Nonprofit Careers | Rosetta Thurman

Choose Carefully or You Could End Up Hating Your Next Nonprofit Job

June 28, 2010 by rosettathurman · 7 Comments

A friend of mine just decided to quit her nonprofit job. It was making her so miserable that it would sometimes bring her to tears. As I spoke with her, I was reminded that many people think just because you work for a good cause, your workplace will always be hunky-dory. You’ll come into the office or program site in the morning and everyone will be smiling and jumping up and down with excitement about saving the world. And your boss and board members will be just swell people of the highest character. While these are all nice sentiments about nonprofit work culture, they’re just not always true. Nonprofit workplaces can be plagued with the same irritations as for-profit companies: office politics, incompetent bosses, lying, stealing, lazy co-workers, etc. But if you don’t go into it with rose-colored glasses, you can avoid hating your nonprofit job. Take time to answer this question: what kind of work environment do you need to be satisfied and happy? Here are some examples of factors that nonprofit professionals often overlook when searching for a new job.

Being in close quarters

Many nonprofit offices are so tiny, you can hear everything – every strike on the computer keyboard, every phone call, every stomach growl. Working in cubicles is more common than having an office with a door. If you need privacy in your work environment, you should be sure not to take a job where you won’t get any.

Working on evenings and weekends

Many nonprofits hold events at night or on the weekends as part of their programs or for fundraising purposes. I knew someone who worked for the Make-a-Wish Foundation and their work was around the clock, not confined to the typical 9-5 work hours. If you don’t want your nonprofit job to interfere with your after-work happy hours or weekend activities, you should find out what the nonprofit’s culture is before you accept the position. Ask your potential employer what a typical week would look like, as well as what a “worst-case scenario” week might consist of as well.

No support for professional development

This is by far one of the biggest complaints by nonprofit professionals about their work environment. Many organizations don’t have the budget to pay for additional training or staff development. On the other hand, there are also nonprofits that do have the funding to support professional development, but still don’t give employees enough time off or a flexible work schedule to take advantage of available learning opportunities. Oftentimes, nonprofit workers have to pay for conferences and workshops out of their own pocket as well as use their vacation time to attend. Be your own best advocate in the job searching and benefits negotiation process to make sure you’re joining an organization that will support your ongoing growth as a nonprofit professional.

If you don’t do your due diligence on the type of nonprofit work environment you’re signing up for, it’s nobody’s fault but yours. These items may at first seem like minor considerations, but if you plan to stay in a position for a while, they can wear on you. Choose your next nonprofit job carefully so you can love your work with a passion…instead of hating it with a passion.

Four Ways to Create a Successful Nonprofit Career Path

May 14, 2010 by rosettathurman · 9 Comments

In most industries, there’s a clear path to leadership positions in your organization. In many companies, you might start out as an assistant, then get promoted to manager, then director, then VP, then senior VP, then hopefully one day the President if you have the ambition to be so. We love to read stories like that of Ursula Burns, the new CEO of Xerox who first came to the company as a summer intern. In 1980. It wasn’t until thirty years later that she came to hold the incredible title of being the first African American woman to lead a major U.S. corporation.

30 years is a long time. Too long if you ask me. So the great thing about working in the nonprofit sector is that you don’t have to wait that long to become the head of an organization, if that’s what you want to do. Because in nonprofits, there is no linear career map. Which means that if you innovate your nonprofit career, you can lead whenever you’re ready to. The slate is blank for you to get in where you fit in, wherever you think you can do some good. Here are just a few ideas to consider if you’re trying to figure out how to create your own path.

Do Your Job Really Well

The first few years of your nonprofit career are critical. Don’t be a slacker just because you can or because you don’t get paid that much. Come in to work on time and do an excellent job within the position you were hired for. If you are in charge of a program or project, make sure it doesn’t just get done, but do it in a remarkable way, on time and within budget. Instead of coming to work just to “do your job,” try to exceed the goals that the organization has for you or your department. If you need to raise $100,000, raise $150,000. If you’re tasked with recruiting 20 mentors, go out and find 40. While you’ll still get a paycheck, doing the bare minimum is not going to be enough to get you promoted to a job with more responsibility. And it’s damn sure not gonna get you a glowing recommendation when you’re ready to take the next step in your career.

Become a Rainmaker

A rainmaker is someone who has a knack for using their connections to benefit their company with new clients, customers, or investors. When you come into a new nonprofit job, don’t be afraid to use your personal networks to connect you to opportunities that will benefit the organization. If you belong to an alumni association, ask your fellow classmates to volunteer or donate to your cause. Put messages out on your Facebook and Twitter profiles to increase attendance at your nonprofit’s events. Help garner press for your agency by calling in a favor from your friend who works at a local newspaper. If you can bring in new assets that the nonprofit didn’t have before they hired you, your name will be at the top of the list when an internal leadership position opens up, and you’ll have some great results to brag about in the interview for your next job.

Don’t Be Afraid to Job Hop

Nonprofit jobs, especially entry-level ones, can involve quite a bit of grunt work that doesn’t fully leverage your skills or education. So if you get hired as a program assistant, you’ll likely learn your job within a year and be ready to move on up to something more challenging. And if there’s nowhere “up” to go in your particular organization, your best bet may be to move on to the next one so you can continue to learn and grow. Job-hopping used to get a bad rap, but the times have changed. The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that “today’s learner will have 10-14 different jobs by the age of 38,” so you shouldn’t be biting your nails about leaving a nonprofit job after just a year.

Introduce Yourself to a Search Firm

I’ve been told by my search consultant friends that about 15 percent of nonprofit positions are placed by a search firm. If you have the kind of talent that is in demand by nonprofit organizations, they would love to hear from you. If you don’t already have a connection to a nonprofit search firm, it may be time for you to introduce yourself and let them know you’d like to be included in their network of candidates. Browse the search firm’s website and check out the searches they currently have open. Look up the name of the person at the firm who is leading the search and send them your resume and a brief cover letter, being very specific about why you’re interested in the position. Then follow-up with a phone call. If you don’t yet have a connection to a recruiting firm in your area, here are a few that work locally and nationally:

Filed Under: Career Advice · Tagged With: Career Advice, nonprofit careers, nonprofit sector, young nonprofit professionals

11 Reasons Why New College Grads Should Pursue Nonprofit Careers

May 10, 2010 by rosettathurman · 13 Comments

All over the country, a couple million young people are graduating from college, including my little sister, Joelle! This weekend, she graduated from Howard University with a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing. I’m so proud of her, I can hardly stand it. It’s been an amazing celebration weekend with all of our family in town from Ohio, Georgia and Virginia. But after all the partying and congrats we did as a family, our first question to Joelle was, “So when are you gonna get a job?” She’s in the market looking for her first “real” job right now just like everyone else her age. Fortunately, her career field of nursing provides a very clear avenue for what to do next after school. After you graduate with a BSN, you take your certification test, then you go to work at a hospital or clinic. Even better is that in Washington, DC, the starting salary for nurses comes out to about $27 an hour. So new nurses have a pretty linear career path and a good chance that they will earn a good salary.

But what about those that don’t?

What about young people like me who came out of college with a degree in English and no idea what to do with it? Those new grads should definitely consider the nonprofit sector as a career choice for a number of reasons.

Nonprofit Doesn’t Mean “No Money”
Many young people get turned off from the idea of working in the nonprofit sector because they think the term “nonprofit” means that they won’t get paid. While most nonprofits aren’t ever going to be able to pay you six-figures, many positions command a very competitive salary, especially in large organizations. So if you’re that English major like me and you’re good at technical writing and you learn how to write a grant proposal, you could be on track to earn quite a bit more than you thought. Higher paying jobs in nonprofits include: fundraising, marketing & communications, finance and policy.

Nonprofits Are Still Hiring
There are many bright spots for young workers who wish to pursue a career in social change. The Bridgespan Group’s 2009 report, Finding Leaders for America’s Nonprofits showed that nonprofits were still hiring in this economic downturn. According to the Bridgespan Group:

In the next 12 months, 28 percent of nonprofit organizations with revenues of $1 million and above plan to make one or more senior management hires, translating to 24,000 vacancies in 2009. Those projected vacancies are largely the result of retirement, since much of the existing leadership is comprised of boomers. Vacancies also stem from new roles being created due to an increase in organizational complexity based on growth in prior years.

According to Bridgespan, the need for new nonprofit leaders is especially strong in two areas: human services and arts organizations.

It’s Easy to Know Where to Start Your Job Search
What happens when you ask a current nonprofit professional, how did you find your first nonprofit job? For many, there’s only one answer to that question: Idealist.org. Like many people, I found my very first full-time nonprofit job on their website. And it was the perfect job for me in the beginning of my nonprofit career! Since for-profit job searching can be in many different specific fields, it can be difficult to know the best place to go to look for openings. Idealist, however, provides a one-stop shop for anyone who’s just starting a nonprofit job search.

Your Degree is Transferable to the Nonprofit Sector
No matter what the financial outlook may be, great nonprofits still need great people with education, talent and passion. Bridgespan’s survey respondents reported that 50 to 75 percent of the roles they will need to fill in the near future look to require traditional business skills (finance, general management, marketing/communications, planning, evaluation, operations, technology, and human resources). So whatever field you earned your degree in, a nonprofit organization can probably use your knowledge and skills.

Entry-Level Nonprofit Salaries are Similar to For-Profit Ones
When you’re just starting out in your career, the salaries you will be offered are pretty much the same whether you work in nonprofit, for-profit or even government. A friend of mine graduated with a Bachelor’s in Urban Planning and got offered $32,000 to start at a real estate firm. When I did a short stint as a county court clerk in Virginia right after college, they paid me $29,000. So the numbers game is really quite misleading. Nonprofit careers are just as profitable as any other when you don’t really have any work experience yet.

You’re More Likely to Get a Fancy Job Title
True story: I was offered a job as a Director of Development when I was 22 years old. I couldn’t believe the organization wanted to hire such a young person to be in a leadership position to fundraise for the organization. Then I learned that the nonprofit only had one employee, and I would be the second. I wouldn’t be supervising anyone and I would be the agency’s first Director of Development. This type of situation may not appeal to everyone, but if you play your cards right and stay in a role with that title for at least a year, you can use it to your advantage when negotiating for future jobs. If you can obtain a job as a ‘Director’ in a nonprofit organization, it will look much better on your resume than being a mere ‘Assistant’ at a for-profit company.

You Gain Experience Outside of Your Job Description
Most nonprofits require all employees to work outside of their job descriptions. Office managers may get opportunities to write grant proposals and learn all about fundraising. Receptionists could be called upon to organize a group of volunteers for a rally on Capitol Hill. Joining the staff of a nonprofit organization can be hard work doing several jobs in addition to the one you were hired for, but you quickly become a generalist in many different areas of skill and knowledge. In the long run, this can will help you become a well-rounded professional who can add value to any type of organization.

You Get Access to the Higher-Ups
Most nonprofits have a small staff, so it’s likely that your immediate supervisor will be the Deputy Director or CEO of the organization. That means you get to spend more time with top leadership than if you would at a large for-profit separated by layers of middle management. You could have the opportunity to create a great mentor-mentee relationship from the big boss, helping to cultivate your own leadership in the process. If you have a strong relationship with the CEO, it’s also likely that they’ll be able to serve as a strong references for you when you apply for future jobs.

Your Organization Will Have a Better Reputation Than Most For-Profit Companies
Think about it. Young people who work at Goldman Sachs right now probably hang their heads in shame when people ask them where they work. Between Wall Street’s failings and the general “profit-first, people-second” nature of many for-profit brands, it’s not a given that the company you choose will be seen positively in the public eye. In contrast, most nonprofits will be held in high regard because of their altruistic missions. Bonus: if you snag a job at a large organization like Girl Scouts of America, Teach for America, College Summit, etc. you also get to benefit from positive name recognition in the community.

You’ll Have an Instant Network of Peers
As you begin your career, it’s important to have access to low-cost professional development and a place to network with peers your age. Enter the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network (YNPN), a national movement to promote an efficient, viable, and inclusive nonprofit sector that supports the growth, learning, and development of young professionals. YNPN engages and supports future nonprofit and community leaders through professional development, networking and social opportunities designed for young people involved in the nonprofit community. Over the past five years, YNPN has become the nation’s premier organization for young nonprofit professionals to connect with like-minded peers. With over 30 YNPN chapters representing 20,000 young nonprofit professionals working in a variety of capacities, it’s definitely something you want to be involved in. Most major cities have a YNPN chapter that you can plug into: find a chapter in your area.

Your Work Will Matter
Young people are becoming increasingly more disillusioned with government, Wall Street, politicians, and even our parents, whose fire for social change may have died out in the 70s. We’re tired of our professors and our families telling us what to do and how to fit in with the crowd. We want to do something important with our lives. Something that has meaning. We want to work someplace where we can rock the boat, where we can make a huge difference in the lives of others. And nonprofits, by virtue of their missions are a perfect place to fuel that passion. Nonprofit work ain’t easy, but it will certainly be the most important work that you will ever do. Can you say that about the average for-profit company?

Filed Under: Career Advice · Tagged With: new college grads, nonprofit careers, nonprofit sector, recent grads

Stop What You Are Doing Right Now and Donate to Idealist.org

February 1, 2010 by rosettathurman · 4 Comments

How did you find your first nonprofit job?

For many of us, there’s only one answer to that question: Idealist.org. Like many of you, I found my very first full-time nonprofit job on their website. And it was the perfect job for me in the beginning of my nonprofit career. I remember it like it was yesterday…

I had recently graduated from college with a Bachelor’s degree in English that people said would never make me any money. They were partly right. I had already been working in the nonprofit field for almost three years on a volunteer or part-time basis for very little pay. I had no idea whether I could even find a full-time job that wouldn’t leave me homeless since the luxury of financial aid was long gone. My apprehension was heightened because I had also chosen to relocate from Richmond, Virginia, where I went to school – to Washington, DC, where all the nonprofits were, according to my professors. I had no friends in DC and no money. All I knew was that I wanted a job in the nonprofit sector.

My first attempt had been to go through a temp agency where I landed a great administrative position at the United Way, but it just wasn’t the perfect fit for me. So, I left after just a few months. I continued my search for the perfect nonprofit position. But, in the meantime, I needed money. I had an expensive apartment on the outskirts of DC. So, then I did a six-month stint at a District Court in Virginia as a Deputy Clerk. I figured I could put my minor in pre-law to use. The job sounded fancy, but all it meant was that I was supposed to process all the paperwork to keep the bad guys in jail. It was good money for me at the time, plus I had benefits. I’d never had a job with benefits before. But, then I started to get into trouble. People were being charged with crimes they couldn’t even understand because they couldn’t speak English. So, I spent my time running around trying to get them interpreters. I thought it was fair. I thought it was how the justice system should work. But apparently, that wasn’t my job. My job was not to help people have a fair trial. It was to process them and make sure they got into the right jail.

That’s when I knew I could never work in the legal system. Especially for the bureaucratic government. Eventually my boss at the District Court gave me two weeks to either shape up or ship out. I said my goodbyes, then went online and started applying for nonprofit jobs on Idealist.org. I don’t even remember how I found out about Idealist. Maybe from one of my professors. Maybe through a simple Google search. What happened next is that I found an open position with an organization in DC that worked with youth-serving organizations in communities of color, specifically the Black community. I had volunteered with African American youth in college. I cared deeply about people of color and how nonprofits could serve us. This was perfect for me. I can’t tell you how badly I wanted this job. They didn’t even call me until a month after I had applied! All of a sudden, I had an interview with them at 2:00pm. I got lost on the way there because I still hadn’t figured out the DC Metro system. I was late. I thought I’d blown it. I thought I’d have to go crawling back to the District Court. But then they called to offer me the job at 5:00pm that same day. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Thank you Idealist.org for connecting me with my perfect nonprofit job. It started me on a path to even more connections and even more opportunities to contribute to my community through nonprofit work. That’s why I opened my wallet and made a donation this morning. If not for the great folks that put the Idealist website together, that maintain the content, that run the organization – those career connections could not have happened for me. I know that many of you have similar stories. And I hope you will share them in the comments!

In the meantime, here are several reasons why you should open your wallet and donate, too:

If you’ve ever found a nonprofit opportunity through Idealist – job, volunteer, board: http://www.idealist.org/donate

If you’re currently looking for a nonprofit job: http://www.idealist.org/donate

If your organization has hired or plans to hire an awesome new nonprofit employee: http://www.idealist.org/donate

If you can’t imagine who or what could possibly take the place of Idealist: http://www.idealist.org/donate

Please also share Ami Dar’s note below with your friends, especially all of your friends who have benefited from this amazing organization. This is one of those times where we may only have one chance to help save one of the cornerstones of the nonprofit sector. When I talk to young people, they always mention Idealist.org as the way they connected to the nonprofit field. And we desperately need these new leaders to continue coming into our organizations and breathing new life into the work of social change. We can’t let Idealist go down like this. We need them. And now, they need us.

*****
Dear Friend,

You know how sometimes in life you go through a bad moment, and when
your friends hear about it later, they say, “Why didn’t you say
something? Why didn’t you ask? We would have helped.”

That’s where Idealist is now, and I am writing to ask for your help.

Very briefly, here’s what happened. Over the past ten years, most of
our funding has come from the small fees we charge organizations for
posting their jobs on Idealist. By September 2008, after years of
steady growth, these little drops were covering 70% of our budget.

Then, in October of that year, the financial crisis exploded, many
organizations understandably froze their hiring, and from one week to
the next our earned income was cut almost in half, leaving us with a
hole of more than $100,000 each month.

That was 16 months ago, and since then we’ve survived on faith and
fumes, by cutting expenses, and by getting a few large gifts from new
and old friends. But now we are about to hit a wall, and this is why I
am reaching out to you.

If over the past 15 years Idealist has helped you or a friend find a
job, an internship or a volunteer opportunity; connect with a person,
an idea or a resource; or just feel inspired for a moment, now we need
your help. I wouldn’t be asking, and not like this, if this were not a
critical time.

There are two ways you can help. First, if you can, please make a
donation at:

http://www.idealist.org/donate

Some people in this community are not in a position to contribute
right now, so if you are, please give as generously as you can. Thank you!

Second, please spread the word about this appeal by sharing this
message with friends and colleagues who may have benefited from
Idealist over the years. Since 1995 Idealist has touched hundreds of
thousands of lives. If in the next week or two we can reach everyone
who’d give us a hand if they knew we are in trouble, I believe we’ll
come out of this crisis even stronger than before.

I believe this because while this has been a tough stretch, I’ve never
been more optimistic about the future. The content on Idealist has
never been richer, our traffic is surging, we are building a whole new
Idealist.org that will be released later this year, and the potential
for connecting people, ideas, and resources around the world has never
been more urgent or more exciting.

Your contribution will allow us to maintain all our services
(summarized below), and it will also give us some time to diversify
our funding. Being able to breathe, recover, and plan ahead for a few
months will be an incredible blessing.

Thanks so much for your support. Idealist has always been a
community-driven site, and we can’t do this work without you.

Thank you!

Ami Dar
Executive Director
http://www.idealist.org/donate

Filed Under: Career Advice, Philanthropy · Tagged With: Idealist.org, nonprofit career advice, nonprofit careers