The Nonprofit Industry: It's Worth Looking Into!

Maybe you have heard of nonprofits before or maybe you have even taken classes about nonprofits, but have you ever really thought about what exactly a nonprofit organization is and considered it as a place to start/build your career? Well you should!

Below is a list of a few quick facts about nonprofit organizations. These facts were adapted from a presentation given by Shelly Cryer called, "A Call To Serve: 2009 Nonprofit Career Paths". Cryer is also the author of a book called The Nonprofit Career Guide: How to Land a Job that Makes a Difference. We have a copy of this book in the SDO for students to take a look at if they are interested.

1. Definition of a Nonprofit- mission driven organization where revenue is not the end in itself. (That doesn't mean that the organization doesn't have money or pay their employees well!)
2. The public is served by nonprofits.
3. Volunteerism and altruism are highly valued in the nonprofit sector.
4. Nonprofits are governed by a board of directors.
5. Nonprofits are flexible and autonomous.
6. The nonprofit sector is growing faster than the rest of the economy.
7. There are nonprofit organizations in many different areas such as the arts, culture, education, environment, animals, health, religion, foreign affairs, and many more.
8. 12.9 million people were employed by a nonprofit in 2005
9. More than 100 new nonprofits file with the IRS everyday.
10. Most nonprofit organizations are small (74%) and most do not have an HR person.

Stay tuned for more posts about working at nonprofits. Next time we will go into more detail about trends in the nonprofit sector and strategies for getting hired as an employee at a nonprofit!