 Things You Might Have Missed (But Really Need to Know) From the Social Impact Staff Retention Project's Latest ReportA few months ago, The Social Impact Staff Retention Project published their 2026 Social Impact Staff Retention Study. Access the full report here. You may have seen the big numbers already:
Those numbers should make every executive director and board chair sit up straighter. Read the full report closely, and there are deeper signals easy to miss, particularly where fundraising is concerned. Those signals carry major implications for nonprofit leaders, especially those who come from corporate environments. Let's talk about them. 1. The Nonprofit Workforce Is Not Following Corporate Retention TrendsOn page 5, the report compares nonprofit job-searching rates to all industries. In 2026:
Corporate retention appears to be stabilizing. Nonprofit retention is not. That gap is wide and it's widening. If you're a board member who leads in the corporate world, you may see employees settling in at your company. You may assume mobility has cooled. That assumption doesn't hold inside nonprofits. Nonprofit professionals are still scanning the horizon at dramatically higher rates. Shape governance decisions around corporate retention patterns instead of nonprofit data, and leaders will misread the risk entirely. 2. Workload Pressure Is Getting Worse, Not BetterThe top reason people are leaving: "too much responsibility and not enough support." Look at the trend:
It's creeping up. Compensation complaints are steady. Unsupportive management is steady. Workload strain is rising. That tells me something important. This isn't just about salary. It's about design. Boards approve growth strategies. Revenue goals increase. Programs expand. Campaigns stretch. But staffing models often stay lean. Your people feel responsibility increasing every year without structural reinforcement behind it. Retention will not stabilize on its own. This is a governance conversation, not just a management one. 3. The "Unsure" Group Is the Real Warning SignThirty-eight percent of respondents say they are unsure whether they will stay in the nonprofit sector. The report calls this group a canary in the coal mine. They aren't committed, but they aren't gone yet. They're watchful. This group concerns me more than the 15% who plan to leave for other industries. Here's why: unsure employees often stay physically. They detach psychologically. That looks like:
If you're leading a nonprofit, ask yourself: what would move someone from unsure to committed? 4. Politics and Funding Instability Are Not the Main DriverThis one surprised me. Only 35% of those looking for new jobs cited political or funding concerns about the certainty of their role. We often blame turnover on unstable funding. The data says internal conditions carry more weight than external volatility. That means the solutions sit closer to home than most boards assume: leadership support, workload distribution, role clarity, career sustainability. Internal levers, every one. 5. Fundraising Is "Lower Risk." And Still at 72%.On page 6, fundraising comes in at 72% looking for new opportunities. It's not in the top three most at-risk functions. Let's be clear: seventy-two percent is not stability. Nearly three out of four fundraisers considering leaving means your donor relationships sit on shaky ground. Your campaign continuity does too. So does your revenue forecast. Comparative ranking can distract from the real picture. Every functional area is under strain. For boards that evaluate fundraising primarily through outcomes: this is your wake-up call. You cannot separate revenue from the sustainability of the people generating it. 6. Growth Complaints Are Down. That's Not Automatically Good News."Lacking growth opportunities" dropped from 58% in 2024 to 46% in 2026. Sounds like progress on the surface. It may reflect better access to professional development. Or it may reflect a workforce too overloaded to prioritize advancement at all. When people are overwhelmed, survival eclipses ambition. That is not a thriving talent pipeline. The Bigger Question for Boards and CEOsThis report isn't a panic piece. It's a mirror. Nonprofit professionals aren't disengaged from mission. They're questioning whether the sector can sustain them. That distinction matters: mission commitment is still strong. Structural confidence is weaker. If you're a board member who doesn't live inside nonprofit operations every day, this data matters especially for you. You cannot assume corporate workforce trends apply here, that people will stay simply because the job market tightens, or that mission loyalty will override workload design. Retention in nonprofits isn't just an HR metric. It's a revenue strategy, a governance responsibility, and a sustainability issue. The headlines tell you turnover is high. The deeper read tells you why. Where I Come InNonprofit boards set revenue goals. They shape expectations. They influence workload, flexibility, and support, whether they mean to or not. Most boards are full of smart, capable people who've simply never been taught how nonprofit fundraising systems actually work. When I work with boards and leadership teams, we don't just talk about raising more money. We build strategies that align ambition with capacity. We clarify what realistic projections look like. We create a shared understanding, so staff aren't carrying invisible pressure alone. That kind of alignment does more than increase revenue. It reduces unnecessary strain. It builds trust between board and staff. It makes goals feel achievable instead of overwhelming. When goals feel achievable, retention stops being an abstract HR concern. It becomes a natural byproduct of good governance. Remember: fundraising is a relationship business. Retention matters to it directly. Donors read a lack of staff continuity as organizational instability, and it chips away at their confidence in your nonprofit. Caring about employee satisfaction and reducing turnover, for a nonprofit, is the same thing as caring about your bottom line. If you're reading this and thinking, "Our board needs this conversation," let's have it. Schedule a call with me. We'll look at your goals, your staffing structure, and your board dynamics. I'll help you see where support can be strengthened and where expectations can be recalibrated. You don't fix sector-wide retention overnight. But you can absolutely build an organization where your people feel supported, clear, and capable of staying for the long haul. Let's start there. Cheers,  P.S. Want more content on board fundraising, mindset, and sustainable revenue growth? Subscribe to the blog and get new posts delivered straight to your inbox. P.P.S. If you're a nonprofit CEO or development lead who's tired of carrying the fundraising weight alone, a free discovery call is for you. Let’s chat. If you liked this…
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Jessica Cloud, CFREI've been called the Tasmanian Devil of fundraising and I'm here to talk shop with you. Archives
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