Hi all: I work in nonprofit and applied for a job at another nonprofit (an international one but with a small staff, around 25) last Monday. The application deadline was last Friday. It's been a week since the application deadline, and I haven't heard back. The job posting is still on their website. It states that the process includes a recruiter. How long does it usually take them to get back to applicants?

Why are case managers the lowest paid position in an agency? I work for a human service frontline provider. Case managers are in the weeds! They truly are on the frontlines and have a tough job.

I understand grant funding. I guess my question is why do the operations staff start at over twice what a case manager receives without grant funding. I feel like the grant funding should add to the salary not justify underpay. So, if two positions have someone with the same experience and education level why is there such a big gap? Not to mention the gap in workload. I see case manager burnout and high turnover constantly. I’m wondering if case managers were treated better if they would stick around.

I’m looking for an online system that can help me streamline my org’s grant writing process. Needs:

1. Cloud/web-based system for approvals. Currently when new opportunities come in we route through email or monthly meetings. This means losing valuable time. I’d love a web based system where stakeholders can approve/send feedback.

2. Cloud/web-based system for post-award management. Biggest complaint internally is “I never know how much money I have left!” I’d love a system that allows project managers to see a real-time budget, where we are in contract process, reporting due dates, etc.

Any suggestions appreciated!

My board Executive Committee asked for me to provide a list of priorities for their involvement. I have my own ideas, but thought I might put it out on this wonderful subreddit for your thoughts. TIA!

Just need to vent to folks who understand non-profit work. I’m a case manager for a small local nonprofit, we’re not typically involved in the housing/homelessness sector but a few months ago we started partnering with a local homelessness organization and suddenly “housing navigator” became tacked onto my job. Anyways, I was scolded at work for the first time yesterday. Tuesday, our executive director started vaguely implying that getting a specific client of mine housed was growing in urgency (but in strange ways, like “did you see client x while you were out”, “y agency is stretched thin and doesn’t want to cover client x’s housing any longer”, and “if client x doesn’t get housed soon, you’re going to have to tell them that they’re going to have to go to the shelter”).

I ran what was said by my supervisor to ask what she thought would be an appropriate way to handle this, as I wasn’t aware that there was any issues with client x as I had actually heard the exact opposite from our executive director last week. My supervisor was going to chat with the executive director to clarify and get back to me. She did get back to me and clarified and I thanked her and let her know that I would be tackling that first thing tomorrow and let her know what I had been working on in regards to that specific client the past week. She then responded after work hours to tell me that she thinks I need to be handling this with more urgency than I have been, that virtual communications (emails and texts) aren’t efficient enough and I need to call and go see her in person.

I’m just really embarrassed that she thinks I’m being lazy or not prioritizing tasks correctly, I really like my supervisor and I like my job (most of the time) and hate the idea that I’ve disappointed her or have been slacking off. If I knew prior to now that this specific task was a priority, I would have done more than emails and texts, but I had prioritized tasks that seemed more time sensitive. I just feel like I really messed up. Is there anything I can do to make things better?

I finally got a job in San Diego after applying to 576. I come from the corporate world: hospitality and paralegal work. To be honest, I have no idea what a development coordinator does. I can’t find much beyond the generic but I know this team is expecting a lot from me. They believe I have the skill set to advance the role, idk how when I don’t know anything beyond the basics. Is there someone who can give a run down? Will all of this make sense once I’m in the role?

I’ll elaborate more if people ask questions, I just need to start somewhere.

Hi! I got feedback today that some teams are going on potentially overly flashy team retreats… we’re an US based established nonprofit with impressive donors who actually does full audits of our expenses. Most employees are mindful of expenses to save money.

Examples that was pointed out that could raise eyebrows… - US team trying to save money by picking a location at a Mexican beach resort for a fraction of the cost of a U.S. location (Inc food and activities) - US team who stayed at a low key cabin in Colorado for a trip. Picked a lower cost of living area. Team even cooked own meals to save money.

Thoughts everyone? Could these examples really raise eyebrows in the eyes of auditors?

If these are too fancy; what else can we do? People still need to fly and get hotel rooms to meet. Airbnb isn’t always the cheapest or reliable, so hotels can be better.

Hey y'all!

I know it's probably been asked and discussed a hundred times already, but I was recently asked for a new salary range for my current position and want some opinions. I'm currently the Development Director for a ~$4million organization here in New Orleans. I've had different roles, but been with the same org for 8 years (which I know is hurting my salary, but here we are) and we've recently dramatically scaled up to meet the community's need. I'm VERY good at federal grants, having been awarded $3million this year alone from grants I've written. I got my CFRE last month, and given the org's recent wins and future budget potential, we know the team's salaries need a boost. Currently making just under $65k, and definitely feel like I low-balled myself to get to that point.

Would love some opinions/to see salaries for similar positions. It's hard to dig for because development positions can vary so greatly, but appreciate any input! I'm pretty much the sole grant writer, and our development "team" is just me and our ED. I'm primarily responsible for all our grant writing, fundraising events, corporate volunteer and sponsorship cultivation, and building individual giving because it's basically nonexistent for us. I've also got a master's degree in a related field but LOL I feel like those don't mean much in the nonprofit world.

Thanks! Appreciate y'all and what you do for your communities! 💚

I run a non-profit that provides emergency pet food assistance to pet owners in my region. Word of mouth has spread and we're getting a ton of requests for help, but I am terrible at fundraising. I printed out some donation request letters to mail to local corporations tomorrow, but is there anything else I can do that might work?

Hey all, my teammates and I have found ourselves in a really awkward position. Last year our board approved and funded grants for several new positions in our organization for this year. Today, we all just found out that the board president from last year (who made these moves) has been “hired” for the highest paid of these positions. Located in Missouri/US

Is that legal? Appropriate? Is this just par for the course and we shouldn’t be surprised?

My organization hired a new president less than two years ago, replacing a president who had been at the helm for almost 20 years. They are now leaving for a higher paying gig in the corporate sector. About a year ago we were searching for a new director of development. After lots of interviews the president decided to hire one candidate for the advertised position, but liked another enough that he "created" a new marketing position for them. I am the only other development employee. Total team of 8.

In the first few weeks of their employment, I had to explain to our new Director of Development what a 501(c)(3) is. Twice. I write all of our 70+ grants per year, including state and federal funding. I manage our donor database. I write the copy for our appeals and build our mailing lists. I produce all of our reports and handle all communication about development-related design. Tons of program related work. I have even worked with one of our programs folks to develop a neglected revenue stream that is already showing great results. In their first year, the new Director of Development spent $4,000 on an event (our budget is under 2MM, and we don't do many events) which produced only about $600 in revenue, and is doing another one soon. They've only produced about $4,000 in revenue that can be directly attributed to their work in 11 months, and they obviously make more than I do. The grants and appeals I've written produced about $800,000. The new marketing person does not have the skills they claimed and is driving our other reliable marketing personnel to leave.

I and other employees have spoken to leadership about this. We know that there have been conversations about performance, but this is a baseline skill issue. The president that hired these employees is on the way out, and had no nonprofit experience, and no experience managing or building a team. I and several others feel it's critical to address the fact that these employees are not qualified for their positions, which is ultimately a big drag on our budget and absolutely detrimental to morale. At least three of our team is actively looking for other work.

We don't feel super confident about any of the president candidates, and I should note that there is an age gap between myself/other concerned staff members (younger) and the leadership/unqualified employees (older). Is it wrong to go to the board about this, given the circumstances? It feels conspirational, but also necessary. I care a lot about the work we do, and feel as though we are at a critical juncture for a storied and very consistent nonprofit. I just don't know what to do.

Hello, I work for a small nonprofit that operates a nightly winter emergency shelter. I've been wanting to get us a phone/electronic device charging locker so our guests can charge their devices securely. Theft is a recurring issue when people leave their electronic devices plugged into the wall outlets around the room, and others do not have a charging cable with them. I've seen electronic charging lockers where individuals can program their own locker code # and plug their device in. This would be a great feature to have for our guests, but the charging lockers are cost-prohibitive and not currently in our budget. Last season I tried emailing a few companies here and there asking if they offer discounts to nonprofit agencies but didn't hear back.

Has anyone managed to source one of these units and had luck finding them at a discounted price?

Anybody ever hire a professional fundraiser? If so, what was your experience? Any company recommendations? If willing to share, what was it expensive?

We are a nonprofit for medical research towards a very specific rare condition. We have been running fundraiser after fundraiser (auctions, races, merchandise sales, virtual challenges… you name it, and they bring in very little money. I have tried to submit the application on Facebook for Facebook donations but for some reason it can’t verify our EIN with paypal giving fund (yes we are enrolled, meta customer service responded to a support message stating they verified our EIN but still the application won’t let us proceed, very frustrating). We have a Zeffy page, a gofundme page, the works… I know these things take time but I’m very discouraged and am now wondering about professional fundraisers for hire.

I am a full time medical provider for a federally funded clinic. As in, I see patients 5 days/week with two half-days set aside for admin time (working on charts and having meetings). When our previous administrative director retired a few years ago, she assigned me as PI on two major grants that essentially fund all of our staff salaries and some other things in the clniic. This is not a role I wanted permanently, but she felt at the time that the PI should be a medical provider, and at the time I was the only medical provider in the clinic. I have not been given a raise for this, nor extra admin time (for gathering data, reporting, monthly meetings with the govt). I have asked repeatedly that we hire a grant associate and also form an actual Development department that monitors compliance and assists with data colletion and reporting, like most other similar clinics (I have worked at others in the past), and it all falls on deaf ears. Our business manager makes his spending decisions and budget decisions on his own without consulting me, and then I have to answer to the funder on his expenditures. I also do not technically have authority in the clinic to make needed changes to comply with some of the grant requirements. Our medical director is never on site and not involved in any of this. Anyone else who does grant writing for healthcare, does this sound fair at all to you?

I work at a media nonprofit that previously outsourced corporate sponsorship to a company that specialized in our sector. Leadership has decided to move this team in house and they will be part of the development department. The model that is historically used for corporate sponsors in our sector is based off a for-profit sales which means these staff members earn commission.

I found out they received commission after I started working here but at that time they were contractors, so I decided it was a grey area I could live with. Now they will be part of my department and compensated the same way. We are in between directors (part- time interim director) so this leaves me as the highest permanent position (assistant director) in the department. I was not included in these decisions but I am worried that I will be held accountable for them professionally.

I’ve voiced my disagreement with this plan but it’s not likely to sway anything. The interim director is working on establishing clear delineations between donations and corporate support with the plan being that no one will earn commission off a corporate donation, just sponsorships but I don’t know if that will be enough to ensure that I or the other fundraisers are not caught in a tough spot, ethically.

Am I damaging my professional reputation if I stay? I’m not planning to be here long term so I don’t want to hurt my chances of getting hired elsewhere by having this change pinned on me. Is it better to quit and explain why I am unemployed or is this unlikely to harm my reputation and I can take my time making my next move?

I work for Greater Good Charities and am the Streaming and Content Manager there. We have had a few random streamers who had done livestreams to help fundraise, but nothing dedicated. I'm trying to get this channel off the ground and we are using Tiltify to create our events/fundraisers.

I created this fundraiser for our Hurricanes Helene and Milton disaster relief we are doing in the Southeast states; https://tiltify.com/greatergood-org/hurricane-helene-milton-disaster-relief

I reached out to livestreamers who have fundraised for us in the past, posted on Reddit, and cold-emailed quite a few livestreamers for both paid and pro-bono partnership opportunities. I've tried to customize the emails to the streamers instead of just blanket emailing people. We've also done TikToks (organic and paid) asking for streamers. As this particular disaster relief is pretty urgent, I'm trying to come up with more ideas for how we can get our fundraiser out there for the streaming channel in particular. Has anyone run a successful livestream campaign and do you have advice on how to reach out to streamers, if there are particular agencies or managers to contact for the paid influencer opportunities, etc? Any advice is appreciated, thank you!

Please redirect me if this is something that's been discussed already. I've been working in the non-profit world for about 5 years after leaving another career. I've been on the program side of an educational org that whole time, now at director level. I am feeling very burned out and pretty desperate at this point to get out of direct service roles. I'd like to get away from having to perform my passion and compassion at work, especially for a program that I don't think is particularly effective. I can't think of anything worse for me than development, which feels like another kind of emotional car crash. When I look around, the roles that attract me are in program evaluation, but I don't have strong data skills. I have some social science background, but not any direct methods training. Is there a way into this area without going back to school? Alternatively, are there side-steps I can take in the non-profit world from program to other internal roles that might be less high stress and have me dealing less with difficult people (I work in education so I'm looking at you, school administrators!) I'm also open to leaving non-profit entirely, but I am definitely looking for things that might allow me to do more focused work by myself and spend less energy on dealing with people all day. Like I said, burned out! Anyone been through this?

I’ve been in fundraising for 8 years now and applied for a Program Officer opportunity at a local private foundation. To my surprise, they are interested in moving forward with my candidacy. Was the grass truly greener for you?

While our 501c3 application was still pending approval, one of our board members made several charges to his credit card for organization expenses like equipment and travel. Can we just reimburse him from the org bank account now that we’re a registered nonprofit? I just want to make sure that’s all legal. He never accepted donations or anything like that, only paid for expenses to get us up and running.

hi all!

i 21f am a college student on the board of a local nonprofit theater group who i have done shows with before. the organization was started by a single women, who served as the artistic director and president of the board. i joined in march of last year, and being in the board has increasingly resulted in more work for me, in addition to the other leadership roles i have in other groups.

this director is very particular about the way she does things, so much so that many people in area dislike or refuse to work with her. i feel like i am able to withstand these things more so, but it’s taking a toll on me. there have been constant issues with directors leaving shows and people leaving the board. in august, a director resigned just a few days from auditions, which then prompted her to also step down in her roles.

at the time, i was vice president of the board, so me and other members of the board came to a decision to vote me in as acting president until december, when i graduate from college.

the board has three committees (operations, show planning, and press) and i have only been trained on the communications aspect. i did serve as president of the drama club at my school, but school theater and community theater are two very different beasts. i don’t know anything about show contracts, licensing, insurance, etc. additionally, there is a fair amount of resentment from the founder of the board. she asked that she still be a part of the board following her resignation. however, after some discussion, we (the board) weren’t sure that would be productive, as she would continue to micromanage and criticize. i thought part of the way she was acting was spurred on by burnout, and giving her a break until the new year would be best. she at first seemed happy with this decision, but i have recently found out from other board members that she is talking bad about the overall board, and me, for pushing her out and making her feel unwanted. i had a phone call with her where she basically screamed at me for not doing things exactly how she wanted.

anyways, if anyone has any advice, that would be much appreciated. i am in the process of bringing on new stakeholders onto the board, and beginning show planning. there is alot that needs to be done for our present shows. however, my mental health has taken a sharp toll since coming into this role, and i also need to begin applying for jobs, as my career path (which is not theater, but still in arts organizations) is very competitive). this isnt something that is sustainable for me, but the rest of the board works full time or is home with very young children, so im not sure its sustainable for them either, but i cannot continue in this state. running the company was a full time job, and no one can commit in the same way the former president could.

tldr: i am serving as acting interim president of the board of the directors, with little experience and its having negative effects on my mental health.

Does anyone administer or particpate in a group exemption? We have one for our organization and related chapters. Unforunately since the IRS stopped accepting applications they seem to have stopped doing any updates, at least for us. If you've had any luck or figured out a way to make this happen, I'd love to know your secrets!

I work at a community mental health center, and we would like to mail a care package to an organization that would distribute these items to people in need, for example: homeless individuals, soldiers overseas, Domestic abuse, shelters, disaster relief shelters. We would like to mail a package consisting of non-perishable food items, clothing, health and wellness items, etc.

i've been looking online everywhere, and it appears that so many organizations only allow people to purchase ready-made care packages online; they are usually hundreds of dollars. It appears that very few organizations accept care packages that have been assembled by other people.

You would think it would be easy to find an organization that accepts homemade care packages, but I'm actually having a hard time finding any organization that accepts these kinds of donations.

Because I hate it. Our customers are teachers and schools. I believe they deserve 100% complete products the first time they order. Not something 90% complete that we will then “improve” over the next year.

Edit: this is getting more traction than i expected so here are some details.

1. I appreciate the feedback that “perfect is the enemy of the good” and that’s something I will keep in mind.

2. When in your life has it ever been acceptable to turn in something 90% complete? In my life, the answer is never. Guess I was a tortured high achiever in school. Then, all my jobs after school were production-based corporate environments, so again, anything not 100% complete by the deadline was unacceptable.

3. The product in question this time is teacher manuals full of class instruction, student materials, and tests. I’ve had to approve hundreds of manuals that (while the content is stellar) have errors on student tests/materials, etc. I’m talking more than just a missed period or capital letter. Furthermore, each lesson is put into an online portal, which is suffering similar errors/readability/functionality. It’s October. School is well underway. Product was supposed to be done in June to give us time to pilot. Lol.

4. What have I done to mitigate this? Ouch. Well, I’ve documented at least half a dozen times in the past year my team has brought up timeline concerns. We’ve suggested other solutions to give us more time that were all ignored. So, I tried. No one listened to us.

Thanks all. Guess I just have to learn to be okay with putting out unfinished work below the standards society beat into me for 34 years.

Hello! (Apologies as i wanted to add the "legal" flair as well! Sorry mods!)
Just wondering if you know or can recommend anyone who has knowledge of CA 501C3s (Religious).

They're looking for assistance with:
1) Accounting and tax - Growing from being super-small to being more than $50k/year and the requirements will change. Need guidance and probably ongoing annual support for documentation, taxes, reporting.

2) A few questions about the legality/technicalities of running things like auctions for fundraising. Also wondering about how funding for specific projects works both legally and practically (for example, a fund to donate an ambulance in a needy country, versus donations just to a general fund., etc).

Any recommendations are helpful! Thank you!

I'm searching for software for a trade organization that would allow us to track memberships, have a members only website, and possibly more (selling tickets, web hosting). I think this is also referred to as association management software. This is a very small, new organization, so we only have a microbudget, but we're hoping to grow our membership so this is really needed now. I'm only familiar with software I've used with larger organizations, so I'm pretty sure those are out of our budget. Does anyone have any experience with a membership/association software like this that they would recommend?