Recruiting Chinese Undergraduates into Nonprofit Organizations: The Impact of New Work Ways and Leadership Development Opportunities

Abstract

As the employment environment for Chinese college graduates becomes increasingly competitive, nonprofit organizations face the dual challenge of limited appeal and high talent turnover. Enhancing their attractiveness through strategic recruitment messaging has become a pressing concern. Drawing on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), which highlights intention as a key predictor of behavior, this study examined whether presenting new ways of working and leadership development opportunities in recruitment advertisements could increase Chinese undergraduates’ intention to apply to nonprofit organizations. Using a 3 (advertisement type: control, new ways of working, leadership development opportunity) × 2 (gender) between-subjects factorial design, one of the three recruitment advertisement was random assigned to 201 Chinese undergraduate students. After viewing a recruitment advertisement, participants completed a questionnaire assessing their application intention, preference for work arrangements, and perception of development opportunities. The results revealed that both intervention settings significantly boosted participants’ intention to apply compared to the control group. Ads stressing flexible work arrangements or growth opportunities were especially effective in attracting young candidates. These findings emphasize the necessity of generating recruitment content that shows internal support mechanisms, and they provide practical suggestions for NGOs wanting to improve employer branding and talent acquisition.