A new report on nonprofit staff members has found a substantial disconnect between members’ desire for professional development and leaders’ seeming willingness to provide it.
The State of the Mission-Driven Workforce in 2026, released Monday by the software firm Momentive, is based on a survey of 500 nongovernmental organization employees, including from associations, conducted last December. The survey revealed a stark difference between employees who say they have clear career paths at their employer and those that don’t: 65 percent of those with clarity intend to stay in their jobs, but only 27 percent of those without it do.
And overall, nearly two-thirds of respondents (64 percent) say “they don’t have a clear path for career advancement in their organization.” Moreover, two-thirds (66 percent) said they would prefer skills development over a pay raise.
“I think a lot of the nonprofit industry has traditionally operated that way, where people feel like ‘There aren’t clear career paths, so I have to leave in order to grow,’” said Tirrah Switzer, Vice President of Product Marketing at Momentive.
But the challenge is more acute at associations, Switzer added, due to a number of factors, including White House policies that have disrupted the practices at many organizations, and the emergence of new technologies such as AI that employees feel increasingly important to keep up on.
Meaghan Johnston, Senior Director of Marketing and Communications at Momentive, noted that younger or entry-level employees aren’t solely feeling the frustration. “It [was felt by] anybody—across all ages, career levels, titles,” she said.
“Two-thirds of employees said they would prefer skills development over a pay raise.”
The skills that employees are looking to develop largely cluster around technology and AI: data analytics (45 percent), AI/automation literacy (39 percent), and digital skills and literacy (38 percent). Eighty-five percent of respondents said they “agree that leaders in mission-driven organizations cannot succeed or drive improvement without building skills in AI and automation.”
Switzer noted that in this regard staffers’ professional interests echo those of members: Both are looking to improve their skills, and will consider moving on if they don’t receive it. “When we ask association professionals what members value most, they hugely undervalue career advancement opportunities,” Switzer said. “And so we’re seeing that they’re not only doing that for members, but they’re doing that for staff as well.”
The report recommends that organizations develop clearer career paths and technology education, but also do more to support a sense of belonging, which is closely correlated to retention.
“Most of the associations and nonprofits say we have a great culture,” Johnston said. “That is very hard to do, and I think that’s something that they should emphasize and learn from others too, and see how you can keep improving that.”
Switzer said that one takeaway from the report is that associations should look to use the training they already provide for members and ensure staff has access to it as well.
“There’s a lot of professional development that can occur that’s not paid,” she said. “Often members are looking for general training around public speaking or how to make PowerPoint decks—all of that training can be used for your staff, too. Associations have an advantage where some other industries don’t, because they have this pool of members and they’re developing professional development for them. How much of that can be reused for your own staff?”
