Finding talented staff may not be all that difficult. But convincing them to actually work for your organization? That’s a whole different story. Our current job market is constantly evolving, with more niche positions, an emphasis on flexibility, fast paced technology growth, and gig economies on the rise. Those organizations that can shift on a dime most often win the talent pool.
But restricted budgets, limited resources, and unpredictable funding means that nonprofits don’t always feel they innovate the way their for-profit counterparts can. As such, they are often left in the dust when it comes to recruitment and retention – a fact driven home by an unbelievably high turnover rate of 19 percent.*
However, it is misleading to think that nonprofits can’t get into the innovation game, even when up against financial obstacles. At the end of the day many employees are truly just looking for a place where they feel supported, encouraged, and challenged – and somewhere that values the health and wellbeing of them and their families.
Innovation doesn’t have to be a big splashy event. It can come in the most unexpected ways, such as employee healthcare. With a little extra time and resources dedicated to this extremely important benefit, nonprofits can suddenly be just as appealing as the flash new start-up down the street.
And it all starts by exploring your options. Everyone in the nonprofit world has experience with traditional fully-funded healthcare, and self-funding likely feels like a pipedream only available to large organizations that can generate enough revenue to cover the financial risk. But these are two ends of a very long spectrum, and somewhere in the middle is a solution for small-to-midsize nonprofits: partial self-funding. Never heard of it? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. But it might behoove you to start doing a little digging.
Partial self-funding combines the financial security of a fully-funded plan with the flexibility, customization, and cost-savings of a self-funded program. Using a high deductible health plan in conjunction with a reserve fund, nonprofits can reduce annual premium costs while covering some or all their employees’ out-of-pocket expenses. Lower premiums, support for deductible and copay costs, and better benefits? Sounds like a dream proposal for a potential hire.
And in fact – it has been. Organizations that have switched to a partial self-funding plan, such as the Nonstop Wellness program, have experienced:
- Potential employees, in a very competitive job market, applying to their organization because they have heard the healthcare benefits are that good.
- An overall increase in employee satisfaction and productivity.
- A reduction in the rate and cost of staff turnover.
Still unsure? Let us make the first step even easier. Download our guide Making Healthcare a True Benefit for Nonprofit Employees to learn more about partial self-insurance, including Nonstop’s unique model which both lowers premiums and completely eliminates employee out-of-pocket costs.
* 2016 data from NonprofitHR; according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the overall separation rate for all industries in the US in May 2017 was 3.6 percent.
