofits to contemplate salary decreases, furloughs, reduced hours, and/or layoffs among the possible remedies to their financial difficulties.

When the financial facts require bold actions

In this recorded webinar, my colleague Jessica Smith and I present a wide range of personnel strategies for nonprofit leaders to consider. Based on the financial reality your organization is currently facing, your options fall into three main categories:

• Maintain all staff – with no salary reductions
• Maintain all staff – with salary or hour reductions
• Reduce staff (eliminate positions)

Jessica and I discuss several specific strategies that fall under each of these broader groupings. We also share principles to guide your approach. Whatever plan you develop should be financially effective while upholding your values, appropriately designed to navigate human resources and regulatory implications, and forward-looking enough to shape your organizational culture both during and after the crisis.

After watching the webinar, please reach out to any of us here at CLA for help navigating your response to COVID-19 related challenges. Here are some helpful links to assist you:

Recording: Personnel Strategies in the Face of Impossible Choices

Recording: Cash Management and Cash Modeling for Nonprofits

CLA Intuition 2.0 financial modeling tool

CLA Tax, Economic and Workforce Support page

CLA Responding to COVID-19 Resource page

Article: “Financial Leadership in the Face of Impossible Choices.”

Video: “Community Resilience and Racial Equity – Nonprofits Responding to COVID-19.”

Blog: Innovation in Nonprofit Finance

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