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View Full Version : I need a new career!



redfox
5-16-12, 11:15pm
Sheesh... I am tired of struggling nonrofits. What is the family of origin trip I am working out...?

The org I work for, a very small nonprofit, had been banking with the same rural bank since it's founding as a regional org some 15+ years ago, a bank in another state. It was a personal account! Last summer, I started the transiton to a business account with a national bank. It took 6 months to shift all the on-line accounts my predecessor had set up over... Ridiculous. I'll be closing half of those too, when I have a moment.

Each year we host a conference. It's ridiculously expensive. Last year, the five figure bill was put on a personal credit card of a former IT guy who has huge credit limits... He got plenty of airline miles out of the deal, and the cash flow for the confence was managed so that the bills could be paid after the event.

We have NO CREDIT as an organization (the recently acquired business credit card I finally managed to get has a $2500 limit...). Today I found out that the conference site denied our in-house credit app, so we owe the entire bill up front, before the conference, before all the ticket sales, the auction fundraiser, etc. 48K. We have 56K in the bank.

So, I called a former board member for a 10K loan to be able to meet payroll in June. Thank God she said yes. Is this effed up or what?!? I cannot believe we're doing this major event, which we spend 6 months preparing for, and spend over 100K, to make about 30K. It's a terrible business plan. I spent the day being really anxious over it all. Sooo sick of sketchy jobs.

Valley
5-16-12, 11:41pm
It is very difficult to work for small non profits. Everything always is "cut so close". I too would be very anxious. Good luck with it all!

sweetana3
5-17-12, 5:56am
Heck, our spina bifada walk, first one for our community, earned $30,000+ after about $3,000 in expenses.

As an outsider, I always wonder about the nonprofits missions and whether they are really beneficial in the overall picture. I am very careful about my donations to ensure that the money goes in high percentage to the actual need and not such things as conferences and other expenses for a select group of people.

SteveinMN
5-17-12, 6:08am
Redfox, I certainly understand why you'd want to be working elsewhere. But doesn't your non-profit have a board of directors or overseers? What kind of organization continues to spend on an event many times what they get back? Or is 100K a typo?

Have you looked at other non-profits? Seattle must have a bunch of them.

redfox
5-17-12, 4:24pm
Redfox, I certainly understand why you'd want to be working elsewhere. But doesn't your non-profit have a board of directors or overseers? What kind of organization continues to spend on an event many times what they get back? Or is 100K a typo?

Have you looked at other non-profits? Seattle must have a bunch of them.

It's not a typo; we do have a Board - they love the conference... it's one of the reasons I think they are on the Board (they get in for free) - and it's one of two mission fulfillment activities. The other is an out-of-date website that has lots of good info that's really hard to access.

I've worked at a few other non-profits, and I am seriously considering a sector jump into the for-profit world. I'm not ready to throw in the towel quite yet... I just went to an awesome workshop on non-profit turnarounds, by this consultant: http://www.janglick.com/

Wow. I'm getting the book out of the library shortly. If there is hope, I will find it. And look for options in the meantime.

redfox
5-18-12, 5:16pm
Well... Big success today. The board agreed to a reorg, and to eliminating the big conference next year. Woo hoooo! I am confident that we'll figure it out. Also looking for another gig just in case... Either as an additional job, or another one.

Valley
5-18-12, 6:06pm
Great news!

lhamo
5-18-12, 6:58pm
Well, done. If nothing else, you have put this organization on a healthier path.

Have you ever considered doing development for more established organizations, like hospitals or universities? Probably not as compelling in some ways, but might be more stable. I admire people who can do development -- I prefer to be on the side of GIVING grants (great gig!), and can't imagine having to ask for money every day (though right now I'm trying to help our organization land a big project, so I guess that is similar).

good luck with the changes you are pushing through and the job search.

lhamo

razz
5-18-12, 8:31pm
Redfox, have you seen this free downloadable book on moving organizations ahead for non-profits?
http://www.vppartners.org/leapofreason/getit

pinkytoe
5-18-12, 8:52pm
DD has been in development with the same np for five years now - her first professional job out of grad school. They have a $1.5 mil budget but it seems like the time and money spent on their fundraisers is counter-productive. Seems old paradigm to me to have charity events attended by rich people in ball gowns. I give her two more years until she burns out and moves on.

redfox
5-19-12, 12:39am
Redfox, have you seen this free downloadable book on moving organizations ahead for non-profits?
http://www.vppartners.org/leapofreason/getit

Ooo! Thank you. I looking forward to developing a new business model...

lhamo
6-8-12, 1:22am
Redfox,

Saw this and thought of you -- maybe working for a larger organization with a better resource base would help?

http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/jobs/job_item.jhtml?id=380900035

lhamo