AND there are surprisingly intricate things you can do to make stuffing envelops much faster and more efficient. Like opening envelopes very rapidly in a process that looks a lot like shuffling a deck of cards. Or folding the paper inserts in groups rather than one at a time.
Well, ok, pretty much only those two things, but still, they are tricks that will genuinely impress people who don’t know them, and a LOT of people don’t know them.
Well, this is an emotionally painful subject. The ‘‘might’’ move is bordering on certainty. The only reason it’s not certain is that we thought it was certain last year, too, and my husband didn’t get an internship, shocking everyone (They only have enough space for 2/3 of applicants but he had more interviews than anyone else in his cohort and was being touted as the internship success story until he was rejected.) This is the 3rd year he’s applying. If fate really decides to be that cruel, I don’t know what’s going to happen. We’re trying to think positively but after last year’s let down it’s clear we really can’t count on anything.
This is too true! Stuffing envelopes is sort of an understatement. A lot of it is going to be maintaining the status quo, processing donations, maintaining the database, sending out pre-written thank you notes, stuff that is pretty routine.
Which is exactly why you should seek a permanent position in your field. Feelings aside, it is the best thing economically for you and your spouse that you develop yourself professionally. If he gets a position in another city, great! As Manda JO said, you are not hurting anyone by leaving a job where you were compensated for real work done, and you will have a much better-looking resume to search for work in your new city. If he doesn’t, then you are already positioned to be the breadwinner for your family.
I sit on the boards of several non-profits and have been involved in hiring CEOs. Believe me when I say that you may literally be the only person on the planet who feels guilty about maybe possibly inconveniencing them. Everyone else treats it like what it is–a regular job, in exchange for a paycheck. All viable non-profits can handle filling a vacancy.
If this is much closer to home and better money than your last position you would be insane not to take it. You will meet people in your industry who could become excellent contacts and bring in a decent paycheck while you figure out what your next steps are going to be.
I’m not sure what your background is, or level of experience prior to grad school was, but that stuff is absolutely essential. We’d be sunk without our database administrator (who does all the gift processing and database maintaining). Knowing the ins and outs of that job (from previous jobs, as well as filling in on tasks when he’s on leave) makes me a better fundraiser. If you ever get asked about this job in a future interview, you can very easily spin it as a huge asset to your resume and skillset.
Underline mine: let’s say you’re doing the lowest level of maintenance, data entry. Considering that every time I get a new contract with anybody, including companies which already had me on file (and given how often I move, that’s very often), I need to call time and again to have my name written correctly, and that usually nonprofits simply don’t seem to see the point in fixing such things (they stop getting my money after the third attempt since, unlike electricity and water, I can make do without them)… the people who do data entry correctly are very much needed.
My first paid job was as a receptionist. Thanks to that job, I know how to change toner without causing tornadoes of black dust. My current team is the second one in 12+ years as an IT-ish consultant where I’m not the only person who knows how to change the toner or use a scanner 
Absolutely it is essential, and I’m certainly not intending to disparage the position or anyone who does it. It’s just that, at my last job, I had a ton of creative control. Because it was a very small non-profit, I was the only development person on staff. It was literally me and the Executive Director calling the shots. I created and maintained the database, I was a major part of strategic planning, and I was the lead writer on all grants, letters of inquiry, reports, etc. Out of all those tasks, processing donations was my least favorite part. So this temp job will almost entirely consist of my least favorite part of development work, and I won’t even get to have the fun of tweaking it to improve its efficiency.
One way in which I think I could grow is just that their database is so massive compared to the one I maintained, it might be a completely different experience. So I am trying to be open-minded to that, the reality is that managing such an enormous database may require a completely different skillset than I developed at my old job - and it might be more fun! If that is in fact the case, then that would be very useful.
The other reason I think it would be good is that they use a particular database that is extremely common in the industry (Raiser’s Edge), but I don’t yet have any experience with that specific database. Being able to put that on my resume would be a huge plus.
I’m jealous; I love working with big, complicated databases. 
Don’t assume you won’t get to tweak, either - some companies are open to good ideas from any source, including temps. Not all, of course, but some.