Running a nonprofit shared space can be a challenge. In addition to the hard skills of hard skills of leasing, facility maintenance, and tenant improvements, nonprofit center managers must also be equipped with the soft skills of culture management and facilitating partnerships in order to create meaningful collaborations among the tenant partners under one roof.
In our 2015 State of the Shared Space Sector survey, we at NCN wanted to answer some long standing questions about what it really takes to run a nonprofit center. The full findings of our research can be found in Managing Collaboration: Staffing & Salaries in Shared Space (available for free download). Here are a few highlights:
- The average nonprofit center has only two full-time center management staff.
- The number of staff needed to run a nonprofit center isn’t influence by square footage, but the number of tenants you have makes a big impact. A 10,000 square foot center with 25 tenants is more administratively complex than a 10,000 square foot center with four tenants.
- Owning versus leasing space makes a difference. More centers that own their own space also employ their own facilities management staff and event managers.
- The four most common positions hired in a shared space are the Executive Director, Facilities Maintenance, Receptionist, and Event Manager.
- Executive Directors are primarily paid on a full-time salaried basis, and 80% of our sample was paid more than $50,000 a year.
- While the popularity of a Community Animator position is growing, only 17 centers in our sample reported employing someone in that role. Community Animators are most likely to be found in spaces with 21 tenants or more.
If you’re interested in learning more about how to staff your nonprofit center, download Managing Collaboration: Staffing & Salaries in Shared Space today!