What Happens Inside a Nonprofit When it Grows (Part 1)

I want to talk about what happens when an organization grows, specifically, when you’re adding staff. I know you might be thinking, growth? In this economy? When so many nonprofits are downsizing and/or closing? Yes, that is true. And that is even more reason why this is the time to write or talk about it. I see this moment of time as temporary. I have hope that things will turn around. And when they do, we have the opportunity to apply lessons learned as we grow again. Alternatively, many nonprofits are considering mergers, and the lessons learned for growth can be applied in those cases.

First, what do I mean by growth? I’m talking about the influx of money that leads to the expansion of your nonprofit organization. It is a great feeling, right? The community’s needs are so large, and it is a relief when you can increase your people power to fulfill them. Hiring more staff means more work gets distributed, more community members get served, and (my personal favorite) new, diverse perspectives come to the table.

I have seen this happen so many times, either at an organization I worked at or one I provided capacity-building services to. In fact, I worked with a cohort of grantees for a particular funder. The influx of money allowed each of the organizations to hire more staff to expand their programs. When I worked with the organization to identify their needs, they were similar across the board. Each organization I provided capacity-building services to wanted more support with internal communications, norms, supervision training, and giving and receiving feedback. I found myself doing the same exact trainings (of course, slightly tailored to fit the needs of the organization) for each organization.

It wasn’t a coincidence that the organizations needed the same thing. Let’s break down what I noticed was happening:

A demand for new systems and processes: The biggest trend I see is that as staff size grows, there is greater demand for clear norms, policies, and practices. This infrastructure is essential because it’s how staff get guidance on doing their jobs well.

Let me give you an example. At one organization I worked at, we were an 8-person team where most of us worked closely together for 3-5 years, and in the start-up phase. We were stretched thin, doing the bare minimum to make it work for us. But when new staff joined, suddenly that wasn’t enough.

New staff members joined and felt lost. Things that felt normal to us felt chaotic to them. And honestly? They weren’t wrong. The informal systems that worked for our tight-knit team of 8 didn’t scale. Not addressing this before adding new staff led to new staff feeling frustrated, stuck, and unsupported.

What I learned here is that your organizational structure has to evolve to match your team as it evolves. What worked at 8 people won’t work at 15. Growth is the nudge to build the infrastructure you’ve been putting off.

I also want to highlight that this nudge is a gift! It is common for nonprofits to work at such a fast pace that you don’t have time to step back and recognize there may be a better way of doing things. Having new staff ask questions allows you to identify gaps, hear new perspectives, and have extra hands to help build the new infrastructure.

Intentional Communication structures are needed: Communication becomes difficult for a few reasons. As teams get bigger, there’s more work happening across different projects and programs. This means that how information is shared needs to evolve to meet this new dynamic. Secondly, it is very common for staff meeting or retreat agendas to fail to meet the organization’s needs. We have all been there before: been in meetings that are inefficient or exist just because of an old norm. This gap becomes clearer and/or has more consequences when there is growth. Thirdly, the informal methods that worked before start to break down. I’m talking about quick emails, brief updates at staff meetings, or casual hallway conversations. Information starts to get siloed, leading to inefficiencies in the work.

What’s needed are more intentional communication structures: regular all-staff updates, shared project management tools, clear channels for different types of information, and a redesign of regular all-staff gatherings.

The Need for Supervision structure: How many of you didn’t have regular supervision check-ins or much of supervision at all in the first part of your career in the nonprofit world? I am pretty sure that many of you can relate. And I get it. We live in a system that encourages us to work our way up the ladder, but when we do, we get no training on how to manage people. Plus, most nonprofits are created to meet community needs, not to build awesome operational practices. That comes later, often when it’s urgently needed. When you have more people, you cannot get away without having a strong supervision infrastructure in place. What does this include: solid supervision check-ins that include timely, regular feedback, both the good and bad, support for thinking through challenges, clear work plans, clear direction for staff, and so much more.

A functional work environment for everyone: Growth also means more personality types, work styles, and communication preferences in the room. Some people need detailed instructions; others want autonomy. Some thrive in collaborative environments; others need quiet time for focus. When you’re a team of 5, you might all work the same way (or you accommodate each other easily). At 15 or 25 people? You need a work environment that works for different types of people.

These are some of the most common needs I see when growth happens. There is more, there always is, but these are the ones that are on top of my mind.

And I want to acknowledge that when we talk about these hard things, it can feel overwhelming for a sector that feels under-resourced. Personally, I can tell my stress levels rise a little when thinking about these challenges and how often they aren’t addressed. Regardless of the situation in a nonprofit, challenges are bound to happen. As organizations evolve, growing pains will always come with it. And tending to those will make the organization stronger.

So, how can you tend to these challenges? That will come in part 2.

In the meantime, I leave you with these questions: when have you experienced these growing pains? What growing pains are on top of your mind these days?