How does a person get a job with a charity organization

In My Humble Opinion
1

I was just reading an article about job satisfaction and I read about a woman who quit her high paying job to become an administrator at a non-profit org that tries to provide healthcare to the third world. This type of job sounds really good to me. Naturally I don’t know all the ins and out of her particular job (the stress levels, the workload, how boring or overwhelming it is, the coworkers or other factors like these that go into job satisfaction), but this type of career path seems like something I should look into more seriously.

So how does a person get a job working for a charity that helps the third world, what are the qualifications and what types of jobs are there? For the last year I have been seriously considering joining the peace corps when I graduate with my BS in chemistry. I assume/hope that having that on my record will make me more desirable as a candidate should I ever decide to work at a charity. Also I qualify for work study right now and I have applied to jobs at several charities. Didn’t get any but I assume that sooner or later if I do that that will make me look more desirable too.

Are there any masters programs I should/can look at that will train me to work for a charity that tries to provide things like healthcare, infrastructure and whatnot to the third world?

2

It’s certainly admirable that you want to make the world a better place. Most charitable organizations look for volunteers, however they do pay administrators from time to time. My mother spent most of her life volunteering for this or that, she has spent the past six years as the director of a shelter for battered women, a paying job. Several times a week I tutor people that want to get their GED, I find it rewarding to help people get what they need to keep their job or even get a job. The number of people with poor basic skills where I live is appalling, the third world is between Hampton and Orangeburg.

The Peace Corp, helping the third world, all that looks exciting, but I would be willing to bet that if you really wanted to help someone, you could walk to them, be a volunteer now, see if you like it. I’m curious, have you ever gotten you hands dirty?

3

Well, strictly to answer the question and not the spirit of the OP, I am wokring for a not-for-profit. We raise money to further research into why preemie babies are born, how to make them stay to term, and to further education so people know preemie babies are not a good thing. You wouldn’t believe how many people think it’s better because it’s an easier birth - until their baby spends 6 or 8 weeks in the NICU and maybe doesn’t make it.

Ahem. :steps off high horse: Anyway, I temped here originally and then got the job. I am the AA

4

Another non-profit here.

As for how I got the job, it was advertised, I applied, went through the interview process and got hired. Same as any other paying job. We had a volunteer board member who was hired full-time after her term expired.

The skills this job calls for are exactly the same as I used in the for-profit sector. I could say the same thing for our executive director, who is essentially a CEO, our business administrator and our two administrative assistants. The program staff does have a unique skill set, though.

I agree about getting your hands dirty first – the non-profit field has a notoriously high burnout factor, as people figure out they’re working 80 hour weeks and getting much less of what they could make in the for-profit world. Find a homeless shelter, a nursing home, an AIDS hospice, a food bank or any of 20 other community-based charity, volunteer some free time and see where it goes.

Elenia I was talking to the director of my state’s school nurse program, and she said even some of the nurses can’t understand what all the fuss over small babies is all about. After all, small babies + easy pregnancy, right? I was astonished because this is a predominantly rural state, and if there’s one thing country folks always knew, it was that a bigger baby is a stronger baby.

5

I’m currently finishing up a Master’s in Public Affairs, with a Concentration in Non-Profit Management. Most universities with such a program will call it a Master’s in Public Administration. They’re becoming more and more competitive, as non-profit organizations are demanding more and more education, experience and developed skill sets to compete for jobs in the field. If you have any specific questions, feel free to e-mail me.

The turnover rate is incredibly deceiving. The most important factor in determining how long you’re going to stay at a particular organization is how much you identify and enjoy that particular organization’s mission and purpose. A pro-life person isn’t going to last very long working for Planned Parenthood. An environmental advocate won’t be at the NRA very long. Those who find an organization that they identify with and enjoy are going to be there for a very long time.

6

Yeah I was worried about burnout, so I want to try the peace corps and do small time charity work before I decide on this path. Maybe it’d just be better being a full time chemist and doing 10 hours a week or so of volunteer work for a charity.

7

Also, when applying for such a job, don’t refer to it as “charity work” or a “charity”. They are non-profit organizations - “charity” is too loaded of a word and it will be obvious you didn’t do any homework. Also, volunteer work, despite being volunteer, is a commitment. Too many people feel way too comfortable deciding at the last minute to be no-shows. That’s your perrogative, but it really doesn’t help your chances in the future with the organization (or other organizations that might want to use the experience for references).

8

There are lots of jobs in the non-profit field. Development Directors (people who go out and find the money and sweet talk the high donors) actually earn quite a bit of money. And CFO’s and CEO’s in non-profits earn sinful amounts of money.

So be careful of which non-profit. Quite a few are slime. You have little old ladies donate a portion of their Social Security checks, yet you have yahoos in the organization who rent limos to go to parties…can make you sick to see some of the financial abuse.

I know…“it takes money to make money”…but you will get an eyeful when you work in the belly of some of those non-profit beasts. Plus, you start fighting to get the ever dwindling funds…"don’t donate to breast cancer, donate to us instead!’ and it makes you feel even worse.

There is a lot of burn out in the professional world of non-profit. That fine line between doing going work for a good cause, and rationalizing your salary increase is one of the first hurdles.

I think volunteers are the unsung heros of every non-profit, but often even these people are treated poorly.

I admire your idealism…and pardon the cynic in me. I just want to make sure you see the ugly underbelly of many of these organizations before you dive headfirst into the game.

9

I forgot to mention:

If anyone reading this writes a check for a charitable organization, write in the memo part of the check - “For Research Only” or “For Food Only” or “Not For Administrative Costs”. By law, the organization must use the money as stipulated and you don’t have to worry about your money being used to finance a flight by the CEO to Hawaii to meet a donor for a golf game.

10

Are you sure about this? I guess I just don’t consider the memo portion of a check legally binding. Got a cite for that - I’m extremely curious now.

11

If you have a specific skill to offer, like nutritional adviser, water/sanitation engineer, accountant, manager, administrator, fundraiser, all you have to do is watch for the right vacancy to come up. If your skill is not defined, consider retraining in a field that is needed, and volunteer at a local branch of a third world development organisation for the time being.

My experience: I was a journalist of sorts in my early/mid 20s, and fell into voluntary work with a major UK international development organisation, when really the only skill I thought I could offer was translating documents from Spanish into English. My writing skills and travel experience in Latin America and the Middle East were enough for them to consider me as a junior fundraiser, after having tried and failed for a job in the press office. I worked in fundraising for three years and then moved to the Latin America/Caribbean section as a Communications Officer. I have to admit this was my dream job. Lots of travel, meeting amazing people, and seeing sides of life that one normally wouldn’t. Immensely satisfying.

It can be stressful, especially at times of emergencies, like Hurricane Mitch, and traumatic if you are in the thick of such an event, close to the suffering and destruction. It is definitely more compatible with a commitment-free lifestyle. I used to think nothing of upping and travelling to any place at short notice, but now as a mother I find it agonising at times: not just going to dangerous places but the enforced separation from my son and husband.

This eventually led to my willing exile in the Caribbean, based in Santo Domingo but now working in Haiti.

Peace Corps or other voluntary agencies posting people overseas is also an excellent starting point. These days they do expect people to have a specific skill that they can share, though. Idealism and enthusiasm alone is not enough. (I’m not saying this is the case with you, Wesley, but you don’t give that much information about your skills for me to judge either way).

Usually, the pay is about a third of what one would get for the equivalent job in the private sector, so if you want big money, look elsewhere, or try the UN. :stuck_out_tongue:

Good luck!

12

I’m currently a refugee from the non-profit world, having just fled back into academia. Working for non-profits can be incredibly fulfilling, but you need to go into it with your eyes open. My experience is with small organizations, so much of it may not apply in a larger non-profit.

Most of the people who donate to a non-profit or charity want their money to go straight to the cause, not to frills like equipment or your salary. As others have said, you can expect to make less than in the private sector. You can also expect to work with old, broken-down computers, old, broken-down fax machines, old, broken-down copiers, etc. It sounds stupid, but it’s very demoralizing when the copier breaks for the third time this week and there aren’t funds in the budget to replace it.

In my experience, lots of non-profits operate on the assumption that you are not personally responsible for supporting a family. Most people I know who work in non-profits have a spouse/partner who works in a better-paying field. This especially true if the couple has children. At my last job, the organization didn’t provide any kind of health insurance. This was not a problem for the other two employees who were covered under their spouse’s plan. It was a problem for me, since my husband also works for a non-profit. Similarly, there was no retirement plan. Working for a good cause is great, but so is having employer-subsidized insurance. At the end of the day, zeal won’t pay your electric bill

Also, many non-profits are run by a board of trustees who are responsible for setting goals. Staff is responsible for implementing goals. Ideally, the board trusts the executive director to hire good people and let them do their job. In reality, board members, who may have no experience in the field whatsoever, often feel that they know better than you how to do your job. In a previous job, I had one board member call me and demand to know why we sent out an educational kit in a particular kind of packaging. My explanation, based on what the teachers who used the kit said they wanted, didn’t satisfy her. Another board member called the office to complain about the colors used on the letterhead. This kind of nitpicking can be extremely frustrating, especially when you’re trying to do a difficult job on a shoestring budget.

Good luck with whatever you decide! There are a lot of wonderful non-profits out there doing a lot of great work, but it’s not an easy calling.

13

Wesley, if you’re interested in exploring the non-profit field, I can’t recommend Americorps NCCC highly enough if you’re within the age range. NCCC doesn’t require years of experience or highly specialized skills, they just need you to be ready, willing, and focused on helping people and communities all across the US. You may be tutoring children at an inner-city school in Baltimore, fighting forest fires in California, or building Habitat houses in Alabama. During my year with Americorps, I’ve worked with the following organizations (this is nowhere near a complete list, btw):

Red Cross (food banks and Florida Disaster Relief)
Operation GIVE (donations for Iraq)
US Forests and Parks service (blazing trails through Delaware)
Baltimore CASH campaign (free tax prep for low-income families)
KaBOOM! (building playgrounds for kids)

In addition, NCCC is a great way to build relationships with organizations you’d like to work with, such as Peace Corps or the International Partnership for Service-Learning (IPSL).

14

I worked for a huge non-profit for many years and they hated when people would write specifics on the memo portion of the check. When audited, they had to ensure those funds went where they were directed.

Granted, it was easy enough to pull from one donation to make up for another, but at least the person who wrote a check for $25.00 for research only could be certain their $25 went directly for that purpose.

I was told it was a Federal Law and just assumed it to be true, as they would not have jumped through the hoops for those checks if it were not the case. But I do not have a cite.

I even remember one time they went to a large donor and specifically asked for a donation for administrative purposes when they wanted to move their offices to a different location. The donor gave them the money to do so.

15

I volunteered for my organization for a couple of years when my direct supervisor quit to go someplace else. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time and slid into her spot.

The non-profit I work for has some strict guidelines on donated dollars, too, although it annoys some people. There was a case a few years ago where a family was burned out of their home and a man came in with a $1000 check he wanted to donated directly to that family. We couldn’t take it, of course, unless he changed that to “general disaster relief” or something like that. We told him to give it directly to the family, he got mad, stormed out, probably badmouthed us to all his friends and neighbors… Bad scene, but them’s the rules.

I dislike DMark’s suggestion (no offense). Legitimate charities are stingy with donated dollars the way it is. If everyone followed that suggestion no one would be able to pay rent, the light bill, or buy copier paper, let alone replace that 33mHz 4GB computer. Not that we can afford to replace it, anyhow, but maybe someday… :frowning:

16

Actually, check out all of the Americorps branches. I was an Americorps National Direct. I applied directly to the program I wanted to work for, Chesapeake Habitat for Humanity, and served my 1700 hours. I was hired as an Assistant Construction Manager after my term was up and I couldn’t be happier.

The big advantage of Americorps, in all of it’s variants, is it’s relatively shorter committment, (1 year as opposed to 2 for Peace Corps) and it’s easier to get in to. Peace Corps usually requires specific skills, such as teaching, medicine or construction to join. Just a college degree doesn’t cut it.

A follow up question: How much volunteer work have you done? It’s a great way to get a taste for it and do some good at the same time.

Good luck,

tdc

17

I understand your concern, but I doubt that a few thousand dopers (at VERY most) following through on the idea would make serious inroads into the coffers of the nation’s non-profits. All that would happen would be that the donations of other people would be used to cover the other expenses. There’s no way that “everyone” would follow suit.

I’m one of the many who are still pissed off about the whole 9-11 Red Cross fund.

18

In your experience maybe, not mine.

Where I work, nobody – not the development director, not the executive director, not the person whose given 15 years of her life, makes as much as $60,000 a year. They’re making less than public school teachers with the same degree and experience.

And my executive director has never been to Hawaii, period.

19

Check out www.Idealist.org for info about jobs/volunteer opportunities.

20

Having seen some of these very sick, miserable little babies, I am saddened to say I know better.

Something we always tell people is - A man’s wedding ring can fit around these babies’ leg.

Let’s just say it loud and clear: Whoever you are, you want your baby to gestate for the full 36 weeks if possible. If it goes a couple of days older, so much the better. That baby needs your body’s care and attention as long as it possibly can.

Only ten years ago - even five years ago, babies born before 26 weeks had no hope of living. Now we can save some of them, but at great cost to the babies’ health throughout their lives.

I could go on for pages on this, but preemie babies are not a good thing. Check out www marchofdimes com for more information.