Every nonprofit needs leaders, go-getters, and people passionate about the mission. Getting those kinds of people into your organization, however, can be a real challenge.
Hiring new staff can be stressful. Identifying needs, recruiting candidates, and selecting the right person takes a ton of effort and resources, not to mention the time demanded of the people doing the hiring. All of this culminates around the interview.
Interviewing gives you a chance to see how the candidate fits with the organization. After seeing a resume and having a few conversations, you have to make a decision: is this the best available person who can help the nonprofit accomplish its vision?
What happens in the interviews matters. A lot.
Successful interviews require good questions. The more the you know about the candidate, the more you can draw from when making their decision.
We want to help you ask questions that will produce insightful answers from your candidates, so we’ve put together eight interview questions that will strengthen your organization’s hiring process.
1. What, specifically, are you drawn to in our mission?
Your nonprofit's mission is the backbone of the organization, and every potential employee should also care about the things the organization cares about. Something in the mission needs to resonate with the candidate if they’re going to fit, so go ahead and just ask them directly what that is.
This kind of question also provides the interviewer with a chance to gather additional information about the candidate. Some may show up to the interview with little knowledge about the mission while others may be able to articulate it perfectly. The latter demonstrates a drive to dig deeper and shows their level of interest in the specific organization, not just in a potential job.
2. Why do you want to work in the nonprofit sector?
This is an easy question to get the interview started, especially for candidates who come from the private sector. Few people just coincidentally apply for nonprofits. They usually have a reason. Giving them space to explain that reason could help the candidate settle some of those early-interview nerves so they can more comfortably (and honestly) answer the others.
The question is more than just an icebreaker, though. The interviewer has a chance to hear what draws them to the nonprofit space. Really consider the candidate’s response. Are they just bored with their current situation or are they excited about nonprofit work? How long has their passion lasted? What motivated their interest? The candidate will likely address all these secondary questions in their answer, and the interviewer can ask follow-ups if necessary.
3. Tell me about some nonprofits you support or admire. Why?
Most people who apply for nonprofit jobs typically share some sort of passion for change. By asking this question, the interviewer gets a sense of what issues that candidate cares about. As they respond, the interviewer can assess whether those values align with the organization’s mission in some way.
The question also gives the candidate a chance to showcase their awareness of the nonprofit sector as a whole. If they can’t name an organization they support or even admire, it’s safe to say that they’re not entirely in tune with the sector as a whole. On the other hand, if the person can quickly provide a thoughtful answer, the interviewer can assume that they have made some prior investment in the nonprofit world.
4. Describe a volunteer experience that meant something to you.
Even if the candidate has never worked in the nonprofit sphere, volunteer experience can give the organization insight into the kinds of issues the candidate is passionate about and the work that they’ve participated in before applying. Watching the way the person talks about their experience gives the interview a chance to see them speak freely about their passions. If their passions align well with the organization’s, you can assume the candidate’s excitement would transfer into their job as well.
5. How would your experiences and skills help our organization accomplish its vision?
Every interviewer for every job wants to hear the candidate talk about how their skills can help the organization succeed. That’s nothing new, but there is something unique about asking this question in the nonprofit sphere.
First, it helps the interviewer see the candidate’s familiarity with the organization’s goals. The more they can talk about the vision, the more likely it is that they have studied up on the organization and care about the direction it's headed.
Second, the interviewer has a chance to see how the candidate sees themselves as part of that vision. This is critical because of the collaborative nature of nonprofit work. Employees are not meant to just fill-in gaps. They work to move the organization closer to its goals. Candidates who express how their gifts can uniquely help accomplish this could have an advantage on those who can’t quite see their skill sets fitting into the nonprofit.
6. What do you think are the key challenges facing nonprofits today?
Nonprofit employees encounter all sorts of challenges on a day-to-day basis. As rewarding and fulfilling as the job can be, overcoming roadblocks is a daily task.
Having candidates consider this question allows the organization to see whether they consider the issues they may encounter. It also shows how much the candidate stays aware of trends and changes within the industry.
This question can be particularly helpful when hiring for potential leaders because those are the people who will need to help the organization and their departments respond appropriately when challenges do arise. Knowing that the candidate looks ahead can give you confidence that they will prepare for what is coming as opposed to responding in the moment.
7. Tell me about a professional experience that didn’t go according to plan. How did you react and improvise?
Anyone who has worked in the nonprofit world knows the need for flexibility and adaptation, especially in smaller organizations. People often wear multiple hats and juggle various responsibilities. It may not be the best fit for those who prefer structure, singular responsibilities, and predictability.
Requesting a story when the candidate had to be flexible enables the interviewer to see how they responded to the challenge. Maybe the sudden change excited them, or maybe it stressed them out to the point of becoming unproductive. Maybe their experience landed somewhere in between, but whatever the case, the response can help the interviewer consider the candidate’s level of comfort with unpredictable moments.
8. Can you tell us about an experience you had contributing to a team?
Collaboration is key for nonprofit work, and seeing “team player” on the candidate’s resume doesn’t quite give you enough information to make an informed decision. Inviting them to tell a story will give you an idea of how they actually operate within a team.
The stories enable interviewers to identify what kind of team player the candidate is. Does their story exhibit any leadership qualities? Do they mainly talk about accomplishing tasks someone else assigns? These subtle details can help the organization see what kind of role the candidate fits into, even if it’s not the initial one they applied for.
Less experienced candidates may not have a wealth of professional examples, so interviewers can encourage them to consider other areas of collaboration, like school projects, humanitarian service, or volunteer experiences.
Final Thoughts
Sourcing new staff members for your organization is always a challenging task. You can use all sorts of skills and techniques from other industries, but certain aspects of the interview will uniquely apply to the nonprofit sector.
Getting the interview right will save you from frustrations and challenges later on. Doing the hard work of asking good questions will provide you with insight into the candidate’s passion so you can make the most informed decisions, and the eight questions we listed above will give you a solid place to start.