Posted 9/29/21
I have been very happy overall with the decision to make a career move to the nonprofit sector, although it did come with some unexpected bumps in the road. In preparation for this career move, I enrolled in a certification class for nonprofit management through a local community college, to help identify the differences I could expect upon moving from the for-profit to the nonprofit.
Having some prior understanding of nonprofits through volunteer roles, I still wondered how they operated internally. In the class, students were presented with a variety of roles and responsibilities of the nonprofit, including operations, bookkeeping, event management, fundraising, leadership strategies, marketing, human resources, volunteer management, general legalities, and more. While very comprehensive, I still found myself thinking “How is this different from the for-profit world?” It seemed quite similar. Then came the career move. (My example happens to be fundraising).
The transition went well beginning in a larger organization (The United Way), but what tripped me up was moving from a fundraising position in a larger nonprofit organization to an advanced position as Development Director in a smaller agency (often the only staff member in fundraising). The problem I encountered was that the Executive Directors to whom I reported had limited fundraising experience. (This is no criticism of them, only to show that it does occur). I had been aware of literature discussing this very point that a large number of executive directors were promoted directly from the program side, and not development. Because of their extensive program experience, they paid laser-focused attention on delivering the mission and placing the clients first, which was a significant reason for my accepting the job offer in the first place. The challenge was trying to implement a fundraising program under the direction of a leader who was not completely familiar with raising revenue.
I bring this up to alert those looking to move to the nonprofit, particularly fundraising, to ask about the experience of the leader in the job interview, especially in smaller organizations. Not only that, but I would also recommend asking about the fundraising philosophy of any leader, regardless of the fundraising background, to identify a potential fit with your own. My mistake, coming from a more entrepreneurial background, was to assume that I would be hired to take the ball and run with it, accustom to working alone on projects, and not bothering leaders with my responsibilities. Unfortunately introducing new strategies and techniques could also be unfamiliar to a leader without fundraising experience. The goal of this blog is to assist with the move to the nonprofit, and in this case, I would make sure to identify the expectations of an inexperienced fundraising leader in the interview, and most importantly, ensure that you maintain good communication so that you both are on the same page. That was probably my biggest mistake. I was ready to take the ball, and while I did well with my numbers, I did not do enough to communicate my strategies and keep my supervisor posted in order to build the confidence of the leader and strengthen the partnership.
To conclude, when beginning or even progressing as a fundraiser in the nonprofit, be sure to ask about prior fundraising experience as well as philosophy and expectations of your potential supervisor in order to ensure a good fit with your values and strategies, thus building a good working relationship and effective plan. Lesson learned.