Doing Heart Work in a High-Cost World:How Nonprofits Can Retain Employees When They Can’t Raise Salaries
Putting all the pieces together
Doing Heart Work While Living in a Community with a High Cost of Living
The reality of the cost of living on the West Coast often means employees can’t always choose work that feeds the soul and allows them to make a difference. They must choose jobs that maximize their salary so they can pay their own bills. There’s no right or wrong to this, it’s about taking care of their families.
But here’s the challenge: an employee stressed about survival usually doesn’t have the reserves to support others who are struggling. While businesses can raise prices and increase revenue, nonprofits are often bound to fixed funding grants and donations. That means limited dollars for salaries. Funders expect agencies to spend the majority of their budgets on programs, which leaves leaders balancing how to compensate staff fairly while still delivering outcomes.
Those who choose to work for nonprofits may start out strong, but the lower pay, lack of professional growth opportunties and being overworked often results in a higher turnover rate in nonprofits then in the private sector.
So what can agencies do? Some employees can choose nonprofit work because they have personal resources that reduce financial pressure. They are treasures—but there aren’t enough of them, leaving nonprofits scrambling to staff programs or overburdening the people they do have.
That’s why it may be time to stop thinking only about salaries and start looking at ways to reduce employee stress and expenses.
Flexibility Goes a Long Way
Childcare is one of the biggest stress points for families. I see this every day in my own family. Our granddaughter’s schedule is basically a tag-team sport: Dad leaves super early, Mom drops her off at Nana’s (that’s me) a couple of hours later, Dad picks her up after his shift, and Mom comes home last. And then we repeat it all the next day.
Most workplaces still run on a rigid 8:00 to 5:00schedule. But what if we thought outside that box? Could someone who can’t be in the office during public hours take on more behind-the-scenes work, like documentation or reporting? Could teams shuffle tasks so parents—and grandparents—aren’t constantly stretched to the breaking point?
And here’s something interesting: studies suggest workers aren’t productive for eight hours anyway. One survey found the average was 4.5 hours of true productivity; another put it under 3. Remote workers even reported being more productive than their in-office counterparts.
This isn’t new—our 40-hour workweek was never designed for well-being. In 1926, Henry Ford introduced the eight-hour, 5 day model to increase output on the assembly line. His goal was productivity—not concern for workers. Nearly a century later, we’re still using a model designed for manufacturing to increase productivity. Isn’t it time we explored other ideas? Can we instead ask questions of ourselves and our staff like: “Are we meeting the mission and goals of the agency? Is the employee completing assigned task? Are they exhibiting high quality work?” I personally believe that employees will be more productive due to an improved work-life balance. It says a lot to the employee about their value, when an employer is willing to include what’s important to the employee in the work schedule planning. Yes, sometimes, it can be an inconvenience, but overall, the employer benefits because employees who have a solid work-life balance leads to higher job satisfaction; increased engagement in the workplace and often results in lower stress levels . Boswell (2006) theorized that when employees set clear boundaries between home and work life, they are less likely to experience conflict between the two. They put themselves in a position to give both lives enough attention, in another words, they are able to switch off one and concentrate on the other.
That matches my own experience both in my work and the work of the people I supervised.. When I cut my schedule from 40 to 32 hours a week to help with childcare for my granddaughter while her parents worked, I came into my office laser-focused. Knowing I had just four hours instead of eight, I worked intentionally, checked off priorities, and still met program goals. As a supervisor, I extended this same privilege where possible to my staff, allowing them to be flexible to take care of their own families and home life. The end result was that the team always found ways to make sure the job got done and supported each other when needed.
Of course, nonprofits still need staff to show up for trainings, meetings, or special events. But with clear expectations and communications with staff, required work events, especially if enough notice is given, can often be accommodated. What if, after showing flexibility in work scheduling, the employee does not reciprocate, in that they do not arrive focused and exhibit a high level of productivity? I hope that this doesn’t happen too often, as at the outset, the employer and employee have communicated, planned together, signed an agreement that includes consequences and have enough mutual respect that they can brainstorm and problem solve to navigate the bumps in the road. If however, the employee does not honor the agreement, then the consequences put in the contract need to be implemented.
Creative Ways to Reduce Expenses
Here are some small but meaningful ways nonprofits can make jobs more livable without inflating payroll:
Match family schedules. Schools attract parents as employees because their hours align with kids’ calendars. Nonprofits could borrow a page from that playbook by offering remote work on snow days, teacher workdays, or those surprise early releases parents dread.
Health insurance support. Covering premiums is expensive, but contributing more toward coverage—or letting staff buy family plans at group rates—takes pressure off employees.
Help with transportation costs. Flexing work hours so staff can carpool with a partner or neighbor, or catch the bus without stress if it’s late, saves on gas, parking, and car maintenance.
A “bank of hours.” Imagine being able to log off early on a rare sunny afternoon in the Northwest to garden or walk on the beach, guilt-free, because you’ve banked flex time. I once had an employee text me, “I’m not busy, I’m going home to work in my garden,” and they clocked out with my blessing. That freedom builds loyalty and boosts morale.
Growth opportunities. Promote from within, offer cross-training, and let staff explore new projects. The key is to invite, not mandate, and reassure employees they won’t be expected to do more for the
Consider the walls. What color are they painted? Is there artwork on the walls? Inspirational sayings? Have you considered putting the agency vision and goals on walls so employees can identify with and be reminded why they are showing up every day? In the Pacific Northwest, the winters are pretty gray. I painted the office walls sunshine yellow and hung up photos of beaches, sunsets and Hawaii (because that’s my thing). I used those pictures to restore my balance and give me a break from the daily stresses of my job. Employees can spend eight hours a day in that office space, are there pictures that they can look at that give their eyes a break from the computer? Pictures that reduce stress and promote relaxation?
Wrapping It Up
Nonprofits may never be able to match corporate salaries, but they can compete on humanity. By offering flexibility, reducing stress, and showing employees that their lives outside of work matter, we can create workplaces people don’t want to leave.
At the end of the day, staff don’t just stay for the paycheck. They stay for the culture, the respect, and the chance to do work that matters without sacrificing their own well-being. And if we can keep more of those “heartworkers” in the nonprofit sector, the ripple effects will strengthen not just our organizations, but our communities