How happy are people as they work in nonprofit organizations?

This study examines the extent to which working for a nonprofit organization (NPO) is associated with happiness in five Asian societies. The dataset of the World Values Survey is employed for empirical analysis. The findings indicate that NPO employment has a favorable effect on happiness and that the roles of NPO workers influence this effect. The increased sense of well-being associated with working for NPOs is related to workers’ occupations, and this relationship is particularly significant for nonsupervisory and highly skilled workers. The happiness enhancement effect is irrelevant for NPO workers engaged in manual tasks. Part-time employment by NPOs is associated with relatively limited enhancement of happiness. Enhancing all employees’ well-being is crucial for the sustainability of NPOs. On the basis of our findings, we suggest that NPOs should implement policies to determine the sources of employee stress to help create a happier workforce and achieve organizational missions effectively.