Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

The U.S. nonprofit sector has grown significantly over the past few decades. Approximately 1.41 million nonprofits were registered with the Internal Revenue Service in 2013, an increase of 2.8 percent from 2003 (Urban Institute, 2015). With this growth in the sector has come growth in nonprofit sector employment in the United States. The 2016 Nonprofit Employment Practices Survey estimates that over half of nonprofits of all sizes (57%) are likely to create new positions within their organizations in the coming year. Yet, while the nonprofit workforce was previously quite diverse in terms of educational attainment (Johnston & Rudney, 1987), this has changed over time. As educational attainment has increased overall in the U.S., the nonprofit sector has become more professionalized and is likely to hire more highly educated individuals. For instance, when examining job postings online, one is likely see language such as “Bachelor’s degree in related field required” or “Bachelor’s required, Master’s preferred,” even for entry-level positions (Le, 2016).

However, if we want to create more socially just social sectors in our communities, we must be thoughtful about our hiring practices. A formal education requirement in a nonprofit organization can perpetuate inequality that many organizations in urban communities are fighting against. As we have seen the nonprofit sector and employment opportunities grow alongside educational attainment, the question that remains is: how does a formal education requirement influence equitable access to job opportunities in the nonprofit sector?

This paper explores the role education plays in the hiring practices of nonprofit organizations. To answer this question, we gathered information from job websites (e.g., Idealist.org) to understand the different qualification criteria, desired skills, and experiences required of nonprofit organizations in order to access employment opportunities. We collected data from nonprofit sector job websites in six urban areas in the United States (two large, two medium, two small) and identified what type of education is required for different types of jobs and positions (e.g., entry level vs managerial, full-time vs. part time, field).

This study has multiple implications for public policy and the nonprofit sector. First, this study explores hiring practices in the nonprofit sector in urban areas to inform our understanding of how we can achieve more equitable access to employment in the nonprofit sector. Understanding how to achieve equitable hiring practices in the nonprofit sector begins with understanding existing hiring practices of nonprofit organizations and the influence of educational requirements. However, the application of this study is broader than simply hiring practices in organizations: nonprofit organizations serve communities and people in those communities. If education requirements are viewed as important to achieving organizational missions, these findings will have implications for educational institutes and nonprofit organizations. Ultimately, this study provides insights that will be helpful toward understanding how to respond to current trends in the nonprofit sector, but has a broader goal of addressing the critical issues of a) who is involved in making community-level change, and b) how to make hiring practices more inclusive in our communities.