Nonprofit careers

[motocicleta]

I wanted to start a thread for discussion of nonprofits, but I am not the right person to lead it, as I am currently trying to get into the field. I am studying for my MBA from Brandeis in 'Mission-Driven Management', and sincerely hoping to start work three days after I graduate in August '06. If anyone has any information they would like to share about nonprofit management, I'd love to hear it.

[brook]

1. Me either...

I'm not "qualified" to lead a discussion on non-profits. I work for one. I'd tell you what I think of management - but it's been a long week and I'm de-stressing at the moment. :hi:

I do hope there are some DUers who will share some np wisdom.

[graywarrior]

2. Happy to see this forum. I just started working for a non-profit.

I volunteered with this non-profit for about 5 months doing their newsletter and participated in some fundraising events. They got to know me and trust my judgement and work ethic and recently hired me on a part time basis. Information from some of the board members have encouraged me that I will be working full time very soon.

I am now the Media Coordinator. Don't know much about management, but my guess is that I will learn soon enough as I am supervising the web designer and will be soon supervising the new data programmer. Today I attended a strategic planning meeting that was quite an eye opeing experience.

Volunteering was the way into this particular non-profit for me. I believe strongly in their mission. They work with all disabilities-building ramps for wheelchair access in private homes, supply equipment: wheelchairs, walkers, etc to people who cannot afford them, do advocacy work in the community, run social programs for disabled groups, teach computers and other courses to disable groups.

Look for a non-profit you'd like to work for and volunteer now. You'll probably get hired and they sure could use your help now.

[hermetic]

3. Also glad to see this thread

I got a degree in nonprofit mgt way back when it was first being offered at universities. Of course "nonprofit" covers a wide spectrum, everything from church to theater (though those are often the same thing). ;-) It's the only way to go though, imo. So, I'll be watching this Forum and glad to add my 2 cents worth.

:hi:

[Lisa0825]

4. Volunteering is a great way to get a foot in the door.

I have three friends who were hired after volunteering for several months on their off time from their previous jobs. I used to be a volunteer tutor for a literacy group, and I was encouraged to put in my resume for a position there, but right around that time, I got a transfer within my current company which was much better for me.

I have worked for a non-profit with a contract with the state to run employment offices for 3.5 years now. The number one thing I hear from the middle management here, which they said is typical of non-profits, is "get used to change!" That is especially true if the organization is grant-funded. The agency that oversees all the contractors is constantly tweaking what they expect from us, so then we have to change methods to comply. Plus, when it's time to renew the grants, we usually end up with major changes in the programs. It can be very frustrating, but it's a good job so we buckle down and deal with it.

[rosesaylavee]

5. I am working now at a non-profit after working in the profit

world for a couple of decades. I am the exec director of a small org that addresses affordable housing issues and we just started a retail program this fall to add funding support to our overall efforts. I have been there since April.

What is it you want to discuss?

[motocicleta]

9. I suppose my most pertinent question is how to do the job search

I look longingly at Idealist.org, etc, but I was hoping this thread would become a repository for helpful information on how to translate desire and skills into actual nonprofit management jobs. If you have any hints at how to focus a search, what to be aware of when choosing between job offers, whether it is a good idea to start my career based around fundraising (I don't relish the thought but it does seem that that area is about the most lively in terms of job postings), I'd love to hear them.
Also, I do hope that this thread could progress to become a forum where employers find like minded candidates for positions at their particular organizations. A sort of DU idealist.org, if you will.
Thanks,
Matt

[KaryninMiami]

6. A good place to start exploring non-profit careers....

www.idealist.org "Action Without Borders" is a great place to begin your searching. From time to time (more often these days then before), I find myself considering leaving the corporate world to do work that is more meaningful and cause related at a non-profit organization. I signed up to receive emails from them based on the types of jobs I am interested in. They cover a wide range of different types of opportunities.

[motocicleta]

10. Yah, I am a devotee of that site - we'll see if it really helps when I get

down to the nitty-gritty of my job search.

[rbnyc]

12. Yep. Also...

Join the AFP and attend their programs. Start working toward your CRFE as well. Fundraising Execs with their CRFE tend to earn 10 to 20 % more than those without.

[Capn Sunshine]

7. Don't forget museums, particularly Civic sponsored ones

These places are the coolest to visit, and every one of them is a non-profit. I spoke to the director of one recently, and running it as an administrator is a six figure gig. She had limited exposure to art, but majored in non-profits in college.

[Hekate]

8. Kick. I want to see where this one goes

Thanks for starting it.

:kick:

Hekate

[motocicleta]

11. Thanks, Hekate

I thought it was a good fit because I come to DU for the same reasons I want to work in nonprofits - I think things aren't right and I want to spend all aspects of my energy on the good side, not just using my free time to make the world a better place for my daughter.

[YOY]

13. I had a job in a NFP...this one was a bad experience

As an fellow MBA I was confused and bewildered by THAT PARTICULAR not-for-profit's setup and processes. You could say it was a poor fit, but I really think the organization was mismanaged and top-heavy. Not that all are this way, but certainly some are. My experience was absolutely atrocious. I am certain not all are this bad, but some of the wonderful things that happened to me there were:

First, they put me into a position that was WAY below my qualifications...practically a administrative assistant.

They did not train me and would often talk down to me (one woman repeatedly called me 'kiddo' in a degrading way.)

Any suggestions I made fell upon deaf ears.

When I asked for help one woman offered to 'mentor' me and then actively and physically avoided me.

They would give me assignments and not explain them to me in any detail because they were SOOOO busy.

The top tiers of management were truly 'do nothing' kind of people who had failed in previous careers in public and private sectors and now were blatantly making an 'easy living.'

They are the only place I have ever been fired from. The manner they did so was impersonal, degrading, and insulting.

Just a note. Not all of them are bad, but just like some private companies certain not-for-profits are not-fit-for-consumption. This one was a fucking hellhole and I actually preferred to be un- or underemployed to working there. This was a US AID contractor (smaller one.)

[emmajane67]

14. The Over qualified thing is a biggie in this industry I think.

Most places basically weant you to have a masters and 6 languages just to make the coffee.

[YOY]

15. Funny thing about that...

I do have a masters degree and speak 6 languages!

:rofl:

Of did you just remember I mentioned it at one point in time?

At any rate I'm happy to not be there. I used to vomit every morning before going into work because I dreaded it so.

[emmajane67]

16. No, I didn't know. It's just that those things seem to be holding me

back in the not-for-profit sector.

But now that I've heard your story I am losing my motivation to work on those things!!!

[YOY]

17. Depends on the level of entry

If you can afford to be cocky and advanced enough to get in on the upper levels go for it.

If you are aiming for the lower echelons you may be sickened by what you see. I was. There are those who don't mind keeping their eyes closed and being overly idealistic about the sheer overloading of work they are assigned while the managers joke about had go for 2 to 3 hour lunches.

I apply every now and again for intermediate levels, but refuse to be any NFPs "Program Assistant" simply due to the sheer ridiculousness of the position I held in the past and that so many have agreed on.

Then again. Some NFPs are good places from what I've heard. I just got a shitty one.

by the way "Program Assistant Manager" = Secretary. Although not completely unorganized, organization is not my strong card. I did not go to school for 19 years to play little Suzie secretary.

[emmajane67]

18. I am currently a ' Partnership Support Assistant'

What? Support AND assistant, weird.
Anyway, 5 months of playing Susie secratary and I'm DONE.
I mean I've been offered jobs as a low level manager in the private sector but can't get anything higher than assistant in the NFP. Very frustrating. I know I don't have acres of experience but I am crap at administrating and I hate it and quite frankly I didn't study for 4 1/2 years to do a job I could have done when I was 15. RANT.
Anyway, had 2 interviews this week and should know by the end of the day. Both were fantastic jobs that would open a lot of doors in the future.

[emmajane67]

19. Oh AND I am the only person in the office AGAIN

today as everyone is working 4 day weeks at the moment to use up their VERY generous leave allowances.
You described my life totally!!! As I did yours.
Good to know these things are so entrenched in the sector that we can joke about them, I was kind of hoping my observations were isolated and possibly in incorrect.
Oh well.

*sigh*

[YOY]

20. Good luck on those interviews

and the next time someone tells you what wonderful places NPFs are tell them the truth.

Did you also note that most of the real work is on your shoulders and that the budget should call for 2 or 3 people in your one positions? Poor training?

People tell you: "You've got to start somewhere" and then expect you to love something like this.

[motocicleta]

21. All right, I am coming down to the end of my program, and I have found

some interesting things.
First, I already have one job and another offer quite possible, without even trying.
Second, in response to some who have posted on this thread, one of the big points that came out of the MBA program at Brandeis was learning how to pick jobs that will work for us. In other words, how to determine if a job not only fits your sense of mission, but also will get you the economic benefits necessary as well as will be with an organization that you will be proud to work for and that will end up being a bright spot on your resume. This was not something I expected to get from the program, but has been very beneficial.
Finally, I think that those of us in the program who are a little older (I'm now 36) and have more experience working have benefited more highly from the program. I wonder sometimes about the young students, some even just 22 right out of undergraduate work, and how much they gain from the experience, because at least the Brandeis/Heller MBA is so based around organizational culture / leadership / strategy, and less about hard skills such as finance, economics, stats, etc. We get those skills, but the classes are treated much more as intros / reminders than indepth explorations.
I will endeavor to post to this group more regularly now that I am getting to the 'advise' instead of the 'question' side of the thing.