Why on earth would you want a nonprofit job?
Why at the ends of the earth would you want a nonprofit job?
Well, even if things look dire, did you know that 1 in 10 people in America work for a nonprofit? It’s true. Usually in the healthcare or education fields, 
but still. Nonprofits are a $1 TRILLION Dollar industry, and if all were organized together, they would be one of the nation’s largest industries. And it’s growing. From 2005 to 2010, the number of nonprofits in the US grew from 1 million to 1.3 million. (Source: Philanthropy Reports).
It may seem like the end of the world, with teacher layoffs, state budgets getting cut, unemployment running out, and more, but nonprofits are a place where you can go to find a job. And as you can see from this chart, people keep giving to nonprofits even through recessions. (Source: Philanthropy Reports)
Even as budgets are getting cut, the nonprofit sector has a tremendous opportunity now that the government is moving away from providing social
services. People who are interested in starting their own social service nonprofits could be in a good position to make money and help others in the next ten years.
But even if you don’t want to start a nonprofit, the field itself is broad enough so that no matter what skillset you have, you can find work within it. You don’t have to be a doctor, nurse or teacher. For example,
If you’ve been in sales and marketing, if you can write, if you like to talk to people, you can help nonprofits raise money as a development professional. Nonprofit development professionals are always in demand, even more so than other positions. If you’d like more information on how to be a nonprofit development professional, you can read my blog, or buy my book, which is a fun, hip, interactive and graphically rich guide to fundraising for the cause you care about.
If you enjoy managing people, nonprofits hired over 60% of middle managers from outside their organizations last year. (Source: http://nonprofithr.com).
If you have basic data entry skills, nonprofits are always looking for data entry specialists, administrative assistants, receptionists, and more.
If you are an HR professional, a web programmer, a graphic designer, an accountant, or even a plumber, you can find a place in a nonprofit. How do you take your skills and core competencies and translate these into a nonprofit job? Check out this worksheet from the Center for Nonprofit Organizations at Austin Community College.
If you’d like to read more about the Texas Nonprofit Sector, I’ve got a blog post with the latest stats here.
How much do jobs at nonprofits pay? You can research this for each nonprofit that you look at. Go to Guidestar.org. Go to the nonprofit’s 990 form. You can see if they have made more money for the last several years, or if they are in the red instead of the black. You can see how much their chief executive makes. You can extrapolate from this what your salary range will be.
A job at a nonprofit can be rewarding, fulfilling, and fun, if you work for a cause that you care about, and have a good team working with you. If you’re not having luck getting hired in your current field, think about transitioning to the nonprofit sector. You might just get a job that you love!
Guest post by Mazarine Treyz, Author of The Wild Woman’s Guide to Fundraising, Speaker, Consultant
Mazarine helps jobseekers transition into the nonprofit sector. She wrote a book called The Wild Woman’s Guide to Fundraising. Ms. Treyz helps people get money for the causes they care about, and has raised $1M over the last 3 years for different nonprofit causes. At TreyzSocialMedia, she helps businesses and people with their online reputations. Email her at info@wildwomanfundraising.com.
@wildwomanfund
WildWomanFundraising.com