- Bridgespan Group

For talented business professionals, there is no better time to join a nonprofit. The sector is growing like crazy and there is an overwhelming need for leadership and functional talent.

Job growth in the sector is 80% higher than the overall economy (DLS), but more importantly, many of these new jobs provide opportunities to tackle new challenges that will stretch your skills and imagination.

This is the golden age of the nonprofit sector. A confluence of societal trends has had a major impact on the sector that is reshaping the way nonprofits work and their role in society.

• Shrinking Government Role
  In the past twenty years, the nonprofit sector has undergone a major transformation. With government budgets in the red across the board and increased concern about the government's ability to effectively provide social services, we are turning to nonprofits to play a much bigger role in our society.
  
  
• Technology
  Nonprofits are able to do things today that they couldn’t dream of a decade ago. Technology and the internet have led to major changes in the way we work, communicate ideas and leverage data to make decisions. The impact of these changes is just starting to be seen in the nonprofit sector.
  
  
• Globalization
  Political, cultural and economic globalization has also been a catalyst for globalization in the nonprofit sector. Nonprofits are seeing many of the issues we face at home as being tied to global issues and are also seeing the need for the nonprofit sector in the United States to play a role in creating a strong third sector around the world.
  
  
• Corporate Social Responsibility
  In the last five years, companies have begun to embrace their responsibility for addressing their social and environmental impact. This creates tremendous opportunity for nonprofits to partner with companies to make changes on a scale that were considered impossible ten years ago.

Do you have the right skills to be one of the 640,000 new senior managers needed in the nonprofit sector?

Most successful transitions have been in three areas:

• Resource Development
  While these organizations are “nonprofit" they have to pay the bills and need to raise funds to run their programs. There is a real shortage of good fundraising talent in the nonprofit sector.
  
  Depending on the fundraising model of a nonprofit, the fundraising roles and competencies vary greatly. For nonprofits who receive most of their funding from institutions (foundations, companies and government) a background in enterprise sales is the most relevant and similar. This is probably the most common need. Some nonprofits rely heavily on individual donations and events. For these organizations, backgrounds in direct mail, event planning/sponsorship and private banking are typically the best fit and more relevant.
  
  You can look up the fundraising sources of a nonprofit on guidestar.org to understand where they are getting their funding.
  
  
• Operational Management
  There are a lot of moving pieces in a nonprofit. Executive directors spend the majority of their time out in the community building alliances and need leadership in the office to run the show.
  
  These roles have a lot of different titles, but they tend to include responsibilities around planning, human resources and financial management. It is the equivalent of a COO.
  
  Financial managers and strong operations managers tend to thrive in these roles. They require strong analytical and people skills. Given resource constraints, they also require a lot of creativity and flexibility.
  
  
• Functional Managers
  With larger nonprofits who have a large enough staff to have functional experts on their team, there are a number of additional opportunities. These nonprofits are able to hire someone to run areas like human resources, marketing, finance and technology.
  
  Making the transition into one of these functional roles can be seamless. We do hear stories, however, of professionals who have struggled with the new role and report frustrations around the lack of resources to execute strategies, the fact that they are not seen as core to the organization’s planning, and the feeling of isolation.

Nonprofits posts jobs on all the standard job boards plus a couple of sites dedicated to the nonprofit sector including idealist.org and Opportunity Knocks. These are good places to do passive searching and to get a feel for positions in the market.

For a more proactive search, we suggest that you explore the job openings at nonprofits that have the track record of hiring business professionals, are growing quickly and have cultures that will be most aligned with your expectations.

You can find lists of these organizations on a few websites including Fast Company, Draper Richards Foundation, Ashoka, Blue Ridge Foundation, New Profit and Social Enterprise Alliance.

You can also look for organizations that have shown an interest in working with business professionals by exploring our grantee list.

There are a number of nonprofit executive search firms that specialize in placing business professionals in nonprofit organizations including: Bridgestar, CommonGood Careers, 360 Group.

Nonprofit hiring managers are taking a risk hiring someone from the business world. These risks include skill set fit, compensation/lifestyle sustainability, and cultural fit. In your resume and cover letter, you need to address these concerns head on.

It is critical that you write a cover letter and that it is highly customized to the nonprofit and role. The letter should articulate how your skills and accomplishments are related to the responsibilities of the role, describe why you are interested in this nonprofit vs. the thousands of others, and show that you have given serious thought to what the transition will mean for your career and lifestyle.

Your resume should highlight relevant skills and accomplishments and highlight any work you have done (volunteer, board, etc.) that shows commitment and a grounded understanding of the nonprofit sector.

We strongly encourage business professionals to do a pro bono project and/or serve on a nonprofit board before taking the leap into full time employment. There is no better way to understand what it is like to work in the sector and to show your sincere and thoughtful interest to potential nonprofit employers.

The reality is that most charities like to see that you have personal motivations to serve. It makes you a more motivated and reliable employee. The right service project can help you network with professionals from local companies, develop marketable skills and make your resume stand out in the stack of 200 being reviewed by a hiring manager.

• Networking
  If you are trying to widen your professional network, pro bono can be a great way to meet and get to know people working at local companies. Unlike networking through professional and alumni associations, pro bono work allows you to build a relationship based on a shared experience and set of values.
  
  The trick to networking through pro bono work is to find the right kind project. You need an assignment that is going to be team-based and involve the types of people you want to meet. For example, join a team of professionals donating their time to build a new website for a nonprofit.
  
  
• Skills Development
  Do you need more experience under your belt to land the job you want? A nonprofit that can’t afford to hire you may be willing to take a chance and let you stretch your skills on a pro bono project. Just be sure not to stretch your skills too far and leave a nonprofit in a lurch.
  
  
• Resume Building
  Remember all the extracurricular activities you did in high school to help your college application stand out? The same thing that helped you standout to college admissions officers can help you stand out to hiring managers.

Having pro bono experience on your resume shows your passion for your profession, your commitment to your community and your ability to juggle your schedule effectively. It also makes for interesting stories for interviews that will help you make an impression.