Are Nonprofits Right for Me?

Are nonprofits right for me?

If you want to make positive change in the world and are the happiest when you feel like you are making an impact, a nonprofit job may be for you. Furthermore, nonprofits need people from all kinds of backgrounds and skill sets, so there is a place for everyone whether you enjoy work in tech, business, research or anything else. Because of the smaller budgets of nonprofits, nonprofits generally rely on a smaller team to do a variety of tasks rather than on a large staff with specialized roles. Thus, for people who want to have a variety of experiences and responsibilities, nonprofit positions are great! However, this also means that people in nonprofits must be adept at multitasking and wearing “many hats.” Another benefit to the smaller team size is that entry level hires are given more responsibility and more agency over various projects.

“If you’re motivated by equity, or justice, or fairness, or service, I think that you do get a lot more satisfaction from your job doing nonprofit work, doing government work than you would in the private sector. It’s about what makes you happy, what makes you satisfied in your job.”

- FUEL Associate for Robin Hood, Class of 2020

Nonprofits also tend to be fast-paced and ever changing to adapt to various external factors. Thus, your job description will likely be changing from the day to day and you may end with some surprising tasks that you didn’t expect. Furthermore, hours can be fluid and irregular, so working for a nonprofit requires someone who is flexible and highly adaptable. I

“Taking a risk and going into public service is one that should be taken seriously, because, although, it does not look as attractive, five years down the road you can be further than in any other job you could have had. It is a risk, but for Harvard students it’s more likely to work out. You’ll have a much greater impact on the world than in any other field. Take the risk!”

-Democracy Fellow, Government Accountability Project, Harvard ‘20

“If you want to join a nonprofit/public service sector, you need 4 things: to realize your passion, develop subject matter expertise, pitch yourself as an expert to the non profit, demonstrate that you are proactive and that you have the hustle needed to contribute to the organization.”

--Democracy Fellow, Government Accountability Project, Harvard ‘20

Overall however, nonprofits are incredibly varied work environments. What is true for one nonprofit may not hold true for another. Thus when conducting your job search, try to find people who work at different organizations to give you a better idea of the work environments.

“Serving with the Peace Corps was incredible; it was one of the best experiences of my life and was really transformative for me.”

- Former Peace Corps Volunteer, Co-Founder of Teach for Paraguay and Poughkeepsie Children’s Cabinet, Director of Student Programs at the IOP, Class of 2009

The Skills/Traits Required

Passion & Enthusiasm

Nonprofits are organizations with very strong missions and goals, so if you are to work for one, it is highly beneficial to be very passionate yourself about those goals. It will help to make your work experience more rewarding. Furthermore, it can motivate you to take more initiative in your work and nonprofits want to hire people who truly want to make their organization better. Nonprofits want hires that can translate passion into action.

“Nonprofits are trying to find people who are aligned with their mission, because that will make a huge impact on how good of an employee you are when you eventually work for them...So, when you prepare for an interview with a nonprofit, the most important thing is to know their mission inside and out and be able to speak about what parts of you as a person are connected to what they’re trying to do mission wise.”

- FUEL Associate for Robin Hood , Class of 2020

“To thrive in the public sector, you need three things. You need passion, need to be proactive, and you need to be a risk taker.”

--Democracy Fellow, Government Accountability Project, Harvard ‘20

“You need a willingness to take risks, as most other careers are resume worthy, safe paths. There are no guarantees in public service!”

--Democracy Fellow, Government Accountability Project, Harvard ‘20

Communication Skills & Ability to Teamwork

Every staff member is a representative for that organization so nonprofits want to hire people who can clearly convey the mission of the organization and inspire others towards that goal. Furthermore, many organizations spend a lot of their time competing for funding and resources for grant giving institutions, and Patty Hampton, vice president of Nonprofit HR cites written communication as an important hard skill as this skill is needed in writing grant proposals.

Nonprofits are also often dedicated to crafting a diverse staff, and employees need to be able to work well with such dynamic teams.

Flexibility & Creativity

Nonprofit work flows and schedules can be incredibly variable and even if you are hired into a specific role, you may be expected to do many tasks outside of that strict job description. Thus flexibility and adaptability is key.

Charity recruiters are also on the lookout for the ability to “think outside of the box.” Especially as donations and events transfer to digital platforms, nonprofits need to be able to adapt in creative ways to continue providing high quality services.

The ‘hard skills’

Like corporate positions, the “hard skills” are also incredibly important from tech skills to design skills. Furthermore, like in many other industries, data is becoming more and more important, and nonprofits need people who can effectively analyze and use this data to improve operations. Sources: (Rehmova, “What Top Nonprofits Look for in Job Applicants”)

“There are many different nonprofits out there with many different cultures so I would be hard pressed to speak for the nonprofit sector. It’s very nuanced and every organization has its own approach in selecting candidates. However, the important traits and skills that come to me right now are passion, experience, humility, and ambition.”

“One important thing in the nonprofit world is this idea that Bryan Stevenson talks about of being proximate. If you haven’t already been exposed to the reality on the ground of the communities that you’re interested in serving, I think that’s the foundation; you need to be proximate, be immersed, learn, listen. You have to follow before you can ever lead. It’s cliche but I really think it’s true. So take the time to learn and to have these kinds of transformational experiences that give you insights and understanding into the problems in our systems, into structural injustices along race, gender, LGBTQ and all the different types of diversity that might exist in society.”

- Former Peace Corps Volunteer, Co-Founder of Teach for Paraguay and Poughkeepsie Children’s Cabinet, Director of Student Programs at the IOP, Class of 2009