What leadership, program, or management skills does your organization need to develop for staff? Do you notice a skills gap in project management, staff supervision, facilitation, program management, or instructional design? How can your nonprofit ensure that staff training aligns with your mission and the specific skills required for your programs? How might custom training address the unique challenges of your organization?
Nonprofit organizations often need to develop specific leadership, program, and management skills among their staff. Gaps in areas like project management, staff supervision, facilitation, program management, and instructional design can hinder effectiveness. Custom training is essential for nonprofits to ensure that staff development aligns with their mission while addressing the specialized skills required for their programs. At the same time, general professional development opportunities that aren't customized can also provide valuable learning experiences, offering staff a broader range of knowledge and transferable skills. By tailoring training to the unique challenges of limited resources and smaller teams, nonprofits can build staff confidence and strengthen the skills necessary for both individual roles and overall organizational success.
Research support professional development for staff retention and organizational growth:
Better Buys' research, surveying over 2,000 employees, found that 92% of employees consider access to professional development important, and 78% currently have access to such opportunities. Employees with professional development are 15% more engaged and have a 34% higher retention rate.
Bridgespan highlights that over 40% of nonprofit employee turnover stems from a lack of career growth opportunities. Staff development using a model of on-the-job learning, coaching and formal training can boost retention and support the organization. Nonprofits that provide their staff with professional development foster inclusion, better retention, and build stronger leadership pipelines, ensuring both personal and organizational growth.
We’ll explore how customized training and professional development can help support the confidence and building of skills for team members, nonprofit, and employees.
Custom Training
Customized training offers the opportunity for tailored learning experiences to meet the specific needs and goals of employees and organizations. A tailored training experience can address unique challenges and opportunities, align with goals, provide guidance during times of change and support an organization’s programs and services. Custom training for nonprofits can provide targeted skill development for employees, ensuring they have the tools to excel in their roles and contribute to organizational success.
A custom training experience often requires an organization to connect with an outside trainer, facilitator or consultant to build out a training that meets the needs of the following:
organization values
staff identities
organizational challenges
organizational opportunities
learning components
An organization needs to have a sense of what they want to get from a custom training and inform the facilitator of their goals. Identifying an issue or the impetus for a training requires internal reflection and assessment for an organization. If leaders from an organization don't have the capacity to manage customized training then professional development can be another option.
How and Why Custom Training Matters for Nonprofit Professionals
Every nonprofit has its own unique mission, culture, programs, services, values and operational structure. A one-size-fits-all approach to professional development may capture these nuances though sometimes an organization may need a custom training to support the following:
Address Specific Employee Needs: Whether it’s enhancing program management skills, understanding a trauma-informed approach, or managing organizational change, a custom training can focus on the skills your team needs most.
Align with Mission and Values: When training is customized to meet an organization's needs, the trainer or facilitator can integrate the mission of the organization. The integration of mission, organizational challenges and opportunities in a custom training ensures that staff can develop skills that are connected to the purpose and core values of their work.
Build Confidence and Competence: Custom training addresses unique challenges and opportunities that staff or teams may encounter in their roles which can help individuals gain practical skills and strategies
Steps to Approach a Custom Training for Your Nonprofit
Assess Team Needs: It is important to determine the specific needs of your team. What skills or knowledge gaps exist? Are there new responsibilities or projects coming up that require specialized training? Consider both short-term and long-term needs, including leadership development and capacity building.
Questions to explore:
What do our staff members need to succeed in their roles right now?
What will they need in the future?
How can a custom training program support collaboration and achieving our goals as a team?
Collaborate with Staff
Engage the team in the training development process: Staff insights can help identify areas where they feel less confident or would like more support. Staff buy-in can increase engagement and participation when the training is implemented.
Question to explore:
How can staff contribute to shaping the content of the training?
How does staff give input on topics where they want to build their confidence and skills?
How might staff be able to share with their supervisors areas or topics where they want training?
Incorporate Adult Learning Principles
Utilize adult learning principles: Nonprofit staff members come from diverse educational and professional backgrounds, learning styles and bring their own unique identities. Utilizing adult learning principles—such as problem-solving, self-directed learning, and experiential activities—ensures that training is relevant, engaging, and immediately applicable. Providing opportunities for hands-on learning and interactive workshops can further enhance skill acquisition.
Question to explore:
How can we make training interactive, practical and applicable to the roles of our team members?
Does the trainer we are using have an expertise in adult learning principles?
What is the trainer's approach to working with adults, diverse audiences and incorporating the values of the participants?
Evaluate and Evolve Training
Training isn't a one-time event: Regularly evaluate effectiveness of training and professional development by collecting feedback from participants and observing how the new skills are applied in practice. Application of learned skills might take time because employees need an opportunity to apply the experience. Custom training programs should evolve as your organization grows and as staff roles change.
Question to explore:
How will we measure the impact of the training on staff performance and organizational success?
What is supplemental professional development that staff may need after the training?
There might be times when a custom training isn’t the best fit for an organization, particularly for small teams, or when staff members have significant differences in their roles and responsibilities. In these situations, professional development opportunities might be more appropriate.
Custom training requires time and research to find the right trainer who aligns with your organization’s values and goals. This process of determining fit and alignment can be challenging, especially for organizations that are stretched for resources or time. Custom training is more expensive than opting for professional development courses, which are usually offered at a lower cost and may provide a quicker return on investment. For organizations with varied interests across their staff, the expense and time investment may not be justifiable if the training doesn’t meet everyone’s needs. In these cases, professional development, with its flexibility and lower cost, can provide the necessary skills without the complexity and higher price associated with custom options.
Some great options for professional development include:
Nonprofit Learning Lab, Association of Fundraising Professionals, First Nations Development Institute, Nonprofit Storytelling Conference, PrideSummit, & the Culture Summit
Benefits of Professional Development
Professional development offers significant benefits for nonprofit professionals, enhancing both individual and organizational success. By participating in ongoing learning opportunities, staff members can sharpen their skills, explore opportunities and challenges related to their role and adapt to the evolving needs of the communities they serve. Professional development fosters innovation by encouraging employees to think creatively about solutions to challenges, while also improving job satisfaction and retention by showing a commitment to their growth. Training may be particularly useful for skill development in program management, strategic planning, staff supervision, project management, leadership and fundraising strategies.
For nonprofits, investing in professional development boosts staff performance, helps align their work with organizational goals, and strengthens the overall capacity of the team to achieve the nonprofit’s mission. With training, staff can better navigate the complexities of limited resources, program management, and community engagement, ultimately leading to more effective and impactful work.
Increased Staff Retention: Providing development opportunities shows staff that they are valued, which can lead to higher morale and a greater commitment to staying with the organization.
Improved Program Outcomes: When staff members are well-trained, they are better equipped to deliver high-quality services and achieve program goals.
Enhanced Organizational Capacity: As staff gain new skills and competencies, organizations become more agile and capable of handling challenges and taking on new opportunities.
Final Thoughts
Custom training is an investment in the future of your nonprofit organization. By tailoring training to meet the specific needs of your staff, you empower them to succeed in their roles and contribute meaningfully to your organization’s mission. Whether it’s leadership development, program management, or technical skills, a thoughtful, customized approach ensures that every team member has the tools they need to thrive. Alternatively, professional development, with its flexibility, ample choices, options and lower cost, can provide the necessary skills without the complexity and logistics of customization.
Custom Training: Do you need a specialized training or workshop for your staff, board or volunteers? We can deliver tailored training and workshops for groups ranging in size from 8 to 88 people. We help coordinate and design specialized training across the country. Topic areas include: adult learning principles, fundraising, program management, staff supervision, project management, facilitation, volunteer management and more. Click here to learn more.
Professional Development: The Nonprofit Learning Lab also offers professional development opportunities including a variety of workshops and deep dive series training which are an opportunity to collectively learn from nonprofit professionals across the country and leading experts.
Check out our Deep Dive Series Trainings:
Effective Staff Supervision: How to be a Better Supervisor
Operationalize Strategy: Build Systems & Capacity to Meet Goals
Train the Trainers: Design, Engage & Equity
Program Management and Scaling: How to Manage & Scale Programs To Reach Your Goals
Trauma-Informed Facilitation: TI Principles for Groups, Trainings and Conversations
Strengthen Communication Among Gen Z, Millennials & Boomers: Improve Workplace Barriers
Get Your Team Unstuck: Hidden Power of Conflict for Innovation
Instructional & Curriculum Design: Theory, Frameworks, Techniques & the "How To" of Implementation
Effective Volunteer Management: Recruitment, Training, Retention, Committees & Manage Difficult Volunteers
A Roadmap for the First 90 Days: How to Create & Improve Orientation, Training, and Onboarding for New Employee
Craft A Communications Calendar: Email, Direct Mail & Social
Craft Your 2025 Fundraising Plan: Build on Success and Plan for Growth