Because of my posts about being a nonprofit wage slave, and being unable to make rent on a nonprofit “salary”, someone took issue with this. Actually, more than one person did, and I’m glad about it. I got a reader email saying,

“I HATE YOUR PITY PARTY! IF YOU DON’T LIKE HOW YOU’RE PAID IN NONPROFITS THEN GET OUT!”

And some other, less choice words.

And well, shoot man.

What are people who want to change the world supposed to do? Some of us are best suited to being social workers. Some of us are best suited to being therapists. Some of us are best suited to being bus drivers or nonprofit office managers. We still deserve a higher wage. I will show you why.

Here’s my question for you.

Why should people in the nonprofit sector make less than every other sector?

Rick Cohen on Blue Avocado says, “It’s official, we’re paid less than any other sector.”

Proof:

And it's not like we're going to get paid significantly more in other sectors.

The fact is man, wages haven’t risen since the 1970s in most sectors.

Proof:

More Proof:

That means MOST people, not just nonprofits, are getting the short end of the stick. Especially women. Especially women of color. So even if we “get out of the sector” it is not much better out there than in here.

And people from every economic strata, such as doctors, nurses, air traffic controllers, hotel maids, pepsi truck drivers, are getting shafted. Here’s a post I did about how no sector is safe. Using data and detailed economic research and in-depth investigative journalism from Mother Jones. One of the top progressive nonprofit news sources in the US.

Starting your own business is not the answer.

You ended with a “start your own business” rant and frankly, that’s not a reality for most people. We shouldn’t have to start our own businesses to make a living wage. Not everyone is suited to being an entrepreneur.

America is also not one of the best places to start a business, contrary to popular myth. The best places? New Zealand. Canada. Australia. According to DoingBusiness.com, the US is ranked 13th in ease of starting a business.

Maybe next time you criticize someone wanting to help people get paid more, you should do your own research into this issue. It’s easy for you, as an english-speaking white man with a cushy job at a foundation in America with many resources to get started as an entrepreneur.

Have you ever stopped to consider what the barriers are for a black woman with two kids? A single mom of any color? What about a black man coming out of the judicial system? What about a hispanic man who may not speak English?

Income equality will help EVERYONE’s standard of living rise. And that IS worth fighting for.

We need to speak for those who need our support to get pay parity. Income equality. Equal treatment no matter what the color of their skin, their sexual orientation, how long they’ve been unemployed, or how many children they have or are planning to have. Maybe you’ve never experienced this discrimination personally, but let me tell you, it’s out there.

The Spirit Level Book (a must read!)

In a truly equal society, as argued in “The Spirit Level, Why Equality is Better for Everyone,” by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, say:

Since we finished writing The Spirit Level in the spring of 2008, there have been many more studies reporting relationships between inequality and health. Nine of the new studies look specifically at rich, developed countries. Seven find, as we do, that health is worse in more unequal societies.

AND

“There is now evidence that inequality played a central causal role in the financial crashes of 1929 and of 2008. We suggested that inequality leads to increases in debt. It turns out that they are intimately related.” For more details, check out this article.

So if you think that it doesn’t matter that people at nonprofits don’t make enough money, then you’re basically saying that you don’t care that people who want to make the world better are less healthy, and that we have more giant financial crashes.

From the same article above:

“In his first major speech as leader of the Labour Party (in the UK), Ed Miliband said: “I do believe this country is too unequal and the gap between rich and poor doesn’t just harm the poor, it harms us all . . .”"

Let me just clarify this once and for all.

THIS IS NOT A PITY PARTY.

I’m here to call attention to disparities. I’m here to be a cultural critic. I’m here to help people think about how they want to change their worlds, their nonprofits, their lives.

My prescription for positive change? Unionize. Organize. Get clear about what you want to change and then change it. I’m not going to change it for you. But I’m not going to pretend that business as usual is just fine with me.

Wake up man! This is NOT a meritocracy.

And this is not a pity party. This is a call to action.

Do you understand me now?

You can tell the pioneers, because they’re the ones with arrows all over their chests.

I’m happy to stand beside Dan Pallotta, a white man who writes for the Harvard Business Review, and author of “Uncharitable” and agitate for a stronger nonprofit sector, to agitate for everyone who is getting underpaid at nonprofits right now. To agitate for better pay and better treatment for everyone. If that means unions, then so be it. If there’s another way, I’d be open to hearing what it is.

I’m happy to speak up. And I hope if you feel the same way, you’ll leave a comment, email me, or say hi on Twitter.

Are you new here? Welcome! Sign up for my newsletter and get fresh nonprofit fundraising, management and career ideas monthly!

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

This is not a pity party. You understand? originally appeared on Wild Woman Fundraising on January 16, 2012.

Fact: Your job can be a wonderful place, but over 65% of Americans do not like their jobs. Even if you think you can just keep your head down and work hard to get promoted, only 33% of nonprofit executive level positions are filled from within. Even if you have passion for the mission, it’s not enough to keep you from getting the short end of the stick with your nonprofit salary.

It gets worse.  You live on credit, because you can’t save on your tiny nonprofit salary. Your boss expects you to dress like you make $100,000 more than you actually do. You know that most nonprofit fundraisers will stay in a job from 12 to 18 months. Until they leave, voluntarily or otherwise. With at-will employment, if your boss asks you to work over the weekend,what are you going to say, No?

Your boss can fire you on a whim, without any reason at all. And even if it’s totally unfair, there’s nothing you can say, because you signed the at-will employment contract.  So there goes your paycheck, your rent money and food money. There goes all those long hours, down the drain. You slaved away, made them hundreds of thousands or even millions, and now you’re out. There goes your career. Who wants to hire someone who has been fired? What can you do about this?

Are you looking for a nonprofit job?

Have you been looking for months, going from coffeeshop to career counselor to alumni groups, trying to find a way into a job?

Or if you are employed, are you unsure about the next steps in your nonprofit career?

Do you want to be paid more? Do you feel stuck where you are?

Solution:

Click Here to take my January 18th webinar on Moving On Up In Your Nonprofit Career, which answers:

1. How can you never miss a job posting, ever again?
2. How can you create a compelling cover letter that gets results?
3. How can you relate unrelated experience on your resume?
4. How to ask good interview questions to find out if your boss will be a bully, or if they have unrealistic expectations for your position?
5. How to talk about your accomplishments without bragging?
6. How to answer the tough interview questions?As well as interview questions you don’t have to answer
7. What is successful followup etiquette?
8. How can you dominate LinkedIn and really work your profile?
9. What are some of the best ways to step into leadership roles at nonprofits?
10. How can you deal with new fundraising job overwhelm AND get it all done?
11. What are the three conversations you MUST have with your boss to be successful?
12. How can you gather a team of people around you to help you achieve your goals?
13. How can you successfully negotiate for a higher nonprofit salary?
14. How to get recognition for your accomplishments?
15. How do you show people your value as a leader?
16. How can you get more responsibility and learning opportunities at your job?
17. BONUS: Real Case Studies of how different nonprofit professionals moved on up in their careers in the last 2-3 years.

Intrigued? Click here to Sign up now!

The following 7 bonus materials are included with this webinar:

1. Worksheet to help you really shine in your interview
2. Sample Cover Letter that really works!
3. Sample 3 month review for you to show your progress to your boss, what to track, what not to track.
4. Cheat-sheet of good questions to take to your next interview
5. Linkedin Profile Checklist
6. A full list of national and international websites where you can find nonprofit jobs
7. E-Article: Getting that Fundraising Job & You’ve Got the Job, Now What?

It’s hard out there. Many people just say “Stick with it! You’ll be rewarded!” But according to the Bridgespan Group, most nonprofit staff are NOT being groomed for leadership, and only 33% of the time do people from inside the nonprofit even attempt to fill senior leadership level positions. That means most of the time, you will have to make a leap to another nonprofit to move on up.

In this hands-on, how-to webinar, you will get advice and materials that are easy to use and created especially for you, the busy fundraising professional who barely has time to eat lunch, let alone search for a new job. I make it easy for you to succeed in your new position or in your search.

Let this webinar show you the right way to secure an early win. This webinar provides sound advice on must-do tasks for your first days on the job, and guides you every step of the way through the interview, as well as assisting you through your first meetings with your new boss. Whether you’re looking to make that next lateral move for a fundraising job, or you simply want to communicate better with your boss and co-workers, this webinar will help you.

Have you been offered some position and are you trying to convince yourself you want that nonprofit job? Remember this adage “If you can take it or leave it you should leave it. Make room for something new and magical to take its place”

Step-By-Step Live Demonstration: During this webinar, we will go through how to set up RSS feeds for jobs in real-time, learn how to talk about your accomplishments with real-life examples, how to show your accomplishments when your measurements can’t be dollars raised, and go over key conversations you need to have with your boss step by step.

February 29th, 1:00-2:30pm EST, you can get started moving on up in 2012, to make this your best year, careerwise! Join me.

Why should you learn from me?

Because: Not only am I the author of The Wild Woman’s Guide to Fundraising, I have connected nonprofit jobseekers and employers for over five years, and I have:

• Directed successful nonprofit career fairs
• Looked at thousands of resumes
• Coordinated a successful nonprofit job club in 2010
• Connected jobseekers with career speakers in a variety of industries
• Facilitated client job searches resulting in successful jobs in nonprofit and government
• Raised millions for nonprofits
• Moved on up from Development Assistant to Development Director and Development Consultant.

Click Here to Join Me on January 18th. I’ll be giving away more secrets than I’ve ever given away before, even in my book!

Is your nonprofit career in danger? originally appeared on Wild Woman Fundraising on January 6, 2012.

Managing Up, How does it work?

Have you ever known a boss or a person in management who just seemed to be there by luck, not by skill or management ability?

Have you ever known a nonprofit leader who didn’t know about nonprofits, but wasn’t aware of how much they didn’t know?

Have you ever heard of the term managing up?

Where does this term, managing up, come from?

Do you know about the Dunning-Kruger effect?

Kruger and Dunning proposed that, for a given skill, incompetent people will:

tend to overestimate their own level of skill;
fail to recognize genuine skill in others;
fail to recognize the extremity of their inadequacy;
recognize and acknowledge their own previous lack of skill, if they can be trained to substantially improve.
(from the wikipedia page.)

This relates to Peter’s Corollary.

“Peter’s Corollary states that “in time, every post tends to be occupied by an employee who is incompetent to carry out their duties” and adds that “work is accomplished by those employees who have not yet reached their level of incompetence”. “Managing upward” is the concept of a subordinate finding ways to subtly “manage” superiors in order to limit the damage that they end up doing.”

How can you manage up?

Well, let’s assume your boss is a prime example of the kruger-dunning effect, and they don’t know what they don’t know, or worse, they assume that they know more about your job than you do, when in reality, they know nothing.

So, if this is the case, how do you get the message across?

First, set boundaries and expectations in your interview, straight out. And if it’s too late for that, then in your next meeting. Say, “Here is how you should measure what I’m doing.”

1. Measure fundraising not just in dollars raised, but in number of people touched.
2. Measure how well you’re doing your job by rebranding and polling community members about what they think of your nonprofit.
3. Measure how many grants out the door, not just which grants you won.
4. Measure the engagement of old and new volunteers and board members. Have you been having more meetings? What new initiatives are you planning?

If you can succeed in turning the conversation from “Where is the money” to “How can we get everyone to take responsibility for fundraising” then you will have succeeded in getting more help and managing up.

Any other tips for managing up? Please leave a comment!

(Also, if you are in a situation where you just want to tear your hair out because of a boss or coworker, we are about to make an app to help Stop Workplace Bullying and you can totally get to the bottom of that problem.)

Are you new here? Welcome! Sign up for my newsletter and get fresh nonprofit fundraising, management and career ideas monthly!

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

Are you managing up? Where does that come from? originally appeared on Wild Woman Fundraising on September 2, 2011.

This week I will be talking with Tony Martignetti, who is pretty darn special. He just interviewed one of my favorite nonprofit peeps, Gail Perry, author of Fired-Up Fundraising: Turn Board Passion Into Action. And now he is going to interview me!

When: 1pm-2pm EST, August 5th, which is FRIDAY.
Where: Your desk! Just tune into iTunes
What: I’ll be sharing my thoughts about career, social media, grants and more. We’ll be live and taking your calls for anything nonprofit management or fundraising related. Go bananas.

Top Trends. Sound Advice. Lively Conversation.
You’re on the air and on target as I delve into the big issues facing your nonprofit–and your career.
If you have big dreams but an average budget, tune in to Tony Martignetti Nonprofit Radio.

Call in to my interview with Tony Martignetti on Nonprofit Radio August 5th originally appeared on Wild Woman Fundraising on August 2, 2011.

What does your board report look like?

Are you a consultant? Does your board report look like a CYA thing? Whether or not you have a good relationship with your boss, it’s good to know what people expect. And if they have no expectations? What do you give them then?

Ever wanted to know what other one-person development shops do?

Time for radical transparency!

Here’s my board report.

ACO July 2011 Board Report
Mazarine Treyz, Development Director
Activities for end of June and beginning of July

Appeal progress
Wrote draft 1 of appeal letter and emailed to board member for editing.
Read “The 7 faces of philanthropy” book about how to get more people to give to ACO.

Grants progress
Did more grant research with NOZA database
Added grants to the grant application calendar (attached)
Applied to the X Foundation online
Met with Program Director of X Foundation, applied to X Foundation

Survey and Workplace giving progress
I need to know if and when we are going to be able to go into Dell children’s hospital, Need to know who, what they will play before I can apply for this

Graphic Design and Branding
Met with designer to talk about graphical standards for ACO, hex codes, logos, etc.
Nonprofit Brand Report from Harvard University Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations

“A nonprofit brand can often serve as a moral compass for the organization, helping to facilitate choices about which resources and partnerships to pursue in order to increase organizational capacity and effectiveness.” -Excerpt from this report

Sponsorships
HEB is good to approach because 29 people shop there
ATT because 9 people get their service there
UFCU 8 people bank there
Blackerby 11 people shop there

Next steps for July and August:
Finish and send out appeal letter for next season
Apply for grants with no deadline
Would like to meet with website committee on ways to get more donations on the website. Would like to go speak at workplaces about ACO with 1-3 musicians to do a little concert. Would like to move mailing list over to Aweber and add names from June concert. Work together with PR/Business Manager to highlight our players in the newsletter

Workplace Giving/Possible sources of Board Members
Apple computers
The State capital
PPD, Inc.
Freescale Semiconductor
Dell Children’s Medical Center

What does your board report look like? Does it look like this? Are you required to give information? Or different information?

What does your board report look like? originally appeared on Wild Woman Fundraising on July 26, 2011.

Flickr image by GinasPics

First off, if you like how I write, you are going to LOVE how I teach. Because then it’s like I’m writing, but you can hear me talk, and then we can have a conversation, too!

Here’s a neat thing: My Wildly Successful Events Webinar on how to get sponsorships on July 13th is all sold out! For the THIRD TIME IN A ROW! PEOPLE REALLY LOVE IT! I am so happy! If you just want tips on how to get mega-sponsorships, then my next sponsorship webinars are September 1st and September 27th with charityhowto. And you can sign up right here.

I also have a new Charityhowto webinar, and it’s all about appeal letters! It’s called Tons of Money in the Mail. September 14th! And here’s where you can read more about it.

And if you just can’t wait for some new info right this month, I’ve got a webinar on managing your online reputation on July 15th that has a few extra spaces left in it. Just go here to check that out!

Have you ever worked with a nonprofit leader that just would say NO to everything you suggested? Did you ever think, ‘Oh M. G. I can’t take it anymore” and run out? Did you ever want to partner with other nonprofits but feel stymied because your organization wasn’t nimble enough to take advantage of opportunities like that? Too much bureaucracy? Or maybe you just didn’t have the power to decide that partnerships could happen?

I’ve noticed some of these issues and I’ve come up with a theory of what makes an effective leader. Whether you’re getting your Master’s in Nonprofit Management or your Master’s in Public Administration, I think these can be useful for you.

Do you have what it takes to be a good nonprofit leader? As I’ve made a study of what helps people be good leaders over the last five years, I’ve come up with six key things that can make or break an organization’s effectiveness. And we all want to be effective, right?

Here are the six qualities of effective nonprofit leaders.

1. Listen to what other people tell you and say yes to their suggestions.
This is as simple as someone saying, ‘Hey, can we partner with Nonprofit X? We could get some more exposure out of it’ and then just say YES. Or if someone else says, ‘Can we get a donor database now? I’ve researched them and this is the best one’ then just say YES. It’s a principle of one of the most successful car companies in the world. Ever heard of Toyota? Anyone at Toyota can make a suggestion and it will be tried to improve the effectiveness of their processes, whatever they are. This is lean methodology, also known as Kaizen. I have a whole section in my book devoted to this concept, and it can make such a difference in terms of making your nonprofit effective.

2. Appreciate people who work for you.
You need to build relationships all of the time, and especially with the people that you work with. These people need to see that you respect them. And when you appreciate them, you show them you respect them, and why they should continue to work even harder for you. A little thank-you when they do something right can mean so much. Maybe a big smile and a “I really appreciate what you did there” at other times. But in my experience so many people don’t know how to do this. If you don’t know how to do this, watch other people who do it really well. And emulate them.

Flickr Picture by Eric Schoon

3. If you have a problem with someone, meet with people and communicate with them clearly. I guess if it gets too serious, you could always use a finger puppet to say things for you?
There is so much bad communication in really tiny nonprofits, and there’s just no excuse for it except that people need to figure out how to communicate without blowing their stack. And what I find helps the most is weekly check-ins with people in your team. Even if it’s just you and the executive director. Get in there and have that meeting. Sit in the waiting area and chat about what’s going on, what you need help with, ask about priorities, etc. If you are off track, it can be corrected quickly with weekly meetings. When you are no longer meeting, communication breaks down and then it’s just a matter of time before you don’t have a job anymore.

4. Have passion for what you are doing and share credit whenever you can.
When you have true passion for the mission, when you are connected to the deepest pains of your clients or donors and you can articulate that to everyone around you, when you really love what you do and how you do it and how it all helps others, then people are going to love working around you and with you. You connect with the pain and then you can connect with a solution. Everyone likes problem-solvers. And also people who share the credit for doing something right. So when you do your work, appreciate the people who helped you do it. When you hold up people of lower status than you, that makes you look like a generous leader. And you are if you can make it a habit.

5. Push yourself to develop new skills and go beyond your comfort zone.
This means instead of saying, “Well, we’re not doing that because we don’t know how therefore it doesn’t matter” just ask someone. Say, why should we do this? What makes it a good thing? What will it get us? And then if there’s an opportunity for you to learn something, like a more effective way to deliver services, then learn it. It doesn’t take that long to learn about what other people are doing. We are getting so interconnected now that almost as soon as an innovation happens, when it’s published online, other people can get aware of it and start to replicate it, or connect with the person doing it and figure out how to make it happen on their scale. This can help you be more eligible for grants, when you take best practices of other nonprofits and apply them to your own. It can also keep you on your toes.

6. Ask for help.
This is huge. This could be partnering with another nonprofit, this could be bringing in an accountant to do your taxes, this could be asking someone to help you with board recruitment, this could be asking your board to help you fundraise, this could be even bigger, this could be getting a consultant to help you do better organizational communication, or getting a scholarship for continuing education for your employees to improve their knowledge. Maybe they just need to learn how to administer the website better. Maybe you need to ask an event manager for help. Asking for help is different than not paying for things. But sometimes, right, there’s founder’s syndrome and/or type A stuff where you think you have to do it all and be it all and you can’t show that you don’t know something, and seriously, it is SUCH a relief to ask other people to do things for you, and/or pay them, and know that it’s going to get done.

Do you agree? Disagree? Any more qualities that you think I’ve left out? Please leave a comment.

Are you new here? Welcome! Sign up for my newsletter and get fresh nonprofit fundraising, management and career ideas monthly!

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

6 ways you can be an effective nonprofit leader originally appeared on Wild Woman Fundraising on July 11, 2011.

Then just listen.

I’m doing interviews on career radio shows lately about how you can get a nonprofit job, the nonprofit field, and whether, for example, you should go and get that Master’s in Nonprofit Organizations or not.

Click here to go download my podcast with Maureen Anderson of the Career Clinic!

AUDIO: How to get a nonprofit job: My interview on The Career Clinic originally appeared on Wild Woman Fundraising on May 28, 2011.

Move on up! And give yourself a leg up the career ladder!
A step-by-step guide to getting the attention you deserve for your accomplishments and expertise.

Thursday May 26th
Start Time: 1:00 PM End Time: 2:30 PM (Eastern Standard Time)

Only $49.99

Webinar Description
What can you do to move on up and take control of your career? Well, if you’re not just there to do a job and go home, if you actually care about how far and how fast you rise in your field, then this webinar is for you. What can you do to make yourself irresistible to employers? What does your online presence tell potential employers about you?

According to MyWebCareer.com, a survey of employers revealed:

* 70% have rejected candidates based on reputational data found online.
* 75% have hiring policies that require the review of online reputational data.
* 84% believe the use of online reputational data will increase in the next 5 years.

This means, like it or not, people will judge you by what they find online about you. So why not manage your online reputation now, before you are even looking for a job?

Get Your Questions Answered:
In order to effectively answer the questions of the participants, this interactive webinar is limited to 35 people. There is also a question-and-answer session at the end of the webinar.

Webinar Outline:
During this 90 minute webinar, in an easy-to-follow process, we’ll cover how to go from nobody to shiny person that everyone wants. We’ll answer all of these questions and more:

Learn:
1. How do you start from nothing?
2. How to control what people find out about you online?
3. What are the ways you can get known online?
4. What are ways to identify and reach influencers on Twitter in your niche?
5. How do you get recognition for your accomplishments?
6. What is the best way to build an audience?
7. How do you make money on the side with what you already know?
8. How much of yourself should you reveal online?
9. How can you dominate LinkedIn and really work your profile?

NEW! The following bonus materials are included with this webinar:
1. A blogging calendar that you can use to automate your posting
2. An automation plan for your social networks, so you only spend 15 minutes a day building your reputation.
3. A process tree diagram for tried and true ways to drive traffic to your site every day

Click the link below to sign up.

What the people say

“I found Mazarine’s presentation not only helpful but fun. It was a great way to understand more about getting a job and moving up in the nonprofit sector. As a fundraiser I think it was especially helpful.” -Karen Gilbert

“Mazarine was amazingly insightful and helpful in showing us how to develop a web presence to help our job searches. Her knowledge and humor make her presentations both thought-provoking and conversational. Thank you Mazarine!”

MOVE ON UP!

Are you new here? Welcome! Sign up for my newsletter and get fresh nonprofit fundraising, management and career ideas monthly!

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

May 26th Webinar: Move on up! And give yourself a leg up the career ladder! originally appeared on Wild Woman Fundraising on May 12, 2011.

This next online training will be about acing the interview, and how to get the right questions asked.

Why am I offering this?

Have you looked at the statistics lately? People say they are hiring, but there are still hundreds of applications flowing in for just one job.

Have you looked for a new job at work, looking over your shoulder the whole time?

Have you looked for a new job outside of work? Have you put your feelers out, but nothing?

Have you been looking for months, and just not found anything or never gotten a call for an interview?

How can you get to be the most competitive candidate?

What if you have no experience?
Even if you don’t have experience, you can do it.

What if you have no connections?
Even if you have no connections, you can do it.

What if you don’t think you’ve got a strong connection to the mission?
Even if you don’t know what to say in your interview, you can do it.

What if you think you’re a terrible writer?
Even if you don’t think you can write, you can be a fundraising professional, and get hired.

Come to my free online training, Thursday, April 14th, 2011. 1-1:30pm. CST.

We are going to address all of these things. We are going to help you craft your story to turn yourself into the perfect candidate.

I am going to help you take that next step, we talked about the cover letter, and this time, we’ll talk about what it takes to get the interview, and to hone your interview skills before you get there.

Let me tell you a story.

I was once just adrift, wondering what to do with my life.

I had no idea what to do with my degree, no idea where to go to look for work, no connections in the nonprofit world, and all I really had was a BURNING DESIRE TO HELP PEOPLE.

But I didn’t know what that was going to look like. So I had heard there was this thing called the nonprofit sector, and I thought, huh, maybe I could help people there, that seems to be what they do.

So I went there. First I went to Indonesia and worked in a baby orphanage and mobile health clinic. And what I saw was a lot of pain and a lot of people helping ease that pain.

Then I came back to the US and took a couple courses in grantwriting. But that didn’t really qualify me to do anything. I decided to just get into fundraising. I got introduced to a couple of people, and before you could say, “Oh no she didn’t” I was in business as a fundraising consultant.

And of course, over the last seven years, I’ve honed my skillz, learned a lot of things about the nonprofit sector, fundraising, and building relationships. But even when I had no experience at all, I owned that I was going to go out and help people and no one was going to stop me. And it happened.

The neat thing about the shoestring nature of the nonprofit sector is that you don’t HAVE to have experience to do what you want to do, which is, presumably, help other people with the skills you have now, like reading, writing, and throwing parties.

So, if you want a nonprofit job, I am going to give you a sneak peek on how to get a fundraising or nonprofit job.

We’ll talk about
* How to make the most of your time and never miss another job posting, EVER.
* How to get your foot in the door, and how to research the challenges the nonprofit might have.
* Breaking into the sector: How to apply your previous experience to the job you want
* 6 key questions to ask in the interview to know if this is the right job for you or not
* Proper followup procedures after the interview
* How to write or talk convincingly about your connection to the mission.

And more.

Click here to sign up!

It is free! And when you sign up, it’s called “nonprofit problem-solving” so even if your boss is looking over your shoulder, it is called something innocuous.

Want a new nonprofit job? Get some free online training from me, April 14th! originally appeared on Wild Woman Fundraising on April 7, 2011.

The Career Clinic with Maureen Anderson

Is someone you know looking for a job? Did you know that 1 in 10 people work in the nonprofit sector in America, yet a lot of people who are unemployed don’t know how to transition into this field?

I’ve raised over $1M in the last 3 years for different nonprofits, and been successful at getting nonprofit jobs for myself and others.

Last year I realized my dreams and published my first book, The Wild Woman’s Guide to Fundraising, which helps people committed to making the world better take action and raise money for their cause. My book has sold all over the world, from Tasmania to Finland, and was called one of the top 10 fundraising books of 2010 by Beth Kanter, nonprofit blogger and CEO of Zoetica. My book is a hands-on how to book to help people get nonprofit jobs, take action and change the world. My goal is to tell as many people as possible about my book so that we can raise the money we need to get the change we want.

I decided that in order to tell more people about my book, I needed to go on the radio! I’ve been making some phonecalls and emailing, and last week I found out I’ll be interviewed on a nationally syndicated radio show, The Career Clinic, with Maureen Anderson.

She wrote,

“If you know anyone at a radio station in Austin who would consider picking up the show, let me know! Otherwise I’m hoping we’ll have podcasts up by the time you’re on the program. And while we won’t be taking calls live on the show (all of our affiliates will be running it on a delayed basis beginning next month), I’m happy to field email in advance of your show and could maybe even record a quick exchange over the phone. So if you know people with questions they’d like you to answer on the air, please have them email me. Thanks!

Maureen
maureen@thecareerclinic.com”

So if you’ve got a question that you’d like to ask me on The Career Clinic, about fundraising as a career, how to get into the nonprofit field, how to get around the whole, “But they want 5 years of experience!” thing, etc, please email Maureen Anderson at the email above. This radio show will be broadcast all over the USA, from Fargo, North Dakota, to Maui, Hawaii.

And as soon as the show is up online, I’ll be putting it up on here!

Thank you for reading, and I can’t wait to help you get more knowledge about the often confusing world of nonprofit job searches!

If you want to leave a comment below, I can forward your question on to Ms. Anderson for inclusion in the show.

HKAB2ERGZCST

Do you have any nonprofit career questions? I’ll answer them on national radio! originally appeared on Wild Woman Fundraising on April 5, 2011.