The community and nonprofit sector employs hundreds of thousands of people across New Zealand and Australia. The quality of outcomes these organisations produce depends fundamentally on the quality of their workforce — skilled practitioners, effective managers, principled leaders, and well-governed boards. Yet workforce development is chronically underfunded in the nonprofit sector: training budgets are squeezed, professional development is seen as a luxury, and succession planning is rare. Grants supporting sector workforce development are high-leverage investments that improve the capability of many organisations at once.
Sector-wide skills gaps
Common skills gaps across the nonprofit and community sector include:
- Financial management and literacy (particularly for non-finance managers)
- Board governance
- Human resources and employment law
- Digital tools and data management
- Grant writing and funding development
- Impact measurement and evaluation
- Strategic planning and theory of change
- Leadership and management
Many organisations have specialist programme expertise but lack the generic management and governance skills needed to run effective organisations.
Workforce attraction and retention
Nonprofit salaries typically lag behind equivalent roles in government and private sector. Attractive work, positive culture, and mission alignment compensate for lower pay for many workers — but only to a degree. High turnover in frontline roles (social workers, community workers, counsellors) is costly and disruptive. Building the sector's capacity to attract and retain talent requires systemic investment.
Leadership pipelines
Many community organisations are led by long-tenured founders or sector veterans who will retire in the coming decade. Succession planning and leadership pipeline development — identifying, developing, and supporting the next generation of sector leaders — is a significant unaddressed need.
Indigenous and multicultural workforce
Services for Māori, Pasifika, and culturally diverse communities are most effective when delivered by workers from those communities. Building representative workforces requires investment in pathways, training, mentoring, and culturally grounded professional development.
Training and professional development
Direct grants to organisations for staff training and professional development — attending conferences, completing courses, accessing coaching, and learning new skills. Individual learning grants help organisations invest in the people who deliver their work.
Sector-wide training programmes
Grants for organisations that provide training to the broader sector — leadership development programmes, financial management courses, governance training for boards, impact measurement workshops. These have multiplier effects — one training programme reaches many organisations.
Leadership programmes
Leadership development programmes for emerging and established leaders in the community sector build the pipeline for future sector leadership. Examples include:
- Inspiring Communities leadership programmes (NZ)
- Centre for Social Impact leadership programmes (Australia)
- Philanthropy Australia sector leadership development
- Emerging Leaders programmes run by sector peak bodies
Mentoring and coaching
Matching emerging leaders with experienced practitioners provides personalised development at relatively low cost. Sector mentoring programmes — particularly those that cross organisational boundaries — build networks alongside skills.
Academic and vocational qualifications
Grants supporting staff to complete degrees, diplomas, or vocational qualifications in relevant fields — social work, community development, nonprofit management, public health — build formal sector qualification and skills.
Organisational development consulting
Grants for organisations to access strategic planning support, organisational reviews, and specialist consulting address specific capability gaps. External expertise applied to specific organisational challenges can be transformative.
Peer learning and communities of practice
Communities of practice — peer learning groups of practitioners working on similar challenges — are a cost-effective and highly valued form of professional development. Grants for facilitating communities of practice around specific topics (grant management, trauma-informed practice, digital transformation) build shared sector knowledge.
Board development
Board governance is one of the most underinvested areas in nonprofit workforce development. Grants supporting board development — governance training, board facilitation, governance reviews — improve the quality of strategic oversight and accountability across the sector.
New Zealand
- Volunteering New Zealand: Volunteer sector development
- Hui E! Community Aotearoa: Community sector advocacy and development
- Te Ora Hou: Māori community development
- NZOSS (NZ Open Source Society): Digital tools for the sector
Australia
- Community Council for Australia: Advocacy and sector development
- ACOSS (Australian Council of Social Service): Peak body with sector development function
- Centre for Social Impact: Research, leadership programmes, and sector capability
- Pro Bono Australia: Sector news, resources, and professional development
Fund organisations, not just programmes: Workforce development requires investing in the organisation as a whole — not just specific programme delivery. Core funding that allows organisations to invest in their workforce is more valuable than project grants that don't cover management and professional development costs.
Value learning as an outcome: The philanthropic sector undervalues organisational learning. Funders who explicitly recognise and fund learning — including time for professional development, reflective practice, and knowledge sharing — signal that it matters.
Cross-sector and cross-organisation learning: The most valuable workforce development crosses organisational boundaries — bringing practitioners from different organisations together to learn from each other. Funders who support sector-wide learning initiatives rather than only organisation-specific training produce greater sector benefit.
Invest in measurement capability: Impact measurement skills are increasingly essential. Grants specifically for building measurement capability — evaluation skills, data literacy, frameworks — produce sustainable improvements in accountability across the sector.
Tahua's grants management platform supports both sector workforce development funders and the community organisations that are developing their workforce — with the grant tracking, reporting, and impact measurement tools that demonstrate the value of investing in people.