Employer branding · Public and social sector
The person you want is taking a pay cut on purpose. Write for that person.
Employer branding for an NGO is the work of describing a job precisely enough that somebody who could earn more elsewhere chooses it anyway, and honest enough that the grant tenure is known before the offer.
Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.
In one paragraph
Employer branding for an NGO is the work of describing a job precisely enough that somebody who could earn more elsewhere chooses it anyway, and honest enough that the grant tenure is known before the offer. GullySales writes the careers content and the field staff stories that carry it.
Also written for
NGOs, Non-profit organisations, Corporate foundations, CSR organisations.
What we do not do
We do not recruit, supply candidates or run payroll. We help candidates see the employer you already are.
Where this sits
For NGOs and non-profits
Where it usually goes wrong, and what we would do.
“Vagueness is fatal when the salary is not the argument”
Working towards social change persuades nobody. The district, the community, the number of villages, what the role decides without asking anyone, and who it answers to: that is what a programme officer is weighing against a corporate offer.
“Half your roles end when the grant does”
Everyone in the sector knows it and most organisations still leave it out of the post. Saying the tenure and the renewal position up front costs you a few applications and saves you the resignation in month ten, when the project is at its most fragile.
“The district team is hired in the district”
A community mobiliser is found through the panchayat, a partner organisation or the person already doing the job. Your English careers page reaches the Bengaluru office hires and hardly anybody else, so the field material has to exist separately and in the state language.
“The questions a woman joining a field role will not ask”
Night travel, where she stays in the block, who accompanies her, and how a complaint is handled. Answering all of that in writing, before the interview, tells her more about the organisation than any statement of values.
What we do
What we deliver for NGOs and non-profits.
Every deliverable, what it covers for you, and the result it is there to produce. Nothing here is an extra.
Careers content that leads with the programme
Each role set inside the work it belongs to, with the geography, the partner organisations and what the last year of that programme actually covered.
Result: A candidate applies to a programme rather than to an organisation chart.
Tenure and funding position on every project role
How long the post is funded for, what happens at renewal, and what has happened before in comparable roles, written only from what your finance lead confirms.
Result: Offers accepted with open eyes, and fewer exits mid-project.
Field staff in the language of the state
Interviews with mobilisers and field coordinators, recorded in Kannada, Hindi or whichever language the block works in, used as they were spoken.
Result: Material your district team can circulate where the hiring really happens.
The practical conditions of a field posting
Travel, accommodation, safety arrangements, and the process for raising a concern, set out plainly using your existing policy documents.
Result: A serious candidate stops having to guess, and a careless organisation stops looking like one.
The founder and programme heads on record
Short interviews on how decisions are taken and where they are delegated, drawn from a short conversation rather than from a written brief.
Result: An answer to the quiet question about whether anyone but the founder decides anything.
How the result is measured
- Applications received per open role
- Careers page engagement and time on page
- Candidate drop-off during the interview process
- Referral hires as a share of total hires
Recorded as a baseline before work starts, so every later report has an honest comparison.
How it works
How the work runs for NGOs and non-profits
The work itself, in order. How an engagement starts, from your brief to a written scope, is set out on our method page.
- 1
Talk to current employees
We interview a cross-section of staff honestly, including some who might raise uncomfortable points.
- 2
Find the genuine reasons to join
We identify what is actually true and attractive about working there, rather than generic claims that could apply anywhere.
- 3
Build the careers content
The careers page, job post templates and employee stories are written from what staff actually said.
- 4
Review the candidate experience
We check what happens between application and offer, since branding cannot fix a process that loses candidates through delay.
- 5
Hand over and refresh periodically
Content is handed over for ongoing use and revisited periodically as the team and roles change.
Proof
What happened when owners fixed this.
Real clients, the work we did, and the result as it was recorded. Where no number was recorded, none is claimed.
LL Trust
- Situation
- The trust had no identity of its own, so nothing in how it presented itself distinguished it from comparable organisations competing for the same donors.
- What we did
- Comparable organisations reviewed
- Logo and branding
- A palette that carries the values
- Reviewed with the trust
- Result
- No numbers were recorded for this engagement. The work is described in full in the case study.
Also worked with
Chord Road Hospital · Curtain Label · Difesa Security Services · Felicity Inn · Hands On CSR · Implevista · Kambar Group · Kalessi · Kerur Pain Clinic · Lucky Deals · Natural Gases · NavaShakthi Souhardha · NewCom Logistics · Proton Technical Services · SB Engineering · Shakthi Foundation · Shakthi Group · Urbanest · Insyde Studio · Venkateshwara Laser Tech · Vivara Studios
Before you hire anyone
The first thing to do yourself.
Read your company the way a good candidate would, before you change anything.
- Search for your company name with the word jobs, and read the first page of results as a candidate would.
- Read your last ten reviews and list the points that appear more than once.
- Ask your three newest joiners why they said yes, and what almost stopped them.
Judge any provider
What to ask any agency or ghost-writer.
Useful whoever you choose, including us.
- Will you work from what our people actually say, or from a template?
- Do you do recruiting or supply candidates, or only the employer-brand work?
- Who approves anything that speaks for our staff?
- Which of our existing job pages and profiles will you change, and which will you leave alone?
- What do you count as a result, and what will you not promise?
Where this fits
Three pieces of sales work, in this order.
GullySales builds every engagement from three pieces of sales work. This page is not one of them, but the same three steps apply to the business behind it.
Step 1
Sales audit
Find where deals are being lost and what to fix first.
Start here if you cannot say where orders are lost.
Step 2
Sales process design
One written way to sell, from first enquiry to repeat order.
Start here if every salesperson sells differently.
Step 3
Sales management
A target, a review routine and someone who owns the number.
Start here if the team has targets and no routine.
FAQ
Questions owners ask before they call.
Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.
We cannot compete with corporate salaries. Does any of this help?
Do you recruit for us or help place people?
Our donors will ask why we spent programme money on this.
How much does it cost?
How long is the contract?
How soon will we see results?
Who will actually do the work?
What do you need from us?
What if we are not happy with the work?
Public and social sector
Employer branding for the rest of the public and social sector.
Or start from employer branding.
Your next practical step
Tell us what you are trying to grow, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps, mostly taps. Skip anything you would rather answer on the call.