6 essential skills you need working in the non-profit sector in 2025

6 essential skills you need working in the non-profit sector in 2025

Whether you are just starting out in your career or an experienced professional, gaining new skills and building on your current ones is crucial to progress your career and support your organisation in delivering its mission. The charity sector, like any other, is rapidly evolving and staying ahead of the curve when it comes to skills for the future, is key to making impact.  

So, what skills are essential in 2025? 

Read on as we explore 6 essential soft skills to help you grow and make a lasting impact.

Adaptability

Like businesses, the non-profit sector is not exempt from operating in an unpredictable and rapidly changing world, from political and social changes to advancing technology.   To navigate this, you need to be flexible and have a positive mindset to adopting change, whether that is new tools, processes, or responding to events and situations out of our control. 

Tips to upskill:

• Have an open mind – A positive attitude and open mind to explore new opportunities and ideas can help you upskill.  Here are some tools and approaches to consider:  self-awareness tools (journaling, psychometric assessments, 360 feedback), regularly consume materials that challenge your perspective and introduce new ways of thinking via books, podcasts, webinars. Expose yourself to cross-functional knowledge via mentoring, practice mindfulness and lastly, look for opportunities to network!
• Plan  - Collaborate with your team to identify potential future challenges. Do you have a focus group who will lead on these changes? Who will project manage any changes and ensure they are delivered?  Understand team, organisational goals and how you can support this with your own objectives.
• Communicate – Ensure you openly communicate with your line manager and team. Share experiences, so you can continually improve and learn as you adapt to changes.  Share approaches that have worked for you with your manager and team, evidencing your open-mindedness where you can.

Problem solving & critical thinking

In a more complex world, problems are becoming increasingly more complex too.  Are you good at connecting the dots? Can you think clearly and rationally to overcome problems? 

The charity sector faces complex challenges and with increasingly limited resources, it is more important than ever to think critically and analyse to deliver effective strategies for future growth.

Tips to upskill:

• Understand data – Tools like Excel, Power B and Google analytics are becoming more relevant in many roles that may not have required that level of knowledge before.
• Make data-driven decisions: Use data to back your decisions, for example, review donor trends to prioritise fundraising strategies.
• Provide constructive feedback: Feedback to your line manager and organisation about areas that might need improvement. Provide constructive criticism without complaining, whilst sharing any solutions you may have.

Collaboration

With more flexibility and diversity in the workplace, it is essential to build strong relationships to support common goals. This requires having an environment that allows for effective teamwork and collaboration to maximise opportunities for innovation, diverse perspectives, and increase engagement, helping towards problem solving and success in achieving your mission.

Tips to upskill:

• Communicate regularly: Regularly communicate with your team, not just on what you are working on, but challenges/ ask questions/ ask for feedback. Use tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams to have regular catch ups with other team members and the wider organisation. This is especially useful when working remotely.
• Allow room for external partnerships: Where possible, collaborate with other charities, businesses, and government organisations to share resources and ideas. Seek out professional groups online, such as on LinkedIn and other social media sites.  For example – HR professionals in the charity sector can develop strong collaborative relationships through networks such as CHRN.
• Create a collaboration strategy: Differentiate between in-person and remote collaboration and the benefits and limitations of each. Understand and analyse what works for you and create a clear and balanced strategy for getting the best out of both methods.

Digital adaptability

Whatever your role within your charity, you will need to have a good understanding and awareness of technological advancements to stay abreast of current trends and opportunities to enhance your charity’s impact. We are currently experiencing a big shift in the development of AI, and this will continue to grow and feed into our day-to-day lives and job roles over the coming years.

Tips to upskill:

• Use systems and AI to improve efficiency: Automate routine tasks, personalise donor outreach, and analyse data effectively.
• Keep up to date: Technology advances quickly so it’s important to follow trends in your area of work. Read blogs, attend webinars, join networking groups and follow relevant tech accounts on social media to be the first to know what’s happening. Join AI or other technology based working groups where you can – it is a great way to upskill and input into technology development within your organisation.
• Share your expertise: Not everyone feels confident adapting to new technology so if you have a particular area, you are strong in, share that knowledge with your colleagues. What might seem simple to you could really support someone who isn’t as technologically confident. This also works the other way, encourage your team to share what new digital skills they are learning.

Continuous learning

The landscape of the charity sector is continually evolving so it will be important to ensure that you are thinking about the future. Keep up to date with sector trends and global issues and prepare in advance so that you are ready for any changes rather than being reactive.

Tips to upskill:

• External resources: Attend courses, workshops, and mentorship programmes many of which offer low cost or free access to charity organisations. TPP offer a range of free webinars to those working in the non-profit sector via our events page.
• Develop: Regularly assess your skill gaps and ask for development opportunities where needed.  Consider the skills gaps within your team or department and discuss ways in which you could support the team by developing new or relevant skills with your manager.
• Shadow colleagues: Learning from more experienced colleagues can be a great way to gain practical insights, observe best practices, and develop new skills that can be applied in your role.

Creativity

As you work to stand out and attract donor support, the ability to develop innovative solutions and unique approaches will set you apart. Creativity is one area where AI can’t fully replace human input, making it an essential skill in your toolkit.

Tips to upskill:

• Practice – Set time aside each day to explore and get creative – this could be brainstorming, drawing, writing or exploring new systems.  Stimulate your creativity by allocating thinking time and getting active, walking is a great way to get the creative juices flowing.
• Collaborate – Working with others inside and outside of your team and charity will spark new ideas and perspectives.
• Be curious – By challenging and analysing current systems, processes and asking questions you may discover new ways of thinking.

As the non-profit sector continues to evolve, honing these essential skills will not only help you adapt to changes but also position you as a leader in your field. Embrace adaptability, critical thinking, collaboration, digital literacy, continuous learning, and creativity to stay ahead and make a meaningful impact. We hope these tips will help you to consider new approaches you could take into this year and beyond.

Visit our Resources & Support Hub for more tips and advice to support your organisation or get in touch directly.