6 Things to Look for When Choosing a Nonprofit LMS

Dec 4, 2025 | Articles, Compliance Training, Employee Training and Employee Experience Design, Onboarding

Key Takeaways:

  • Nonprofits face a severe personnel crisis and high turnover. Nearly 75% of nonprofits have unfilled jobs, especially in public-facing roles, leading to struggles in completing their missions and providing vital services.
  • An LMS is a vital tool for onboarding and training new nonprofit staff quickly. Given the constant need to hire and onboard new workers due to high turnover, an LMS streamlines training so new hires can “hit the ground running.”
  • Key LMS features for nonprofits include easy content creation and off-the-shelf training. Nonprofits need the ability to quickly create mission-specific content, but also benefit from pre-made courses to supplement training for general skills and compliance, helping them “do more with less.”
  • Nonprofits require an LMS that supports diverse audiences and distributed teams. The platform must be capable of training staff, volunteers, board members, and donors. Furthermore, it needs features like mobile learning, multi-language support, and accessibility for globally distributed teams.
  • LMS platforms demonstrably improve training efficiency and compliance for nonprofits. Real-world examples show that organizations like Sleep in Heavenly Peace (SHP) use an LMS for efficient leader onboarding, and Stockport Homes Group achieved 96%-98% compliance rates for mandatory courses after implementation.

Nonprofits are in the midst of a personnel crisis. Staffing issues in the nonprofit sector have worsened since the pandemic, fueled by both employee burnout and financial pressures. A recent study found that nearly 75% of nonprofits have unfilled jobs. The roles that interact with the public are the ones most likely to experience turnover, with 74% of vacancies in program and service delivery roles.

Thanks to high turnover, many nonprofits are struggling to complete their missions. Or, to quote the National Council of Nonprofits, “when nonprofits cannot hire enough employees to provide vital services, the public suffers.”

With so many vacancies, the nonprofit industry is always hiring; one survey found that more than half of nonprofits are looking to expand their teams in 2025. This also means that they’re constantly onboarding new staff, so that new hires can hit the ground running and provide the vital services people depend on.

A learning management system (LMS) is vital for nonprofits facing these challenges or looking to upskill these new workers. 

What is a Learning Management System?

An LMS is a software platform used to administer, deliver, and track workplace learning. It’s a 

dynamic learning system, easily accessible to everyone who might need training in an organization. Learning and development professionals may use it to create their own customized courses, assign personalized learning paths to individuals and analyze the progress of learners.

It’s also a central location for all training activities, providing a record of every completed course and certification. Rather than having a binder of training handouts, or several PDFs stored on different drives, your LMS stores all your learning content in a searchable database. 

How Can a Nonprofit Benefit from an LMS?

A learning management platform streamlines learning and development (L&D) by providing a single platform for employee, volunteer, and board member training. It also allows your team to update content, ensuring that your people receive consistent, up-to-date training. Learning platforms can also be used to educate donors about your mission, impact, and the importance of their contributions. 

What Features Should a Nonprofit Look for When Choosing an LMS? 

Nonprofits occupy a special role in the economy, and often require special training to fulfill their various missions. Here are some features to prioritize when choosing an LMS for your organization: 

  1. Easy content creation: Often nonprofits have to create content that’s specific to their mission in order to onboard new hires effectively. An LMS with simple drag-and-drop content creation allows your team to put learning modules together quickly and easily. This lets you create the up-to-date consistent training you need. 
  1. Access to off-the-shelf training: Nonprofits often have to do more with less. Rather than creating every learning module, look for an LMS that offers pre-made courses. This can be extremely helpful with general skills like customer service or sales, or for compliance courses. By supplementing your training with off-the-shelf courses, you can offer a range of learning to your team. 
  2. Multiple use cases: Nonprofits don’t just need to train their staff. They work with several groups of people, all of whom need their own unique learning content. Look for an LMS that will allow you to train staff, board members, volunteers, donors, and anyone else who needs learning.
  3. Support for distributed teams: Many nonprofits have teams that span multiple regions and countries. However, no matter where your learners are located, they still need consistent training. Look for an LMS that offers mobile learning, support for multiple languages, accessibility support, and self-paced learning.
  4. Strong analytics and reporting: In order to manage learning, you must also be able to measure it. Your LMS should give you a clear view of how your learners are performing on specific content. It should also tell you who has completed their training, who hasn’t started it, and who may need additional support. 
  5. Community engagement tools: Nonprofits are often community-driven and can benefit from social learning tools, such as sharing features or discussion forums. 

How are Real-Life Nonprofits Using Learning Management Platforms? 

Getting New Leaders Up and Running Fast

Sleep in Heavenly Peace (SHP) is an organization that builds, delivers, and donates beds to children in need. With over 300 chapters in 46 U.S. states, plus additional chapters in Canada, Bahamas and Bermuda, SHP needed to ensure that all their training was aligned. Additionally, new chapter presidents need to learn several software applications in order to manage their chapters. 

SHP worked with Litmos to build content and supply new chapter leaders with just-in-time training so they can get their groups up and running as quickly as possible. With Litmos, SHP built a more efficient two-step process for onboarding new chapters which includes in-person learning and a personalized online learning path. Before new presidents can start building beds, they must achieve an 80% score or better on their onboarding — and Litmos allows SHP to see how they’re doing. 

Keeping Staff Compliant

Stockport Homes Group manages approximately 12,000 properties on behalf of Stockport Council in the United Kingdom. The organization is committed to safe sustainable housing for its residents, support for residents, and homelessness prevention, as well as other housing-related initiatives. With so many divisions, the organization needed to centralize its compliance training and tracking; training reminders were manual, and some of its 700 learners had not completed required training for years. After moving to Litmos, compliance rates for mandatory courses reached between 96% and 98%.

Engaging Learners

Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) is a family of international Christian organizations whose mission is to use light aircraft and other technologies to bring aid to some of the world’s most isolated communities. MAF operates worldwide and has 1,000 learners; 700 internal and 300 external. 

While MAF did use an LMS at first, the training wasn’t centralized or consistent; every trainer had their own presentations and documents. Learners also didn’t engage much with the existing LMS. MAF wanted more learners to engage with their content. 

Since switching to Litmos in 2021, MAF has seen learning engagement skyrocket; new learners usually complete between 30 and 60 short courses in their first 30 days with MAF.

Support Your Nonprofit with an LMS

The world needs the services that nonprofits provide. To provide these vital programs, nonprofits require training that gets new hires to the people who need their help the most as quickly as possible. 

Organizations trust Litmos to help them deliver consistent, scalable, and engaging learning experiences for employees, partners, and customers. From onboarding and compliance to product training and certification, Litmos empowers your nonprofit to turn knowledge into growth, ensuring everyone stays compliant, skilled, and ready for what’s next. Explore Litmos LMS for Nonprofits today.