Job stress hurting nonprofit leaders

By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawai'i nonprofits are having trouble keeping their executive directors because of pressures on agency finances and fund-raising, as well as stress and long hours, according to a study released yesterday.

Although local charitable organizations are not in danger of a leadership shortage, there is cause for concern as to where future executive directors will come from, according to Kelvin Taketa, president and chief executive officer of the Hawai'i Community Foundation.

The foundation was a partner in a survey conducted and paid for by CompassPoint Nonprofit Services, a San Francisco-based nonprofit that provides management and consulting services to the industry. It was the first time Hawai'i participated in the survey on the future of nonprofit leadership.

Survey results showed:

• 31 percent of executive directors of local nonprofits anticipate leaving their current job in less than two years;
• 41 percent expect their next job to be outside the nonprofit sector;
• Hawaii respondents earned an average salary of $49,691;
• The biggest challenges respondents faced were anxiety about agency finances, high stress, long hours and fund-raising.

The survey compared results from Hawai'i with four other regions: Washington, D.C.; Dallas; Fresno, Calif.; and the Bay Area.

Compared with survey results for those regions, Hawai'i's nonprofit directors were slightly more committed to staying at their jobs for a year or longer; were 12 percent less likely to remain in the nonprofit sector; received 13 percent less pay; and shared the same concerns.

Taketa said nonprofit executive directors are burning out faster than for-profit leaders because 60 percent to 70 percent of nonprofit leaders lack management experience but have many management duties.

Taketa said that leads to relatively quick burnout even for people who love giving back to the community.

Pay and benefits were considered important by only 28 percent of local nonprofit executive directors, but relatively low compensation doesn't help retention.

"Oftentimes we're talking about a super-hero job, and we're paying them a pauper's salary," Taketa said.

The average executive director of a nonprofit in Washington, D.C., made $64,349. Average salary was $62,653 in the Bay Area, $55,305 in Dallas, and $47,565 in Fresno, the only survey area where executive directors were paid less than their Hawai'i counterparts.

Taketa said reducing burnout of seasoned executive directors will be key to sustaining healthy leadership of Hawai'i's nonprofits, especially since 89 percent of them are between the ages of 40 and 80.

"This is a baby-boomer phenomenon," he said. "When they're gone, where's the application pool going to come from?"

Taketa said nonprofit boards need to improve leadership skills development, mentoring, recruitment and support of executive directors.

Alan Shinn, who two months ago became executive director of the Coalition for A Drug-Free Hawai'i, agrees.

"It's getting harder to find good people," he said. "Agencies need to do a better job of cultivating talent within the agency."

Hawai'i-born Shinn left a nonprofit in Oakland after 11 years because of some of the pressures mentioned in the survey, to which he contributed.

But he stayed in the field because "there's something driving me to do this work. It could be the lack of talent and options I have," he said jokingly before seriously adding, "I really enjoy assisting families and communities and helping them grow."

The Hawai'i Community Foundation is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to inspire the spirit of giving and invest in programs to benefit communities. It gives nearly $10 million in annual grants to support Hawai'i nonprofits.

CompassPoint's survey included responses from 1,072 nonprofit executive directors, including 236 from Hawai'i.

Andrew Gomes can be reached by phone at 525-8065, or by e-mail at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com.