Many nonprofits face rising power from their donors and different funders to do extra with much less as their prices upward push and their budgets don’t stay up. A technique those organizations are responding is through attempting to economize on their staffing through hiring contractors, experts and brief team of workers as a substitute of full-time staff.
However the ones versatile hard work preparations will have drawbacks.
We’re two nonprofit control students. We analyzed information accumulated from 2008-2018 that used to be drawn from 7,838 museums, theaters, group arts facilities and different arts and cultural nonprofits around the nation. As defined in research revealed in two peer-reviewed journals round the similar time, we recognized an opening between the promise of versatile hard work preparations and their precise results for humanities and tradition nonprofits.
First, we assessed the nonprofits’ operational efficiency the use of in-person attendance at theatrical performances, museum reveals and different are living occasions as a proxy for a way neatly those nonprofits had been handing over products and services and achieving their goal audiences.
In probably the most research, revealed in July 2025 within the magazine Public Control Overview, we discovered that attendance for the teams that relied completely on versatile hard work used to be about 27% decrease in comparison to people who relied as a substitute on everlasting, full-time staff. The attendance drawback used to be extra pronounced when nonprofits used contractors and different such preparations for his or her core actions, together with program supply.
Operational efficiency used to be much less affected when nonprofits used contractors just for administrative roles, equivalent to IT or fundraising. In the ones instances, attendance used to be about the similar as when the nonprofits hired everlasting team of workers participants for the ones jobs.
A crowd gathers on the ribbon-cutting rite of the Cross-Cross Museum & Cafe in Washington, D.C.’s Anacostia district on Nov. 18, 2024. The venue is a nonprofit.
Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Put up by the use of Getty Photographs
The image wasn’t a lot better in the case of the nonprofits’ monetary efficiency.
Our different learn about, revealed in June 2025 in Nonprofit Control & Management, discovered that whilst versatile hard work might briefly ease money go with the flow, it doesn’t beef up long-term monetary well being.
In different phrases, whilst it is going to be offering momentary aid, depending on versatile hard work preparations does no longer supply lasting monetary advantages. It’s extra of a Band-Help than a remedy.
We suspect that many nonprofits want staff with long-term commitments to their reasons, communities and companions to be triumphant.
Why it issues
Versatile hard work fashions are not unusual within the personal sector, the place potency and cost-cutting are key efficiency metrics. Nonprofits, in contrast, generate price via accept as true with, continuity and deep group relationships.
It takes time to construct the important institutional wisdom and dedication required of sturdy nonprofit team of workers participants.
Transient team of workers participants would possibly not stick round lengthy sufficient to construct relationships or perceive, let on my own percentage, a nonprofit’s challenge. When the individual main a formative years program or managing group outreach is right here lately and long past the next day, that program’s high quality will more than likely undergo.
The accept as true with between a nonprofit and the individuals who get pleasure from it will get constructed via repeated, sure interactions. As a result of that accept as true with can erode temporarily, depending on versatile hard work can also be much less helpful for nonprofits than for-profit employers.
For many nonprofits, workforce prices are generally the biggest a part of a nonprofit’s finances, making them tempting to chop. However changing everlasting staff with contractors to economize dangers reducing into the muscle of the group, no longer simply the fats.
What nonetheless isn’t recognized
We eager about arts and cultural nonprofits, which make up a majority of all arts teams. Virtually 9 in 10 museums and visible arts establishments, 3 in 4 dance corporations and about 6 in 10 theaters are nonprofits.
The benefits and drawbacks of the use of versatile hard work preparations might vary for different kinds of nonprofits, equivalent to the ones engaged in well being care or offering social products and services.
There might be different variables. Contractors who freely make a choice not to be a full-time, everlasting worker – and are already accustomed to the group’s paintings and challenge – might do their task a lot better than other folks with little related enjoy.
And as a result of information barriers, we grouped all versatile hard work right into a unmarried class. Hiring impartial contractors, on-call staff and brief team of workers by the use of contracting companies could have other results on a company’s efficiency.
