No Love For Professional Development? Do It Yourself!

From a recent YNPNdc membership survey:

63.7% of recently surveyed DC young nonprofit professionals feel that their employer is not assisting with their professional development, or is only somewhat assisting.

In nonprofit organizations, where the bottom line is often measured by how much we can get done in a day, professional development is put on the back burner for more immediate tasks. Yet it’s essential for every employee to engage in a path of learning and growth in the areas that will improve their work performance. More often than not, it’s up to nonprofit staff to articulate their own plan for professional development and be intentional about making progress on learning goals. In other words, nonprofit employees, especially younger ones, need to take the initiative and seek out opportunities relevant to their professional development goals with or without their boss’ support. It should go without saying that nonprofit executive directors and CEOS need to also realize, as Michele Martin writes over at The Bamboo Project Blog that organizational potential=staff potential. It pays to encourage your employees to learn!

One local example for nonprofit employees looking for an outlet is the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network in DC . YNPNdc provides professional development and networking opportunities free or low cost, including mentoring and leadership events, and an ongoing Book Club series.

About YNPNdc:

YNPNdc promotes a healthy, viable, and inclusive nonprofit sector that supports the growth, learning, and development of young professionals.

We engage and support nonprofit professionals and community members in the Washington, DC metropolitan area through professional and personal development opportunities.

Michele Martin

Rosetta, I agree with you 100% that people have to take their professional development into their own hands. It’s one of my most consistent soap box rants. If I had waited around for someone else to “provide training” to me, I’d still be about 5 steps back in my own career progression. Instead, I’ve used every job I had as a training ground to learn new skills and to practice things I was learning on my own and it’s always paid off. You have to take responsibility for yourself.

(See what I mean about the soap box?)
Rosetta Thurman

Michele,

We need the soap box! So many of my peers complain about not being supported, and often end up leaving jobs because their boss just “doesn’t get it”. But I remind them that gone are the days in which our careers are charted out for us by our bosses for the next 20 years. The sooner we realize this, the more responsibility we can take to define our own goals and be happier in our jobs.
M

Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy (EPIP) is a great group for young and new to the field foundation professionals

http://www.epip.org/index.php

And YNPN has chapters in over a dozen cities for other young nonprofit professionals.

http://www.ynpn.org/

And for the fundraisers out their, don’t be afraid of joining the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP). It’s expensive and not focuses for just younger professionals, but it is an excellent way to network and some chapters have a mentoring program. If your employer will pay your dues, I’d go for it, if they don’t, your 200ish bucks might be better spent elsewhere.

http://www.afpnet.org/

The same goes for Prospect Researchers and the Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement (APRA)- it can be great for networking if your employer will pay your dues, but not really worth it (in my opinion) if they won’t.

http://www.afpnet.org/

Then there are all the institution specific groups you can join, like CASE if you are in higher ed

http://www.case.org/

Before being at a foundation I worked as a major gifts officer, prospect researcher and in donor relations, so I’ve been around the fundraising block over the past 5 years. Professional development is important, especially for young fundraisers who are thinking about getting their CFRE.

http://www.cfre.org/

Joining these groups can really help you get the points you need for that, and for getting the skills and contacts you need to move up the ladder.

A final idea – use social networking for professional development. Livejournal has communities for fundraisers

http://community.livejournal.com/fundraisingpros/

and for nonprofit employees
http://community.livejournal.com/non_profit/
a
nd meetup.com has a ton of groups for folks in this sector

http://fundraisers.meetup.com/
http://nonprofit.meetup.com/
Rosetta Thurman

M, thanks for exposing me to more kinds of professional development that is FREE! I did not know we had active communities through LiveJournal and Meetup. I will definitely post these somewhere later
Catherine

I’d add talk to your mentor(s) about your professional development.

I mentor a couple of younger women and send them articles and courses to stimulate thinking and suggest areas for *branching out*.

My mentors are not so good about this. Your blog post tells me to ask them for this kind of help.

Rosetta I found you through Beth Kanter. Thanks Beth and thanks Rosetta!

Catherine

Catherine Carey
http://www.practical-research.com
http://rosettathurman.com/blog/2009/09/how-the-recession-is-hurting-young-nonprofit-leaders/ Rosetta Thurman » How the Recession is Hurting Young Nonprofit Leaders

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