Technological advances have drastically impacted the way that we work, but this isn’t the only change taking place in the workplace, or even society as a whole. Our society, and the world at large, is becoming more diverse. To be effective at serving our communities, our workplace must become more diverse, and more inclusive as well.

Inclusive NFPs Move Past Simply Increasing Diversity

To create a truly inclusive organisation, it takes more than just actively seeking to recruit and hire individuals from diverse races, ethnicities, genders, backgrounds and experiences. It takes more than seeking gender balance in the boardroom and throughout our institutions.

True inclusion is more than encouraging diversity; it is taking steps as institutions, and as individuals, to ensure equal access and equal participation. To be inclusive, you must actively include everyone as part of your team where everyone’s voice is heard and valued. You must take steps to guarantee equal treatment and equal outcomes.

Apply a Gender Lens to Your Practices, Policies and Services

One idea to increase inclusiveness in nonprofits is to apply a gender lens to your work. There has been a lot of talk about the need to achieve gender balance at every level of our organisations, but inclusiveness isn’t just about the number of men and women that you hire or meeting the needs of women and girls.

Gender is not confined to the two major heteronormative categories. To meet the needs of all genders, you must take steps to make sure that our practices, policies and services provide equal access and equal, equitable results.

The following strategies will help you create a more inclusive, and effective, NFP.

Eliminate Barriers to Participation

One of the most pervasive barriers to equal and full participation is timing. For example, if you only schedule meetings and services during business hours, or weeknights, you might unintentionally make it impossible for those that work during the day, or those that care for their families in the evenings, to fully participate in your organisation.

Look for ways to host activities during multiple times and days to make sure that everyone has an equal opportunity to be involved in your organisation. NFPs should also be mindful of the ways that the dynamics of race, culture and ethnicity influence the ability of men and women to participate in your nonprofit’s meetings, training, and services and look for ways to meet the needs and interests of all genders.

Embracing family-friendly policies such as flexible scheduling and leave, on-site child care, and sharing tasks and job duties makes it easier for both men and women with caregiver roles to fully participate in your organisation.

Encourage Non-Traditional Roles

Another way to increase inclusiveness in your NFP is to increase the diversity of those in your leadership, and to seek out and confront head-on stereotypes and bias that subconsciously affect your hiring and promotion policies.

Do the board members and other decision-makers in your organisation come from a diverse background? Do your programs and services encourage women and others from minority populations to seek out leadership opportunities and take on other non-traditional roles?

Do all genders feel comfortable in sharing their opinions during your nonprofit’s activities? NFPs that want to be inclusive must take steps to encourage everyone to stretch outside of their comfort zone and to confront and overcome bias and stereotypes when they perform tasks and duties.

Provide training to help members of your organisation identify bias, discrimination, harassment and violence. Establish policies and guidelines so that everyone in your organisation knows what steps they should take when they see or hear these actions occur. Offer support to all genders and all members of your NFP, especially participants that experience events of these nature. Make your NFP a safe place for all genders to turn to when they need help with these issues.  

Don’t Just Say it, Fund it!

Leadership defines the culture of an organisation, but to create more inclusive outcomes, your walk must match your talk. It means very little to include increasing diversity and inclusiveness in your NFP mission statement if you fail to put those words into action.

Take steps to ensure that your practices match your speech by taking an honest look at how much of your budget you are devoting to programs and services that increase diversity and inclusiveness and that actually improve the lives of all genders.

Symbols Have Meaning

The images that you use in your promotional and training materials convey many messages. Your NFP needs to be careful with both the imagery and language that they use to make sure that it says what you intend.

Take steps to ensure that the images and words that you use depict others fairly and appropriately; this includes those of all genders, as well as those of different ethnic, cultural backgrounds, including those with perceived limitations. Is your advertising and messaging inclusive and does it encourage everyone from all backgrounds to participate?

Evaluate Your Progress

To make sure that your nonprofit is achieving improved outcomes for all genders, look for ways to measure and analyse the results of your efforts. Have an independent third-party survey your staff, volunteers and beneficiaries of your programs and services.

In the survey, ask for honest feedback about how effective your nonprofit has been in helping them fully participate in your activities and how those activities have helped meet their needs and improve their lives. Ask for suggestions on how your nonprofit can improve access, participation and inclusiveness for them to help you find ways that you can make changes and further increase inclusiveness in your organisation!