Welcome to the inaugural issue of Ask a Nonprofit Expert, NPQ’s advice column by civic leaders, for nonprofit readers, featuring personalized advice from seasoned field leaders who have built thriving, equitable organizations.
This series offers Leading Edge members a new benefit: the opportunity to submit tough challenges anonymously and get personalized advice. Every two weeks, we’ll publish answers to common questions to strengthen our entire community’s capacity.
In this issue, NPQ’s interim CEO and editor-in-chief, Sara Hudson, answers a reader’s question about juggling nonprofit staff wellbeing and organization finances.
Stuck on a problem? Submit your question here.
Dear Ask a Nonprofit Expert,
During its formative years, our organization has prioritized equity over expansion and made decisions to positively impact the compensation and work-life balance of our staff—all enhancements have now raised the expectations.
Some of us simultaneously pride ourselves on working outside of (and often against) societal power structures and corporate mindsets, while expecting retirement plans, guaranteed cost-of-living raises, and an overabundance of transparency, etc.
Much of our funding is level, public, and predictable. We want to provide for our staff to the degree that we can, but without risking a negative impact on the sustainability of our mission. The question, then, is: What are some ideas on how to frame or lead conversations surrounding this issue?
We are fully transparent on the overall budget with anyone employed by the organization, which helps only so much.
Thanks in advance!
Sincerely,
Committed But Conflicted
Dear Committed But Conflicted,
Honey, congratulations. Every leader who raises the bar for staff expectations eventually faces this moment—the one when you look around and realize you’ve built a team that believes they deserve more, and they’re absolutely right.
(But you don’t have more resources.)
This isn’t a failure of leadership—it’s success that’s gotten messy. Your people are asking for retirement plans and cost-of-living raises? Bless your heart, you’ve done something most nonprofits never manage. You’ve dismantled that old “take one for the cause” mindset that’s kept our sector underpaying good people for decades.
Now comes the harder part: learning how to sustain what you’ve built without breaking your budget—or your heart.
Context Changes Everything
Years ago, I shared our budget with my full staff for the first time. I walked into that room proud as punch, ready to celebrate how transparency would strengthen our culture.
Instead, I watched whispers scatter across the room when I got to “administrative costs.” The rumbles started immediately—speculation about leadership salaries, comments about misplaced priorities. What I hadn’t done was explain that those “admin costs” were used to cover our audit, insurance, and the database that tracked every family we served. I’d handed over numbers without the story, and suspicion filled that gap really quick.
Here’s what I wish someone had told me then: your staff can criticize corporate culture while wanting financial security. They can recognize the need to dismantle harmful systems without accepting personal instability. And that’s exactly what they should do.
Three Ways to Navigate These Talks Without Losing Your Mind
- Ground everyone in the same reality first
At your next staff meeting, start here: “Our foundation grant covers salaries through next December. Individual donations average $1,200 monthly. Given that, what does growth look like for us this year?” When everyone understands the actual constraints, you’re problem-solving together instead of managing disappointment alone.
Consider making these conversations regular—quarterly check-ins where you ask: What’s feeling most unsustainable right now? What would make your day-to-day more doable? If we had $10K to invest in staff wellbeing, where would you put it? These kind of questions help surface solutions you can actually act on, while keeping bigger conversations alive.
- Turn budget lines into stories
Next time you share numbers, pick two-line items people always question. “That $8,000 in ‘professional services’? That’s our annual audit—what keeps our 501c3 status and makes grants possible.” Takes five minutes and transform suspicion into understanding.
- Give timelines that are honest, not hopeful
When someone asks about better benefits, resist the urge to soften reality with vague promises. Try: “I want that too. With our current revenue, we could add a retirement match in about eighteen months if we hit our fundraising targets. Here’s what would need to happen.”
Real timelines feel harder in the moment but build more trust than false hope.
You Have Permission to Not Be Perfect
I’m guessing you’re tired. Tired of being the one who has to say, “We can’t afford that right now,” while watching disappointment on the faces of people you genuinely care about. That exhaustion? It’s not weakness. It’s what happens when you lead with integrity in a world that makes integrity expensive.
You cannot fix every financial worry your staff has. You cannot eliminate the tension between what people need and what you can provide. Trying to, will wear you out and help no one.
The goal isn’t perfect contentment—it’s about building a culture where people can trust your decisions, even when they don’t love them. That means some conversations end with someone unhappy. It means saying, “I understand why you’re frustrated, and I can’t change this reality right now,” and letting that be enough.
This is the loneliest part of leadership, and nobody talks about it enough. You’re caught between people you care about and limitations you can’t control. Some days, you’ll feel like you’re failing everyone. That feeling doesn’t mean you are failing. It means you’re human, leading other humans through genuinely difficult circumstances.
What You’re Actually Building
You’re not just running programs—you’re proving something important. Every time you choose transparency over secrecy, every time you explain a difficult decision instead of hiding behind policy, you’re showing that organizations can operate with integrity even when money’s tight.
Your staff’s rising expectations aren’t a crisis. They’re evidence that you’ve created a workplace where people believe they matter. Now you get to show them what that looks like in practice, which sometimes means moving slower than anyone wants but faster than most nonprofits dare.
The old model—where underpaying people was somehow virtuous—needs to end. You’re among the leaders wiring what comes next. That’s exhausting work and essential work, and it’s perfectly fine to feel both proud of the progress and tired from the effort.
You won’t meet everyone’s expectations. You will disappoint people you respect. But you’ll still be building something worth the struggle—a place where doing good work doesn’t require going without, even if getting there takes longer than anyone hoped.
The work continues, with love and grit.
In community y cariño,
Sara
Sara Hudson is interim CEO and editor-in-chief of NPQ. Got a nonprofit management or leadership question? Submit it to Ask a Nonprofit Expert here.
