COVID‐19 as a nonprofit workplace crisis: Seeking insights from the nonprofit workers' perspective

Abstract

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, nonprofit organizations face increased demands for services alongside decreased revenues and must make tough choices on how to weather these stressors. Alongside these organizational changes, COVID-19 impacts nonprofit workers and could be a career shock for these individuals, potentially altering how they think of their work and career intentions, even jeopardizing their commitment to the sector. Therefore, this paper outlines a research agenda to understand how the pandemic impacts nonprofit workers and their commitment to working in the sector. Several areas for future research are identified including human resource policy, leadership development, generational differences, gender effects, nonprofit graduate education, and mission-specific work effects. K E Y W O R D SCOVID-19, critical incidents, nonprofit sector commitment, organizational change | INTRODUCTIONNonprofit organizations are frequently called upon and play vital roles during times of crisis (Simo & Bies, 2007). What is different during the COVID-19 pandemic is that many nonprofit organizations "are struggling with how to help their communities while also trying to endureThe authors are listed alphabetically as they are sharing equal authorship for this manuscript.

Nonprofit organization communication, crisis planning, and strategic responses to the COVID‐19 pandemic

“…Nonprofits encountered challenges fulfilling contract deliverables, technology issues due to a rapid pivot to virtual work, increased demand for services, difficulties attaining essential supplies and personal protective equipment, and lost revenue from canceled events, among other consequences (Orensten, & Buteau, 2020 ; Fuller, 2020a , Fuller, 2020b ; Independent Sector, 2020 ; The Nonprofit Finance Fund, 2020 ). Areas of impacts have included: career shocks to NPO staff (Kuenzi et al, 2021 ); nonprofit advocacy coalitions supporting vulnerable populations (Raeymaeckers & Van Puvelde, 2021 ); board leadership and governance approaches (McMullin & Raggo, 2020 ); philanthropic foundation funding priorities during COVID‐19 (Finchum‐Mason et al, 2020 ); financial management and operating reserves (Johnson et al, 2020 ; Kim & Mason, 2020 ); and the emergence of COVID‐19 community funds to support NPOs (Paarlberg et al, 2020 ).…”

Opportunities for organizational learning and innovation: A nonprofit case study duringCOVID‐19 in Hong Kong

“…Against this backdrop, public health measures such as temporary closures of SDNPOs and mandatory social distancing have presented NPOs with challenges that bear little resemblance to the types of experiences that have occurred in the past (Kuenzi et al, 2021 ). These challenges are further exacerbated by rapidly emergent needs in the community; SDNPOs not only have to account for constituents' existing needs, they are also confronted with worsening social conditions such as rising rates of elderly depression (Meng et al, 2020 ), family violence (Zhang, 2020 ), and financial insecurity (Wilson et al, 2020 ) associated with the pandemic.…”

Improving nonprofit succession management for leadership continuity: A shared leadership approach

“…Moreover, the COVID‐19 pandemic has immensely affected the nonprofit workplace for more than 2 years now. Kuenzi et al (2021) highlight how COVID‐19 has altered aspiring leaders' job choices. The authors also argue that the pandemic torpedoes the implementation of strategic HR development in nonprofits, since in challenging times resources are more directed toward the organization's immediate survival (Kuenzi et al, 2021).…”