Build Your Influence in Nonprofits

This content is brought to you by our partner, California State University Northridge. Dedicated to empowering nonprofit professionals, CSUN provides a range of educational opportunities designed to help you advance your career and make a greater impact in your community.

---

Joan Garry, a nonprofit executive director, compares her day-to-day work to taking small footsteps. Though nonprofits often address major societal problems, positive changes happen daily in small moments. Whether Garry’s nonprofit successfully implements a new local law or receives a thank you note from a client, Garry considers each of these a win.

Changing that local law will provide residents with a safer place to live and work, but for Garry, that change starts in a staff meeting around lukewarm cups of coffee. Staff have compiled the research necessary to pitch a potential donor. Garry goes out for a second cup of coffee with a potential donor and shares what her team has been working on.

Yet Garry warns those interested in nonprofit work that taking those small victories for granted allows smaller frustrations to rule their day.

“If you’re not careful, these side effects will control your day,” Garry writes in a blog from her website. “I see it with clients all the time, the job…controls them and not vice versa.”

Garry is still quick to note that those small victories amount to work and a career that’s “exhilarating,” and she’s not the only one who thinks so. There are more than 1.5 million nonprofit organizations in the United States that employ over 10% of the US workforce. This makes the nonprofit sector the third-largest workforce in the country, just behind retail and manufacturing.

The nonprofit sector is extremely broad, and the work professionals do can be as varied as roles in business or tech, other broad terms to describe a diverse field and workforce. Nonprofits are focused on a specific issue or area, often both, and seek to provide funding and services to those people and places at the center of their organization’s mission.

Though folks generally see corporations and nonprofits as in competition with one another, yet the two are often working in tandem and rely on similar skills to get similar funding. Funding is a major part of nonprofit work, but every member of a nonprofit needs more than passion, they must have a dedicated skill.

Reporters with the Harvard Business Review write about the “myth” that nonprofits are run by folks high in passion but low on transferrable skills.

“Your passion alone will not be enough to succeed,” writes Sriram V., a nonprofit director whose work seeks to eradicate poverty. “You also need to develop the skills to support the cause you care about. This will take hard work, patience, and a willingness to grow.”

The tenacity to succeed in the nonprofit sector often means employees are driven to career build. For folks interested in gaining the professional skills necessary for leadership roles in the field, a Master’s program can offer the curriculum and industry connections to make that possible.

The Master of Public Administration: Nonprofit Sector Management at CSUN is an online program designed for mid-career professionals interested in managing within the nonprofit sector. The curriculum is designed to deliver several core skills including management, strategic planning, fundraising, and grant writing while building on student’s ongoing knowledge of nonprofit trends.

Executive directors like Garry understand that management in the nonprofit sector is often a balancing act, and the Master of Public Administration at CSUN helps professionals build on their current expertise to improve thinking skills, business acumen, and decision-making ability.

Not only is the program taught by industry leaders, students are given real-world scenarios to prepare them for a variety of situations that often occur in nonprofit management. These include practical exercises, financial management scenarios, case studies, and a collaborative student cohort to learn and grow with.

Many folks who enter into the nonprofit sector do it because of a unique interest or cause. That specialized passion often allows entry-level employees to learn the skills necessary to get a foot in the door, and may not require a degree.

Yet there are definite advantages to pursuing a higher education degree as a nonprofit professional, especially if your career goals include management and executive director roles.

Soft skills used in nonprofit work such as strong communication, a willingness to problem-solve, or be an effective contributor can all be gained in the field. However hard skills are often developed and perfected in the targeted environment created by a Master’s program. These hard skills may include data analysis, financial and budgeting expertise, copywriting and marketing, or staff supervision.

The investment in education can pay off in more ways than one. Not only are folks able to achieve their professional dreams within the nonprofit sector, their annual salaries may also increase. With nonprofits projected to bring in almost $3 trillion in annual revenue in 2024, the average nonprofit manager in the US can earn a starting salary of $90,000 every year, with room to grow.

The Master of Public Administration: Nonprofit Sector Management program at CSUN offers a flexible learning environment ideal for working professionals. Working alongside industry professionals, students will join a collaborative student cohort where they’ll focus on core skills necessary to be effective in nonprofit management as soon as they graduate.

“Every challenge you will face working at a nonprofit leaves you and society stronger,” writes Sriram V. “Every small success is a sign that you are a step closer to building an inclusive world.”

Sources:

https://www.zippia.com/advice/nonprofit-statistics

https://joangarry.com/nonprofit-executive-director/

https://hbr.org/2021/05/is-a-nonprofit-job-right-for-you

Links:

https://tsengcollege.csun.edu/programs/mpa/nonprofit-sector-management/online/curriculum

https://tsengcollege.csun.edu/programs/mpa/nonprofit-sector-management