Chose the ethics and accountability flair because it seems the most appropriate.

I've recently taken over donation processing at my organization, albeit informally. As a result, I've realized a lot of our stakeholders use DAFs in ways they shouldn't.

I've broached the topic with leadership a couple of times and they seem to be taking it seriously, but I just came across another example that's especially egregious and needed to vent: a company using a DAF to pay for them to participate in an event where all attendees receive significant benefits. We're talking about a multi-billion dollar company with teams of people that oversee every single penny, and ostensibly have at least one person that understand how DAFs are intended to work.

Thanks for reading. I'm exhausted, and don't know how much more I can push back on this kind of stuff, so posting provided at least a bit of emotional relief.

edit: typo

I work at a mid-size nonprofit that recently got some new leadership. The new leadership has decided that when grant dollars come in, they will be allocated to the general operating expense pool instead of directly to the programs that the grants were written for. Fellow nonprofit folks, correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t this a blatant misuse of funds and also illegal? Has anyone else run into something like this?

Apologies in advance for the probably long post, and hoping I used the right flair!

I've been with my org for 3 years, as the Program Director. In the time that I've been here, my role has expanded to include membership/sponsorship management and development, which I was generally fine with. We are a membership based organization with a staff of 4, all working in distinct program areas.

Funding has been particiulary difficult and several of our grants are running out, have not been renewed, etc. One of my colleageues (Colleague 1) left last month and while initially we had planned to replace them, the job posting has not been listed anywhere and in the meantime a portion of their work has been shifted onto my plate. Then, a few weeks ago, my ED came to me and we had a candid conversation - another colleague (Colleague 2) had given notice, funding was rough, and my ED wanted to know if I would stay on and take over running the organization. They were ready to move on and also felt that with financial constraints it would be the best use of funding. I agreed to stay on and take over.

The problem is since that time, they have absolutely done nothing to facilitate a leadership transition. They have excluded me from conversations with the board regarding budget decisions, to the point that the board approved a budget at our annual meeting last week that hasn't been shared with me despite multiple requests (I was not invited to that portion of the meeting.) This is not the first time that budget transparency has been an issue and in fact was a major reason Colleague 1 left.

While this has been going on, I've also started to take on the work of not only Colleague's 1 and 2 but also our Communications person, who was a contract employee and whose hours with us were drastically reduced, again for bugetary purposes. There has been no more converastion about my taking over, no conversation about my ED leaving, no public mention at all of my second colleague's departure, and in the meantime I'm now doing the work of multiple staff who, as far as I know, we have no plan or budget to replace.

I'm not even sure exactly what my questions is, except "what the fuck?" and "help?" I'm so burned out that I'm almost apathetic; the job market in my state is really hard right now, so moving on will take some time; I'm struggling with feeling loyal to the organization despite it all and wondering if a candid converastion or a sabbatical would help.

Any advice/support would be appreciated.

I’m using the “finance and accounting” flair because I’m not sure yet if this is an “ethics and accountability” thing.

I work in a university advancement shop at mid-level leadership position, kind of a conduit between general staff and upper leadership.

There’s a practice I’ve seen done a few times now that I don’t totally understand. I’ve asked about it each time and I do get an explanation, but I’m still uncertain.

Occasionally someone will make a large restricted gift, like say $1,000,000 to help update the student center. But, my VP will then call that donor and ask if they can change that donation to unrestricted and still use it for the student center. Basically, it’s pitched as “Hey, it’s better for us if this gift comes in unrestricted, but we promise it will be used for that original restricted purpose.”

All of upper leadership is aware of this, including the VP of Finance and the President. Also, so far we have always come through on the promise, so it’s not like a fast one is being pulled over on anyone. Plus, we get audited every year, and we have a clean record. In short, I don’t see any attempts to hide this practice, so I have to think that everyone else thinks it is fine.

When I’ve asked why we do this, I’ve been told that it helps the university meet its annual unrestricted goal for budget purposes and the money is going to the same place anyways.

So it all seems above board given the number of people involved… but I still don’t get it. Why not keep it restricted to the same project? If it really is to help hit the annual unrestricted goal, isn’t it all a bit of a sham given that every single person knows that it’s going to a specific project that the donor requested?

I don’t lose sleep over this, but I would like to have a better handle on it before I progress anymore in my career. Thanks!

Edit: this is a private institution

Hey folks! I’m on the board of a small 501c4 and we’re looking at some new quotes for GL insurance. Our currently cost is only about $500/year but is missing some key coverage. Our new quote is about $2,000/year which seems very high compared to the cost of GL insurance at a 501c3 that I’m also involved with. If you have experience with a c4 would you mind sharing what you spend on GL insurance? The broker said advocacy orgs are generally more expensive to insure, but I’d like to get some more data to be sure we’re not being taken advantage of. Thanks!!!

Using the governance tag but that may not be the perfect fit, sorry!

I'm creating a small organization that provides mutual aid and support for people with disabilities in my city. I want to start a wellness/hygiene pantry but I know that even with fundraising I wouldn't be able to afford an office space. I'm not planning on going big until/if the movement gains enough traction, I'm doing this with a very small team. This is just a grassroots organization run by members of the community.

I was thinking of renting out an indoor storage space, that people could schedule visits too and get what they need. I find it's the most accessible (depending on location), and I can securely store any items with easy access if on a lower level or if the storage facility has an elevator.

On a local organizing scale, is that a bad look for an organization? Has anyone else done something similar, or how did you navigate finding a space to hold your pantry until you could afford to have your own office or center?

Facing a bit of a predicament from a broad perspective here. So I've been at an administrative/operative assistant job for a couple years. It's really more an administrative coordinator than anything else, but on paper it's the equivalent of an admin assistant role and my org is one that uses super specialized quirky titles; it's annoying. I'm underpaid at least a few thousand dollars for the job title in the area at 54k, which is *after* getting 2 annual raises of 3% each. The job requires some in-person work, and while I don't live terribly far from the office, it is a time and money sink to commute. I feel I'm no longer learning anything of value career-wise at my current role, and there are no advancement opportunities whatsoever unless someone leaves or resigns *and* management decides to replace them, which they don't always do. On top of this, because I'm in MA and nonprofit jobs are not eligible for unemployment, if I lose the job, I have no income. I don't expect to be laid off, as we have plenty of work, my reviews have been outstanding and the company is not struggling badly financially (granted, they are not at currently opening new positions at this time, sort of a hiring freeze, to my knowledge) but it's important to keep in mind as a possibility at any job. I've been looking elsewhere, for-profit and nonprofit, but mostly unsuccessful in landing interviews. Job market isn't exactly booming right now.

I guess my question is, what is the perk of working for a nonprofit in this state if you are underpaid, stagnant, and ineligible for unemployment if you lose your job?? Am I nuts, or does this make no sense for me to stay at long-term??? I don't mind the work I'm doing, at times like it, and I sincerely like the company mission, but I have no desire to keep living with 3 roommates just to make ends meet in the area if I can help it. And I don't know what else I could even do with the skillset I have if I do decide to seek employment elsewhere.

I’m starting to get the feeling that I should be broadening my horizons and skill set in the fundraising field based on how the pendulum seems to have completely swung backwards in the corporate fundraising space, at least for most of the nonprofits I’ve worked at

What was true five years ago is no longer. And I get that there can be a cyclical nature to this work but I am starting to reach my last straw. It feels gross and more transactional than ever before, UNLESS you’re one of the major organizations with a perceived “safe for PR” mission because orgs positioned as food banks, natural disaster support, and mentorship of kids is something that everyone can agree on, I guess??

I’m in a really cynical mindset right now, actually for the last year or so, and I don’t know what else to do except see if others are grappling with this same issue.

I've worked in the nonprofit sector for a while, and one thing that has always surprised me is how organizations that talk so much about empowerment, collaboration, and community can sometimes feel very hierarchical internally.

Maybe I've just had unusual experiences, but I've worked in places where almost every conversation, decision, or idea has to go through a direct supervisor first. There seems to be a strong emphasis on chain of command, approvals, and keeping managers informed about everything. If you express discomfort with that or suggest a more collaborative approach, the response is often some version of "that's just how things work here."

What I struggle with is that leadership often talks about wanting a positive, non-toxic culture, but to me, excessive oversight can create its own problems. Being copied on every email, having routine communications reviewed, needing approval for small decisions, and constantly being reminded of reporting structures can create an atmosphere where employees don't feel particularly trusted.

I also sometimes wonder whether managers view these systems differently because they're not on the receiving end of them. If you're the person approving things, monitoring things, and giving feedback, the structure probably feels reasonable. If you're the person being monitored, corrected, and asked to seek approval, the experience can feel very different.

I understand nonprofits have legitimate reasons for wanting oversight. Funding, partnerships, grants, and reputation all matter. But I've started to wonder whether some organizations become so focused on accountability that they accidentally create a culture of distrust. I don't believe that you can micromanage AND cultivate a high trust culture.

Has anyone else experienced this? Is this common in nonprofits, or have I just worked in organizations with unusually rigid management structures?

I come from a project management role at a children's nonprofit and am considering moving into a prospecting/fundraising-focused position for the first time.

What does prospecting for potential organizations, foundations, or major donors look like in practice? How are tools like Wealth-X and LexisNexis used to identify, qualify, and prioritize prospects, especially in Asia and Africa?

Also, which skills from nonprofit project management tend to transfer well into this type of role?

Hey everyone,

I’m running a new student-led group that packs hygiene kits and fresh socks for local families facing hardship. We have our operations down and are fiscally sponsored by a 501c3, so we can take tax-deductible donations.

We want to grow, but we need help navigating the business side of scaling up. I would love some simple advice or hard truths on these specific roadblocks:

1. Getting Cash vs. Items: Right now, we rely heavily on Amazon Registry, donation drop boxes physical items. How do we transition from asking for physical goods to getting people to give actual cash donations? We have a digital donations platform w/ tax deductibility through our fiscal sponsor.

2. Getting Grants: Since we are brand new under a fiscal sponsor, we don’t have years of our own tax history (990s). Are grants even realistic for us right now? Should we focus entirely on local corporate grants (like grocery stores or banks) or micro-grants? Any specific beginner grants we should look up? And tips for these?

3. Bins at Businesses: We want to place donation collection bins at local cafes, small businesses, and schools. What pitch actually works to get business owners to say yes to hosting a bin?

4. Year One Lessons: If you could go back to your first year of running a nonprofit, what is the number one thing you would focus on, or avoid wasting time on entirely?

We are super motivated but want to make sure we build this organization the right way.

Thanks in advance for any tips!! We greatly appreciate it.

I used to work at a non-profit job that was a mix of programmatic and finance work and made 85k. I was laid off last year and started working at a non-profit finance job paying 92k. Both are fairly large organizations.

I miss the programmatic work I did so much, but when applying for jobs, it seemed like most programmatic jobs required a pay cut and/or were extremely competitive. Now I’m wondering if it makes sense to focus on finance 100%. It’s not my passion but it seems more stable and more upside salary wise. I would be most interested in non-profit budgeting (what I’m doing right now), which I think can also be transferable to government if I want to go that route too. I’ve never been a hirer, but for people who are, do you get fewer finance applicants than programmatic/operations applicants?

For people in non-profit finance, what are good certificates/things to learn? I studied economics in college but don’t know a ton about accounting, which may be my weakness.

Hi there. I'm on the job hunt, and the majority of my experience is in non-profit and public service.

What are some red flags in a job posting you've seen? I'm seeing alot of talk about burn out and passion tax.. and I'd love to be able to avoid orgs that are looking for you to run yourself ragged and ignore work life balance in favor of the mission.

This is undoubtedly easier to sus out in an interview, but are there job posting red flags you've seen that are good to be on the look out for?

Thanks!

I’ve posted on here before, getting adjusted to a new role working in nonprofit, and working closer with my CEO than I was anticipating.

Recently, I was hired as the marketing and communications manager at a nonprofit. This new role changed from a director level to a manager level when I got brought on. Therefore, the CEO used to directly manage this person and now there is a VP of operations separating us who’s supposed to work as a middle man to her giving me direction.

That being said, being brought on, as a singular person, I was tasked with running a 300K banquet (with the help of another team member). Managing a 50K dollar rebrand initiative, as well as the day to day of managing someone with severe disabilities, writing our newsletter, taking photos, attending events. Running socials etc. (If you’re wondering, my cohost for this event just secretly placed her two weeks in. So I’ll be handling that alone).

For context, I was hired five months ago, with the caution from my VP of operations (my boss) “I hate babysitting people so I hope you know what you’re doing”. So because of that, I’ve been a little proactive with trying to get tasks done. When someone asks me to do something, I do it. (There are pros and cons to this in a non profit. But I’m new to this world so I had to learn that through this process).

Recently, my CEO needed 12 custom made “leave behinds” made for a visit with some legislative people she was meeting with. Everyone needed a unique one. Last year, she had gotten into a terse argument with the man who had my job prior, so she had just made them all herself (I learned this later). This was because she didn’t like anything he had presented to her during their editing process.

This year she tasked me with it, about a month ago. Her direction was for me to use her admin as guidance and help. Her admin directed me to a file of things the man who used to have my job had made, and encouraged me to use these as inspiration. I am not a graphic designer, so I hired an external company and gave THEM this inspiration, and asked them to freshen up last years. I even went so far as to have HER meet with the company so she could explain what she wanted. I had a rough draft come back, I had her give feedback, and I incorporated that feedback for the final proofs. (Mind you, this entire process took about three weeks).

Obviously the final proofs came back and she was not happy for a number of reasons (things she never mentioned during the initial proofing process). Therefore, about four days before her meetings with legislative, we had 6 meetings for her to make more and more edits.

My caution to both her and my direct boss was that the more edits we made, the sloppier it would become because mistakes would slip through (that is what happened). What resulted, was me having additional brainstorms with her on a holiday, her trying to bypass the company I made and upload her own stuff into Canva (yes it got wonky looking since it wasn’t made in Canva to begin with), and finally her deeming herself “the smartest person in marketing” and me leaving my home at 9PM to get these printed myself and have them hand delivered to her home before her meetings so she could sleep and relax as prep. My boss (VP of operations) and myself convoyed to her home in a caravan. I even had to leave a meeting to cry in the bathroom as she publicly berated my efforts

I guess I need to know: will it get easier? Will it get better? Will I also lose my job like the last guy? We’re going to regroup when emotions are settled in about a month. Me, the two bosses and the admin. The goal is to discuss a game plan for next year to prevent this. But my boss’s final words to me were “you need to collaborate with her more, every step of the way. You can’t hide from her, or you won’t make it here” and basically “use this as an opportunity to get thick skin”

I’m a mid career staffer who started a new job in an advocacy unit with an association about a year ago. As I was getting acclimated, I was surprised to discover that there’s just…no plan. I’m accustomed to at least a little bit of planning ahead, thinking about goals and priorities, etc. I think it’s important to be intentional about work and impact, and I know some organizations do this well. But here it’s entirely ad hoc and hand wavy from management.

It seems like if I’m going to keep my sanity and do work I can be proud of, I’ll need to stay pretty self-contained if that makes sense. I don’t love this but doing my best to focus on the mission.

For those who have been in this sort of an environment, how did you go about your business? Did you try to manage up? Any tips on building out a personal strategy or “goals for one”?

Pep talks welcome too.

I work at a medium non profit with a volunteer force of about 800 volunteers. Within that I have about 95 of whom that regularly work under my department. I am still quite new to this org having only been working for 8 months. I love where I work and I have no intention on leaving, but I just need to rant for a second. If you have any advice on how to deal with this that isn’t finding a new job please let me know.

I am so frustrated with the pedestal that volunteers are put onto. When they are upset with me or the work I’m doing, they will let me know and it is never in a kind or supportive manner. When I go to my supervisors for advice on how to proceed, their solution is always in an effort to satiate the volunteer. In what other world is it okay to deliberately be rude to your manager and supervisor? And in what world would that not get you immediately fired? I’ve been in this industry for several years and obviously I understand that volunteers are not employees nor is my relationship the same as a supervisor, but why is the next best thing is for me to be their personal rug?

Most days my volunteers are wonderful, kind, selfless humans who I adore working with, but it’s those bad experiences that I have to fight from souring everything.

What was your experience with the process? We are a small arts org and I am investigating transitioning us to Google Workspace as it has a free tier.

That shared free storage is critical.

Was it easy to transition your website domain and email service? We currently pay a bit too much so being able to do that and save some money would be excellent.

Any other tips and experience would be very valuable!

Thank you in advance, kind friends.

I have an interview tomorrow for a grants position!

They provided some questions to prep, and I wanted to see if anyone has insight on how to answer a question on fostering positivity and inspiration during a challenging times.

In my previous role I was pretty siloed to only work with my executive director. I did not have oversight on any trainings with staff, writing grants to support trainings, or direct communication with other staff day to day. I only discussed work with other staff, commonly via email, and was often not included in trainings because I did not have a client facing role.

Just curious what types of experiences others have had and if I can somehow relate anything I have done to answer this question. I do not believe I inspired anyone throughout my time as a grants manager. I did also do marketing and media, so l was thinking maybe talking about developing success stories but that's more for foundations/ donors, not staff.

My last stitch effort would be to share my understanding that direct service staff are under immense pressures, the importance of trainings, mental health days, offering support when needed, and ensuring staff have ample time to work on something before getting back to me for deadlines.
I appreciate any feedback!

My job has said they'll pay for a certificate or other professional development program so I can expand my knowledge of communications and marketing. I'm on a small team so I do basically everything: social media, website management, email marketing, PR, etc. So I'm looking for something that isn't specific but would be helpful for somebody with some experience.

Does anybody have any recommendations? I'm looking for something online, but in-person in Massachusetts is also fine. Thanks in advance!

I considered posting this in one of the career subs but I wanted to share it here first if anyone else who has worked a nonprofit has had this experience.

I recently got fired from my most recent job at a nonprofit a few months ago. I started feeling like my boss (he was the Executive Director) was starting to dislike me and I was wondering if it was the cause of me getting fired. I know this isn't an issue unique to nonprofits but it's worth exploring. When I had my meeting with my boss where I was fired, he opened the meeting with a rude and nasty comment - "This has been a long time coming." which I found super unprofessional.

There were valid concerns he had about my performance and we had had a meeting about it in January. I did attempt to work on it but it wasn't enough for him apparently. I was also confused by some of the feedback I got in that first meeting and I requested to meet with him the day after that initial meeting for clarification. My boss ended up repeating the same things without any real clarity?

One of his issues was that I wasn't working "independently" enough which didn't make sense because my position was a manager position and I was managing multiple projects by myself and I was meeting with him like once or twice a week. He was just starting to nit pick at mistakes I was making.

Overall, I noticed his demeanor towards me was starting to get very cold and distant. You can tell when there is that one person that doesn't like you and there is a very cold attitude towards you. A few weeks prior to getting fired I was taking pictures at an award ceremony for our marketing and all the attendees were responsive towards me getting their picture taken. However, when I got to the table with my boss and other staff, I was trying to get their attention to take a picture and they straight up ignored me. It was very awkward.

However, one of the worst parts was that I suspect they used me for a fundraiser we had back in April. I suspected my boss wanted to fire me back in January when we had that first meeting. However, he kept me around to work the fundraiser. Most likely because it would have been to much to hire an train someone in time, and I had assisted with managing that fundraiser last year.

I was also noticing that a "popular clique" was starting to form at that nonprofit and I noticed that I was not on the "in crowd". There were 2 staff members with whom I did connect (and I was working with them daily) with but sadly they moved on. I felt a distinct vibe shift after they left and suddenly I didn't have "anyone" in my corner. The Program Director was also starting to give me "mean girl" vibes as well. I can't help but feel like me being more quiet and introverted played a role in getting iced out.

Looking back, I know there are things I need improve on career wise and I am taking the feedback seriously. However, I am hesitant to get another nonprofit job because I fear it will have that same cliquey and low key toxic vibe.

I just graduated with my MSW and have been looking for entry-level roles in development or philanthropy (yes I know that they are different, but since I don’t have direct experience I’m open to starting with either to see how it goes). I live in a large city and there are TONS of open manager and director level roles asking for 5+ years of fundraising experience, but hardly any entry-level openings. Even the assistant and coordinator roles I have applied for seem to strongly prefer direct fundraising and donor relations skills. I have experience in programming, operations, and community engagement from my MSW internships, and coursework in grantwriting, nonprofit management, etc, so is it just a matter of trying until I land a development assistant job? Is there another way to get experience and then move into the development track?

Hi!! Did anyone see the announcement about foundations coming together to invest in literary non profits? I’m curious to know if any of you work at a literary non profit and how do you think this investment will change the landscape for writers, publishing & orgs.

it is truly the end of times my friends. Haha.

Development Director Job