Tuesday | May 22, 2012
How to Make Decent Money Working in the Non-Profit Sector
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By
YOUNG MONEY Staff
7 January 2011
Written by Ellen Berry
Do you wish you could walk away from your dollar-driven job and do something meaningful instead? Are you happiest when making a difference, but concerned about how you'd pay the bills if you worked for a non-profit? Well, working for charities doesn't always mean working for charity. In fact, there are many organizations that are run just like companies, and pay reasonable salaries.
The biggest difference between for-profit companies and nonprofit organizations, other than the bottom line, is where the money comes from. Fundraising for contributions from individuals and corporations is a primary means of bringing in money for non-profits, but many also rely on government and private grants. Funds awarded as a grant are usually intended for specific uses such as the purchase of technology, the construction of a building, marketing, or paid positions for staff.
Depending on their budget, charities may hire for the same roles as for-profit companies including full, part-time, and shared employment, paid internships, and temporary staff. In addition to paid staff, they may hire consultants for long-term or short-term projects - especially if those projects are not mission-critical. Examples are human resources and legal and payroll services.
Skills of Value to Nonprofits
When you're trying to figure out where you might fit into a nonprofit, look first at positions for which grants are commonly written. These are most often operations positions like facilities management, finance, data analysis, fundraising, and sometimes IT. Or they may be for specific services related to the organization's mission. For example, an environmental education program might hire a coordinator for their community workshops, or a free clinic might hire a medical records clerk. These positions are more likely to be funded, and less likely to be dissolved in lean times.
Wearing multiple hats is common in non-profits, therefore you can amp up your employability by having skills that would apply to more than one mission-critical department, such as writing, administration, customer service, training, project management, data analysis and reporting, or supervisory experience. On your resume, be sure to include examples of how you've saved your previous employers money, found creative ways to get things done with limited resources, or pitched in to help on projects that weren't your primary responsibility.
If you would like to work in direct service - caring for people, animals, the environment, etc. - providing examples of situations where you demonstrated emotional strength, compassion, leadership, and commitment will be highly valued by potential employers.
Tips for Finding a Nonprofit that has the Money to Pay You
Online recruiting - Responding to a job opportunity posted online shows that the organization has staff that are at least moderately tech savvy and are familiar with recruiting practices. It is more likely that such an organization has a more sizeable working budget. Word-of-mouth opportunities don't provide you with this insight.
Job description - Compare published job descriptions to other similar jobs. If the title and wording are relatively standard, it is likely that the organization is making an effort to pay a competitive wage.
Advertising - Look for information about organizations in the news, which shows that they most likely have a public relations staff. Nonprofits often schedule awareness-raising or fundraising events and add them to community calendars on TV news programs, news websites, and in magazines and newspapers. Better yet, look for placed ads in magazines and newspapers - signs that they have funds for marketing and therefore may have money to pay other positions.
Fiscal responsibility - Sites like Charity Navigator monitor organizations for fiscal responsibility and other measures of quality. Any organization that is not favored by a leading watchdog site should be approached with extra caution.
Statistics - For the most part, organizations that publish frequent statistics about how many people they're helping, how many people they employ, and how much money they're raising are being held accountable by funding from grants and foundations, therefore they are more likely to have the money to hire you.
- Volunteer for a day - Still not sure if working at a nonprofit would be the right fit for you? Choose a couple that appeal most to you, check out their reputation and fiscal responsibility, and then contact the HR department to ask for an opportunity to volunteer for a day so that you can get an inside view of what it's like to work for them. In most cases, they'll be glad that you're interested, and more than willing to accept your help.
Ellen Berry writes about topics related to jobs and careers for BrainTrack. She has contributed a great deal of content to BrainTrack's Career Planning Guide.
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