Imagine that a senior team member just left unexpectedly. You already had 4 open roles, and now this! What to do now?
A board member says, "Just hire a recruiter." After some brief research, you learn what that actually means: a fee of roughly a third of the new hire's first-year salary!
For some searches, that's money well spent. For many others, it's not. Let's dig in to scenarios in which a recruiting firm is the right choice versus when a job board like The Impact Job makes more sense. Here we go...
What nonprofit recruiting firms do, and what they cost
A recruiting firm (also called a search firm or executive recruiter) runs the hiring process for you. They build the candidate profile with you, find people (including some who aren't job hunting), screen them, and hand you a shortlist. Your team interviews and makes the call.
Fees generally follow one of three models:
- Retained search: You pay in installments, often thirds, whether or not a hire happens. Retained fees commonly run 25–35% of first-year compensation, with about one-third a familiar benchmark in the U.S.
- Contingency search: You pay only if you hire someone the firm found. Rates tend to be lower, often 20–30% of first-year salary.
- Hybrid: A smaller upfront fee, with the balance due at placement.
Run the numbers on your own role. At 25%, a $75,000 program manager costs $18,750. At one-third, a $150,000 executive director search lands near $50,000. Travel, assessments, and research costs can be billed on top, and retained searches often take two to four months.
What that money buys is typically access to candidates who aren't browsing job listings, a process that doesn't eat your staff's week, confidentiality, and someone whose main priority is moving the search forward.
What a job board does, and what it costs
A job board puts your opening in front of people who are actively looking. You write the posting, collect applications, and do the screening. The trade is your time for a much smaller bill.
Nonprofit boards typically charge a flat fee per post, and most land somewhere between $50 and $500. On The Impact Job, a standard 30-day post is $99 with some more premium options available which attract more candidates. Set $99 next to an $18,750 placement fee and the gap is more than 100 to 1!
Where boards are weaker: a very senior person who is happily employed and not scrolling listings can be hard to reach with a post alone. We offset this at The Impact Job by also reaching candidates through our highly-read weekly newsletter which attracts top social impact talent who might not yet be looking for jobs.
When a recruiting firm is worth it
- Executive director, CEO, or C-suite searches. The fee may be worth it for this high-profile role that you want to shape your organization for years to come.
- Confidential transitions. If a public posting would tip off staff, funders, or the person currently in the seat, you need a quiet process.
- Narrow candidate pools. Highly specialized roles where only a handful of people qualify, and most of them aren't looking.
- A search that already stalled. If you posted for 60 days and nobody qualified, direct outreach may find who a posting couldn't.
- No bandwidth. If you don't have the team power to have a more hands-on search and get into the weeds of reading resumes, initial interviews, etc. But - a word of caution: You'll need to be engaged with the firm and manage them even if you aren't as involved with the candidates.
When a job board is the better choice
- When you don't have thousands or tens of thousands of dollars. For example, at 25% of a $60,000 salary, you'd pay $15,000 to fill a role with many recruiting firms.
- You hire often. Placement fees multiply with every opening. Job post pricing does not.
- The role is a common one. Fundraising, program, communications, and operations roles at the associate-to-director level draw plenty of active candidates on a job board like The Impact Job.
- You want to read the applications yourself. A firm's shortlist is filtered by someone else's judgment. If you want a more hands-on role for an important hire, opt to be more involved with the job board route.
- You need to start today. A post takes minutes to write and publish, and candidates reply within hours. Recruiting firms, on the other hand, can take months before they deliver any candidates to you.
Using both
This isn't strictly either/or. Recruiters post their clients' roles on job boards all the time, and it works the other way around too.
One approach: post the role on a board for 30 days while collecting quotes from two or three firms. With job postings starting at just $99, this is the faster and more cost effective way to begin. If the pool is thin, you can escalate with hiring a recruiting service.
Another option is to use a resume database to reach candidates directly, which can pair nicely with posting a job. You'll be in command and be able to proactively reach out to candidates even if they might not have applied. The Impact Job's Resume Database offers a free trial, and then is just $39/month.
Questions to ask before you sign with a firm
Make sure your future partner has a plan and that you know how they'll approach your hire. Here are some questions we suggest asking them:
- Is the fee calculated on base salary or total compensation, including bonus?
- What's billed on top of the fee: travel, assessments, research?
- What happens if the hire leaves in the first year? Get the replacement guarantee in writing.
- Who will run my search: the partner I'm meeting, or a junior researcher?
- How many nonprofit searches like mine have you completed in the last two years, and can I speak with two of those clients?
- If retainer payments are staged, what milestones trigger each one?
- What's the expected timeline, and what happens if the search runs long?
FAQ
How much do nonprofit recruiting firms charge?
Most charge a percentage of the hire's first-year compensation. Retained firms commonly charge 25–35%, and contingency firms often charge 20–30%. Some use flat or hybrid fees.
Is it worth hiring a recruiter for a nonprofit?
For executive, confidential, or hard-to-fill roles, often yes. For most other positions, a job board reaches enough qualified candidates at a fraction of the cost.
What's the difference between retained and contingency search?
With retained search you pay in installments regardless of outcome, and the firm works your search exclusively. With contingency search you pay only if you hire a candidate the firm brought you.
Can a small nonprofit afford a recruiter?
Sometimes, for a single critical hire. Ask about flat-fee or hybrid structures, and get at least two quotes. For everyday roles, a job post plus direct outreach usually makes more sense.
Do recruiters post jobs on job boards?
Yes. Many recruiters and search firms post their nonprofit clients' openings on niche job boards alongside their own outreach.
Ready to post your job?
Post a job on The Impact Job starting at $99.