UPDATE: Congrats to the winners of today’s contest, Shannon and Ashley! Check out their winning responses below and please continue to share your own!
The new year is always a time for reflection on what went well for you in the past year, and what you might change or do better in the coming year. Some people call them “New Year’s resolutions.” I just call them personal commitments. With only four weeks left in 2009, this is a great time to think about where you want your career to go in 2010. This year, I’m also reminded of some great advice that Michael Watson, Senior VP of Human Resources for Girl Scouts of the USA shared with the NGen group at Independent Sector’s Annual Conference:
Time matters. Every year that goes by puts you closer to where you want to go or it doesn’t. If you casually take that for granted and say, “Oh, I have time,” you could end up missing opportunities. How do you plan to get to where you want to go?
I want to hear from all of you dear readers! What do you plan to do for your nonprofit career in 2010? Are you looking for a new nonprofit job? Will you take on more responsibility at your current job? Do you plan to join a board of directors? Are you someone thinking about switching from the corporate to the nonprofit world? Are you a student gearing up to apply for your first nonprofit job? Will you invest some time in building your personal brand?
The Contest
I’m excited to host my first contest for 31 Days of Giving! I want to hear all of your personal commitments for your nonprofit career in 2010 – so from now through 5pm EST today (Tuesday, December 
, I invite you to post them in the comments so we can all learn from each other. My friend Mark McCurdy, The Nonprofit Career Coach has generously donated two free tickets to his upcoming teleseminar on December 14 to the readers who post the best comments to today’s post. Mark is the President of Jobs in Nonprofits, and he was very instrumental in helping me get the nonprofit job I have now in DC. The best part? Winners will also receive a 30-minute coaching session with Mark as well as the Accelerate Your Nonprofit Career Toolkit! These tools would normally cost an arm and a leg, but I’ve got the hookup just for you. This evening, I will choose the two most fabulous comments from today’s post and the winners will get access to The Nonprofit Career Coach for free! Teleseminar details and links below. Happy commenting and please forward this post to your friends who are looking for a nonprofit career change in 2010!
Six key strategies you need to find your dream job for social impact – Teleseminar
Monday, December 14, 2009
7:00 PM – 8:30 PM EST
Location: From the comfort of your very own home or office
Address: Anywhere in the world
Results: New strategies and mindset for accelerated social impact
Six key strategies YOU need to find your Dream Job for social impact – Teleseminar 12/14/09
Transformational Teaching + Inspiration + New Strategies = the Best Social Impact Teleseminar
Accelerating your career by rediscovering your social impact!
Making the transition into a meaningful and enriching career world starts with one simple step: the passion to do more with your life. Understanding your passions, personal strengths and where to channel your incredible energy are essential for finding that “dream job.”
Here is exactly what you’ll learn at this career-building teleseminar:
- Realize the six strategies needed to discover your dream job for social impact
- Leverage your volunteer or pro bono experience into a job reality
- Find out about hot careers in the nonprofit sector
- Become an expert in crafting a strategic nonprofit resume
- Learn to challenge your fears and find the courage you need to impact your career for life
Who Should Attend?
- Career transitioners at all levels
- Nonprofit professionals looking for a new start
- Recent MBA’s and grads
- Interns, students, and professors
- AmeriCorps and Peace Corps alums
Mark McCurdy is President of the Nonprofit Career Coach and founder of Jobs In Nonprofits, a boutique company helping job-seekers and nonprofit organizations fulfill their missions. As an inspiring leader, in-demand speaker, trainer and strategic nonprofit career coach, Mark has helped over 4000 professionals accelerate their nonprofit careers and has also assisted nonprofit organizations in unearthing skilled human capital. In the past 2 years, Mark has been a featured speaker at Brandeis University, Amnesty International USA, the University of Massachusetts, the Global Fund for Children, the World Resource Institute, Net Impact Boston, AmeriCorps, WINDS Networking, and the Jericho Road Project. Mark gives presentations on careers in nonprofits, career transitions, and key strategies for finding a dream job that will maximize one’s “social impact” in the nonprofit world.
Mark is certified as a Professional in Human Resources (PHR). He holds a bachelor’s degree with a concentration in Human Resource Management from the University of Massachusetts.
I’m blogging every single day this month for 31 Days of Giving to celebrate my 27th birthday on December 31 and asking all my friends to donate $27 to benefit the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network of Washington DC. Will you give? Your gift would really make a difference for young nonprofit leaders in DC!
2010 will be a year of both professional and social development for my personal brand and my dance company. I plan to triple increase my Twitter following, launch a blog targeted towards young creative minds who need guidence as they enter and grow in the art business world, increase my annual budget, attract one savy financial professional to my board, and create my my most daring, raw choreographic work to date.
I just completed my MBA and hope to move into a management position for a non-profit. In 2010 I will be finalizing my vision board and becoming more agressive with my job search. I will also think outside the box and try to do things that I haven’t tried such as Twitter, informational interviews and of course, more networking!
I’m creating a social network map/asset map of talented people in my community who are nonprofit leaders, entrepreneurs, coaches, and creative catalysts from diverse fields, to uncover opportunities for innovation, collaboration and social entrepreneurship. I will risk having bolder conversations with colleagues and mentors who stretch me, and develop a business plan/job description for my next life as an “EdVenture Capitalist”.
In 2010 I am going to be more aggressive in “managing up” to ensure my organization creates and follows a development plan, continue to ensure that systems that work for my org are being developed and utilized to effectively manage everyone’s valuable (and naturally because this is nonprofit, limited) time. Personally, after being inspired by a jobseeker who sought me out, I am going to be fearless in seeking out mentors and developing stronger connections with my nonprofit peers through social media, but also through face-to-face interactions.
The number one thing I will do for my career in 2010 is run a program for the first time (I was promoted into the Coordinator role at the end of the 2009 cycle). I will keep my eye on the details and work on my temper in order to be a more effective manager. After all, the best piece of career advice out there is “Be the best at what you do”.
Hello, I am a 22yr old young nonprofit professional in the Metro Baltimore area. I am an AmeriCorps member currently working full-time at House of Ruth Maryland as a Shelter Program Volunteer Activities Coordinator. In May of 2009 I graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Admin. with a concentration in Marketing.
In 2010, I would like to be ‘Ms. Make it Happen’ of my organization! If there is a need of one of our shelter residents, I want to be able to stand up on behalf of my organization, reach out to all of my connections and make sure that the need is fulfilled. In order to do this, I need to get more involved in local nonprofit networks, work on building long-lasting relationships with community partners; colleges, local businesses, business professionals and build my personal brand. I also look forward to becoming a junior board member of an organization that benefits urban youth.
Becoming more knowledgable about the population that we serve and about the nonprofit sector are two essential elements that I would also like to develop to help grow my organization and my personal brand. In order to keep myself up-to-date with national and local nonprofit news, I started a blog, A Heart For Change! (aheartforchange.blogspot.com)
Also, for next year, I look forward to applying to graduate school and starting coursework for a Master’s Degree in Human Services Administration at Coppin State University and developing a business plan for a Leadership Academy that trains 4 High School students from 9th grade -12th grade to be successful black leaders and give back to their communities, through helping them write a resume, cover letter, developing public speaking skills, financial aid 101, leadership and assisting them in getting early internships, scholarships and helping them go above and beyond the required community service hours by completing 50 extra hours.
Thank you!
I will position myself as an expert in pr and social media and as someone who will bring a new level of creativity and innovation when it comes to media strategies for nonprofits and building the base you need to help your org thrive. I will also be more vocal about what I want out of my role and be less timid about managing up when I need to. I will remind myself that I am talented and capable.
Hi Rosetta!
I’m a May 2009 graduate working in development for a non-profit who has never had development staff before and never paid any attention to it – it wasn’t important for them!
In 2010, I plan to get our non-profit noticed in the community so we can build better relationships. I’m going to focus on face-to-face networking as well as building our social networking presence and posting content our constituents want to comment on and be engaged with.
My goal is to have 25% of our fans on Facebook being “active” (liking content, commenting on content, using the discussion board, fundraising through Facebook for us or anything else that gets them involved) within the first quarter and increasing the percentage of active fans from there.
I plan to start a capital campaign, which our non-profit has never done.
I also have goals specific to the events we run, but the metrics I will be using to track the events will be attendance, volunteer participation, average gift, number of gifts, and total dollars raised.
My biggest challenge of the year will be implementing a new database for CRM and fundraising software to manage our events.
The ultimate goal is for all of these things (engaging our constituents on platforms they already use in their daily lives, raising more money through new avenues, analyzing our current events, and implementing new software) is to add up to my one-person department becoming more efficient and making our constituents want to be involved with us. By engaging them in our story and who we are, we will be able to raise more money to do what we set out to do: serve people with disabilities in our area so they can reach their dreams whatever they may be.
My overall goal is to start my own nonprofit working with Inmates and ex offenders. In order to get to this goal, during the year of 2010, I will volunteer at a prison by starting a book club, and possibly working as a GED tutor to spend time with the population I want to serve. I will also meet with and learn from people that have any involvement in ex offender re entry and inmate transitional work. This will range from teachers, policy makers, researchers and other nonprofit managers. I will also put in an application to work with the Community Development Clinic in the University of Maryland law school to get assistance forming and incorporating a nonprofit. The clinic will provide this service for free as long as the applicant pays all of the fees. From a career aspect, I will continue to work for United Way to see all of the aspects of nonprofit management. Because I am currently implementing a program that is a start up I will gain valuable experience with relationship building, the nuts and bolts of starting a program in the community and how to go from planning to action. At the same time, I will be able to experience a multilevel approach to nonprofit work because while I am running a start up at the ground level. Because United Way is such a large organization, I can also experience the macro level and how complex large organizations and their problems can be. I will also read at least one book on nonprofit management and one book on ex offenders and prisons a month. Not only that, I will also take at least one MANO(Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations) seminar this year. Finally, I will be looking for organizations that would be interested in partnering with me in my endeavors (preferably an organization the focuses on job readiness or green collar jobs). By this time next year I would like to have my nonprofit en route to be off the ground. I should have a DBA, a 501(c) 3 status, a website, a FB and twitter account for my organization.
Hi Sierra,
Check out Marylandnonprofits.org! They are hosting a “How to Start a Nonprofit Organization” seminar on January 13, 2010. Several other events coming up in the near future with them also!
I was excited to see a comment from a young nonprofit professional, like myself, in the Maryland area! We need to connect, are you on LinkedIn?
I will get myself on a board and get some fundraising experience – two areas my resume needs more “beef.”
Congrats to the winners of today’s contest, Shannon and Ashley! Thank you everyone for submitting such awesome responses!
Everyone has got a dream to be achieved concerning the professional life.This starts at an early age where people have an idea in their minds about what they want to be in the future and they strive to realize it if they possess a strong determination.If it happens that you ask many children this question: what kind of job you want to have in the future? you frequently hear jobs like a doctor,an engineer ,or a teacher.I was once like them but at a later age, I shifted to something else.My ambition become much bigger than I even expected.
As we all know, our Moroccan women suffer from various social problems.For example,violence against women,women’s illiteracy and joblessness among them.Therefore, I want to set up a huge center and be its headmaster to handle these issues properly.This ,of course,can be realized with the hard work,with the financial support and most importantly with the willing and motivation.
My idea is that when I finish my study and get enough knowledge, I will talk to others who have the same idea as me.Then,I will endeavour to get an authorisation from the government to establish my dreamy center with their share in financing the project. I also intend to make partnerships both with national and international associations which meet our interests.
Our Moroccan women must be in need of our help.That’s why I always say to myself I should do something for them and be committed to it. The high rates in violence,illiteracy and joblessness are frightening.But with my project,many of their concerns and fears will be lessened.Gradually then,their situations will be improved and that of the whole society.
Finally, I hope that I will realize my interesting career and have it between my hands because I strongly believe that with this better work I can have a better future brimful with success and prosperity.