Regina Pinney
Executive Director

If the demographics of your donors, board members, staff, volunteers and clients don’t reflect the average make up of your community... Your recruiting, hiring, and fundraising practices may not be geared to include everyone. Nonprofits can sometimes fall into a homogeneous trap. Board members can look and think the same. Staff looks and thinks the same. Donors look and think the same. And sometimes – without intention – the design of our services exclude rather than include. 

Being an inclusive organization that values diversity doesn’t “just happen”.  Like every other best practice, organizations must be committed and diligent to have good habits.  If you are intentionally an inclusive organization, you will naturally attract donations from a diverse population, your board will be diverse in skill set, education, race, income and culture. And when you post positions, you will have a diverse set of applicants to interview. If you don’t attract diversity, I suggest you examine your practices for any that may be deemed exclusive. Such as requirements for office staff to be able to lift 50lbs or more (how often does that ever happen) or have a drivers license/reliable car (vs reliable transportation) and review your dress codes, and hair style requirements. Does your job posting require a degree or is work-experience applicable? Take the time to invest in and prioritize strategies and practices that address inequities. Embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Nonprofit Network strives to be a model of inclusion.  We believe that bringing diverse individuals together is essential to effectively address the issues that face current and prospective partners. Set a goal to learning more about this topic, we have a few on our calendar that are coming up.  

• DEI: What Should I do in 2022 on February 23rd at Noon
• Searching for Talent: Hiring Strategies for 2022 on March 9th at Noon
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Around Your Board Table on April 19th
  at 1 PM

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