While there are many similarities between nonprofit and for-profit organizations, nonprofits face unique challenges when it comes to funding and leadership. Both types of companies aim to generate a profit; the main difference is that nonprofits reinvest their profits into the organization and the communities they serve, while for-profit organizations typically return profits to investors and other shareholders. In both cases, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) is critical in business operations, but even more so within a nonprofit.

Nonprofit Chief Operating Officer
The role of a nonprofit chief operating officer can differ between various organizations. However, one primary responsibility is managing operational and administrative functions for the nonprofit, such as finance, human resources, technology, and more. Since nonprofit organizations rely heavily on donations to fund their operations, in addition to revenue from the products or services they may provide, they may have fewer resources to work with than their for-profit counterparts. As such, a nonprofit COO is often tasked with streamlining operations and controlling costs so they can ensure the organization can continue to run smoothly. Thus, a nonprofit chief operating officer can outsource their HR administrative duties so they can focus more on making strategic decisions that will benefit the organization.

An HRO can help nonprofits overcome many challenges their HR departments may struggle to navigate. First, nonprofit organizations face fierce competition for employees, with salary competition cited as one of the most frequent workforce challenges. One of the most significant ways that an HRO can help a nonprofit organization is by providing expert benefits administration services. While it may be challenging to offer significant pay increases for employees working within the nonprofit sector considering that some nonprofits may receive limited funding, offering employees more attractive benefits can be a useful way to attract and retain the talent nonprofits need to deliver services, engage donors, and more. Since an HRO works with a variety of different organizations, they often have the scale to negotiate better benefits packages on their clients’ behalf. As a result, a nonprofit may be able to offer more comprehensive benefits than if they were managing benefits internally.

For many organizations, payroll is one of the most time-consuming, yet least strategic tasks that HR departments face. As a result, a nonprofit chief operating officer can turn to an HRO to manage this important task and ensure it’s done accurately, compliantly, and on time. And, as payroll and employment regulations are ever-changing, an experienced HRO should always have the most up-to-date knowledge of compliance and payroll requirements to ensure nonprofit organizations don’t make avoidable mistakes that can occur when nonprofit staff is stretched too thin or trying to balance too many responsibilities.

An HRO can also be a valuable resource for other HR administrative tasks to create even greater efficiencies within the organization. An HRO can provide support for employee onboarding and offboarding, training, unemployment claims, and more. These services can be customized to align with the individual nonprofit’s specific needs and scale with the organization so that the nonprofit always has the right level of HR support to be successful. This is a very effective strategy for nonprofit chief operating officers looking to find a better way to address their HR needs.

Rather than trying to compete for experienced HR professionals in an already-challenging labor market, turning to an HRO can allow nonprofits to reduce HR headcount without sacrificing expertise or accuracy. An HRO can also help nonprofits reduce redundancies within their HR departments and implement new technologies that can create additional efficiencies and improve employee experience. For nonprofit COOs, these services can remove administrative burdens and free internal resources that can be allocated to more strategic priorities that can help the organization grow, have a greater impact, and focus on its mission.

With nearly three decades of experience as a trusted HRO for companies with 75 to 6,000 employees, Corban OneSource can help nonprofit HR departments realize greater efficiencies. As a full service HRO, Corban OneSource provides expert benefits, payroll, and HR administration that allows nonprofit organizations to control HR-related costs while delivering superior HR services to their employees.

To learn more about how Corban OneSource can help nonprofit COOs streamline HR operations, contact our knowledgeable, US-based team today.