Industries
Why NGO and social enterprise employees leave and how to understand why
Staff at NGOs and social enterprises leave for funding, field and workload reasons as well as pay. How to understand why, listen early and act.
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NGOs and Social Enterprises
HR for CSR Implementation Partners: Project Teams, Corporate Reporting and Contract Cycles
A CSR implementation partner delivers programmes on behalf of companies, with teams built for each project and answerable to corporate funders. Here is how to run them well.
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Share your requirementsHow the work is organised
A CSR implementation partner is an NGO, trust or specialist agency that designs and delivers programmes on education, health, skills, environment or livelihoods for companies meeting their corporate social responsibility commitments. It may run several projects at once for different companies, each with its own budget, geography, timelines and reporting format. A typical team includes a head or business lead who manages corporate relationships, project managers, field coordinators and officers, monitoring and reporting staff, and finance staff who account for each project's money separately. Staff are often hired for a specific project, and their cost is charged to that project. Corporate funders visit sites, ask for presentations and expect polished reports, which add work on top of field delivery. See also HR for NGOs and social enterprises.
Who does the work
- Business development and relationship leads
- Project managers
- Field coordinators and officers
- Monitoring, evaluation and reporting staff
- Finance staff per project
- Communications and documentation staff
- Technical specialists for each theme
- Head of the organisation
Where HR strains in csr implementation partners
Staff are bound to a single project
When a project ends or a company withdraws, the team has no other place in the organisation and people leave or are let go together.
Several funders, several formats
Each company wants its own report, visit and presentation, and project managers spend large parts of the month on corporate demands.
Costs are charged back unevenly
Shared staff time and overheads are split across projects without a clear method, and funders question the charges.
Corporate staff change often
A funder's CSR head moves on, priorities shift and the partner's team must rebuild trust and rework plans.
Quality varies between projects
A project with an experienced manager runs well, while another with a new manager lags, and the head has little visibility.
Funders expect speed from the start
A project is awarded and expected to begin in weeks, so recruitment is rushed and some posts are filled with whoever is available.
Business leads are overloaded
The person who brings in funders also oversees delivery and handles escalations, and the organisation depends on that one person.
What a working HR set-up looks like
- 01
Plan the team across projects
A view of every project's staffing, when each ends and where people could move next. The HR strategy and workforce planning work builds it.
- 02
Create a standard project start
A hiring and induction pack that can be used for any new project, so a team is in place within weeks. The recruitment process and onboarding work provide this.
- 03
Standardise reporting
A core report that serves most funders, with a short add-on for specific requests, to reduce rework. The HR reporting and analytics work helps.
- 04
Allocate shared costs by a stated method
A written approach for how staff time and overheads are charged across projects, reviewed with funders where needed. Confirm the treatment with a qualified professional.
- 05
Review project managers regularly
A monthly check on each project's progress, risks and team morale, with support for new managers. The performance management process provides the routine.
What to put in place first
- List each project, its end date and the people whose work depends on it.
- Count the reports and presentations a project manager produced last quarter.
- Ask how shared staff costs were divided last year and whether you could explain it to a funder.
- Check how long it took from award to a full team on the last two projects.
Confirm with a qualified professional. What applies to you depends on your business, your state and your arrangements, and it changes. This page describes practice. It does not state a legal position.
Where GullyHR helps
- HR strategy and workforce planning
A cross-project staffing view so people can move when one project ends and another begins.
- Recruitment process
A repeatable process for building a team within weeks of an award.
- Performance management process
A monthly review rhythm that shows how each project and manager is doing.
- HR reporting and analytics
People and project data prepared once and used for several funder reports.
Every engagement starts by recording where you stand, and every later report compares against that. We do not promise outcomes. Start with a free conversation, or see the paid HR Diagnostic.
Blogs worth reading first
From the GullyHR blog: one on HR in ngos and social enterprises, and one on each of the topics this page points to.
HR Management
"We need two more people": the headcount plan nobody wrote
Hiring decisions made one request at a time, in the month the pain is worst. What a workforce plan contains and why a twelve-month view changes what you hire.
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HR Process
Why new hires don't turn up on day one, and what to do between offer and joining
Candidates who accept and never arrive are usually lost in the silence between offer and joining. What actually causes it, and a contact plan that closes the gap.
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HR Process
The 6 HR reports a founder should get every month without asking
Six numbers, one page, same format each month. What they are, how to define them so they mean the same thing twice, and what each one tells you.
8 min readRead articleMore on the GullyHR blog.
Questions owners ask
Plan early by looking for roles on other projects and being open with the team about timelines. Confirm contract and notice obligations for fixed-term staff with a qualified professional.
Build one core report from shared data and add short funder-specific pages. This saves time and reduces errors.
Use a written method, such as time records or an agreed ratio, apply it consistently and be ready to explain it. Confirm the correct treatment with a qualified professional.
Keep standard role descriptions, a ready shortlist of past candidates and a short induction pack. Speed comes from preparation done before the award.
Introduce funders to a second person, document key relationships and let project managers present their own work to corporate visitors.
We would ask how teams are planned across projects, what a standard project start looks like, and how reporting differs between funders. We would also hear how shared costs are divided and how much rests on your business lead. A useful first piece of work is a standard project start with one reporting format. After that, we write up the proposed scope and fees for your agreement.
More on HR for ngos and social enterprises
All 7 business types in ngos and social enterprises · Find another business type
Grant-making foundationsLivelihood and skilling programmesHealth and nutrition NGOsChurches and faith-based organisationsCommunity development organisationsSocial enterprises and cooperativesHR Strategy and Workforce Planning in ngos and social enterprisesRecruitment and Talent Acquisition in ngos and social enterprisesHR Analytics and Management Reporting in ngos and social enterprises
See all HR topics for ngos and social enterprises, or another industry.