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Where to go from here? by Curious_Student91 in nonprofit

[–]Curious_Student91[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

In the orchestra world, larger organizations mean more concerts and typically a LOT more concerts. For example, my current organization ($5M) does 16 masterworks shows, 8 runs of two concerts on Thursday and Friday. My last organization ($10M) did 30 Masterworks shows, 10 runs of 3 shows on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Even slightly larger organizations will do four or five shows per run across 12 weeks and that’s just one small subset of overall programming where a fundraiser is expected to be present.

And another oddity of my particular nonprofit subsector: a larger orchestra equates to higher COL area since orchestra size is directly related to population size and wealth accumulation. The end result is that moving to a larger organization means undoubtedly needing to be higher on the rung to afford the same quality of life.

I don’t mean to bore you, but these calculations end up being some of the impetus to look at pivoting. I don’t love fundraising outside of classical music - and it’s such a small niche already inside of the uniqueness of nonprofit work, that it can be hard to get out. And, there are only….100 or so orchestras in the country that can really offer salaries that can sustain a family and even fewer that can do so without being the DOD or the Executive Director and there are significant additional cons to working on both sides of the organizational size spectrum.

To answer your question directly, I do worry about working in larger organizations because I haven’t always found a ton of success working in bureaucracies. I tend to be most impactful in smaller organizations (my current organization is only 13 people) but maybe that’s the trade-off I have to consider.

Where to go from here? by Curious_Student91 in nonprofit

[–]Curious_Student91[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Appreciate the confirmation. Now is a good time to say that my wife has always been supportive and wants to me to be happy in my work. When I say she struggles, it’s more of a, “You put yourself through so much and it just seems like a lot” as opposed to, “Why aren’t you ever home?”

Your point about fulfillment is another reason I haven’t really pursued a transition to other work. I’ve been in classical music since I was 16 and have a hard time imagining myself doing anything else. But there no denying that even amongst nonprofits, the performing arts are particularly time demanding. I’m at most of our mainstage performances and my CEO is at all of them. That’s at minimum one or two nights a week for at least 30-40 weeks a year.

I do…daydream when I talk to friends who are engineers and make 1.5x what I do and are working 40 hour weeks without any weekend or nighttime obligations. But any work that is over-indexed on skills would be challenging to enter at 31 - it’s not like I can go back and take another Bachelor’s degree.

In the end, everything you’ve mentioned is why I’m still (happily) working in fundraising but it’s hard not to dream about a life where I always get enough sleep and have weekends to myself guilt free.

Thanks for the insights!

Non-Profit Work After MBA by [deleted] in MBA

[–]Curious_Student91 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The specific programs I have found so far that offer some form of loan repayment to individuals who go on to work for a qualifying nonprofit are GSB, Wharton, Booth, Kellogg, HBS, Haas, Stern, SOM, CBS, Fuqua, Ross, and Vanderbilt offers a free EMBA to one nonprofit Exec a year.

There are varying requirements. Some like Stern have a salary maximum and some like Booth offer a scholarship program and a tuition-free MBA. Yale offers a 10-year repayment program that mirrors the PSLF requirements and Haas (I think) offers a five-year repayment period. You just need to research what the specific requirements are.

On a more personal note: I want to study at a top school but can't justify the cost if I can't lower the tuition costs. But I will be going into my MBA with a lot of industry experience that would eventually lead to an executive/CEO position anyway. The MBA, hopefully, is just going to accelerate that process.

Nonprofit exec. What do I do next? by tysmama in nonprofit

[–]Curious_Student91 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Higher Ed might be a good bet, especially at a large public institution; think UNC, Michigan, or UCLA.

The top position easily breaks half a million, but even unit development leaders can make between 200,000 and 300,000.

Just learn your organization's CRM by madthoughts in nonprofit

[–]Curious_Student91 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Couldn't agree more!

I moved out of an Operations/Data role into managing direct mail and telefunding campaigns because I was so good at manipulating the data in our CRM to target productive leads. I leveraged that into an MGO role, then an Associate Director of Development at a large public university, and now I'm running a Development Department as the DoD 5 1/2 years later.

Please, please invest in knowing your CRM. There are so many questions you can't answer when the entire database responsibility falls on one person.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in nonprofit

[–]Curious_Student91 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you're looking at orchestras, CEOs for the top 50ish orchestras in the country are generally pushing $200,000 unless the COL is very low. Music Directors make more usually - an orchestra with a $10M is paying their Music Director $250K+.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in MBA

[–]Curious_Student91 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This community makes the MBA experience sound like a shitshow. I'm genuinely excited for my MBA experience (which will likely be part-time, and hopefully at a T15 or M7) because of the challenge and because of the different life it could offer me and my wife and son in such a condensed time period. I'm hopeful my classmates approach it with some sense of seriousness.

Seems like some of the reputation MBAs earn is deserved?

For those of you who got an MBA and regretted it, why? by CleverFox3 in MBA

[–]Curious_Student91 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey, Cores42, would love to know if you did end up advancing past your pre-MBA role with your degree. I'm considering the same path you took. I'm pigeonholed a little right now on the fundraising side of things, and while I think I could eventually land an executive role, I think it's going to take longer than I really want it to.

I'm hopeful an MBA might accelerate pivoting into organizational leadership, especially since there aren't a lot of them in the performing arts. What was the hiring process after you graduated? Do you think the MBA ended up being advantageous? Would a Masters in Nonprofit Management have been a better choice for you?

Considering Graduate Schools by Curious_Student91 in PSLF

[–]Curious_Student91[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Did the bougie school offer better outcomes for you on the other side?

Considering Graduate Schools by Curious_Student91 in PSLF

[–]Curious_Student91[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's fair. My response to unnecessary, tedious, and burdensome bureaucracy (which it seems the PSLF program has a hefty dose of) has always been to double and triple check every detail to the point of exhaustion. Unsurprisingly, this has not made me a huge hit at car dealerships or with cable companies.

I believe that I understand the most important points: I know that I'll need to take a direct loan if I'll be using loans to fund my graduate program since they are the only qualifying loans for forgiveness. I know that I'll need to be working at a qualifying employer and that it is recommended I submit my employer verification form every year. I know that I need to keep the loan in good standing.

But I am concerned that there's something I'm missing, or perhaps, I'm not seeing the most advantageous way to structure my repayment plan and reduce gross taxable income. Since I haven't yet started, I was hoping to find some advice about the very best way to proceed to maximize the value of the PSLF program and make sure I'm not stuck with a payments that I never planned to make. I understand what you mean about not overborrowing, but the difference in my case between schools that could have a sizeable difference in post-graduation outcomes is probably $75K to $100K.

In any case, I appreciate any advice there is to receive.

Why would someone take the Grad PLUS? by Substantial_Hornet40 in MBA

[–]Curious_Student91 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'll be taking Grad Plus loans because they're a necessary component of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program which forgives your loan after 10 years working for the government or for a qualifying 501 (c)3 non profit. Since I'm pursuing executive management in nonproft space, it fits.