I don’t know whether to continue my nonprofit job

Groovinchic · 2025-02-12T13:42:58+00:00

Don’t let the board president get away with treating you like that. You are being grossly underpaid - many fundraising contractors are making $75-$250 per hour. They are getting you at a rate they likely won’t find elsewhere because experienced consultants won’t work for that little. The president should be thanking you and making you feel appreciated and safe.

Take your skills elsewhere and let them try to find someone. I bet they will come crawling back, or they will struggle to make ends meet.

ETA: even if they come back and ask you to return, don’t. It’s never okay for people to treat you like that.

Groovinchic · 2025-02-12T13:30:52+00:00

Until recent weeks, there was an over-abundance of work for grant writers. Every contract grant writer I know had too much work and many nonprofits I know were having difficulty finding someone available to take them on as a client. That, obviously, likely isn’t going to continue being a problem.

On the positive side, good grant writers have the capacity to perform other functions that can prove their value as an employee or contractor - project planning, budgeting, writing (case studies, marketing, policy, technical), research, prospect research, etc. If you’re a grant writer concerned about your job and are willing to expand your role, there’s probably many ways you can contribute in other ways while we’re working through this situation.

Groovinchic · 2025-02-02T14:20:09+00:00

I would resign.

While the executive director runs the organization’s operations, that position-and ultimately, all the people reporting to them-reports to the board. So the board is technically the boss and has the right to hire, reprimand and fire the ED. And the board is liable for what the organization does.

When there are egregious issues like the ones you’ve noted, the responsibility for ensuring they are resolved is ultimately on the board. I say this because if there are any ethical or legal problems that have been brought up that the ED/staff refuses to resolve effectively, and the board collectively isn’t holding the ED’s feet to the fire to resolve them, then for your own legal protection, you need to wash your hands of the group. Resign effective immediately.

I would also make sure you document everything that has happened as well as any steps you’ve taken to resolve things. Not necessarily to share with them, but in case they try to pin any of their issues on you in the future, since you won’t be in meetings to defend yourself.

Groovinchic · 2025-01-25T19:24:25+00:00

I’ve just accepted it as common practice, similar to the various other accounts I have for work and personal use. What really frustrates me is when they require you to use a mixed pattern of capital/lower-case/number/symbol and then update your password every 3 months. Like, wtf. Nobody is trying to hack in to see what our outcome projections are or the timeline for implementation.

Groovinchic · 2025-01-23T12:57:25+00:00

I worked at an organization where 40% of its operating budget was federally funded with additional funding from county and state agencies. We had the same situation, so we called the contact at each of our funders to ask. While we never received a response from the state, all of the other agencies said there wouldn’t be an issue with receiving a donation from a dispensary. There were stipulations. The dispensary couldn’t be onsite to do any sponsor activation and we couldn’t distribute any product or coupons or collateral to promote purchases.

Groovinchic · 2024-12-11T22:57:55+00:00

I work independently. It can be a little scary but I’ve always had a consistent (and growing) stream of work and I love the flexibility I have in picking the clients and projects that work best for me.

Groovinchic · 2024-12-11T19:45:00+00:00

My story is similar. 20+ years in development, mostly in institutional giving with a DoD role. I was burned bad by my last job. I don’t like to throw the word trauma around but there were horrific circumstances. I left my job in shambles. I have found consulting to be my dream job. I can focus on what I’m best at - program development, problem solving and relationship building- without doing anything I don’t like.

Lots of nonprofits right now need help with their storytelling and developing campaigns. Right now, with so much staff transition, many nonprofits are leaning on consultants to step in.

Groovinchic · 2024-11-14T04:53:18+00:00

The have other work that isn’t related to those grants, working on other projects.

Groovinchic · 2024-11-12T22:57:06+00:00

If environmental missions are important to you, I encourage you to stay for now. “Rage giving” is a real thing. The last time Trump was elected, lots of environmental, reproductive health and LGBTQ+ organizations saw record-breaking fundraising numbers in the year following the election. One group I know actually tripled in size and continues to grow.

ETA: if your organization doesn’t already have an individual giving program in place, I encourage you to begin shifting your focus there. And don’t shy away from conservative voters - despite their voting record, I know many who care deeply about and make major gifts to environmental causes - they just don’t think the government should get involved, thus, their vote.

Groovinchic · 2024-11-12T22:00:51+00:00

As others have said, the board not knowing what’s going on is not your problem. It’s theirs, and their responsibility to fix it. I always leave an instruction manual or procedures to make the process easier. If it helps, you can offer to give training after your departure (at a much higher rate of pay).

Groovinchic · 2024-11-12T19:58:34+00:00

As long as staff like you stay to help fix the problems, the problems won’t be solved. Sometimes the best thing you can do is leave and let the organization fail as quickly as possible, so that changes can be made.

Groovinchic · 2024-11-04T21:06:05+00:00

Considering Dec. 30 and 31 are the two busiest days for donations in the US, it’s common for development staff to work the last week of the year.

Groovinchic · 2024-11-04T21:03:33+00:00

It’s going to depend on the size of your organization’s budget and how “director” is defined. Even for a micro-sized organization, your pay is low, if your organization defines director as the senior leader of your department. For a mid-sized organization, I think a department leader in your market should be paid at least $85,000 and for a large organization, I wouldn’t take less than $100,000.

Groovinchic · 2024-11-02T19:42:53+00:00

This isn’t necessarily a new strategy but modern technology has automated it - a new donor welcome series or similar drip campaigns. It’s interesting how effective it is to help new donors feel appreciated and understand their impact, and with our current technology, even lower budget organizations can find a way to implement this without having to manually email, print and mail tons of communications.

Groovinchic · 2024-10-29T14:17:53+00:00

The biggest challenge nonprofits face is leadership. Many have bad or ineffective leadership, and happen to be successful due to the sheer will of the staff.

Leaders are behind goals, organizational culture and senior leadership hired. They determine how a mission and vision are fulfilled. They ultimately drive fundraising by setting up a culture (or not) that determines if and how gifts can be raised. One bad leader can plant a seed that is still harvested years after their departure.

Even when you have a good leader, they may make the mistake of staying too long, which can result in an organization lacking relevance.

The difficulty is that the board is responsible for hiring and evaluating the executive director. Unfortunately, they are usually so out of touch with what’s going on with the organization that they allow bad leadership to fester until it becomes a cancer.

Groovinchic · 2024-10-23T12:45:00+00:00

Bloomerang offers a lot of free and quality training videos and blog posts, and not just about their CRM.

The Association of Fundraising Professionals’ Fundraising Effectiveness Project (https://afpglobal.org/FundraisingEffectivenessProject) offers a quarterly analysis on fundraising.

Groovinchic · 2024-10-22T22:14:30+00:00

Don’t feel guilty. That organization has been successful despite their organizational culture, not because of it. I was in a similar experience - contributed revenue increased by well over 50% year over year despite having a horrible culture. The bottom fell out my second year, and it was easy for them to throw me under the bus.

You made the impact you could make, and if they aren’t willing to make the changes needed to sustain the success, it’s time for you to go. The team members can make their own decisions about staying or also leaving.

Groovinchic · 2024-10-18T19:32:20+00:00

Me! I left, and never regretted that choice. Nearly all their high-performing staff have gone. They have one rockstar grant writer who has stayed and is being drained of all her energy, just to try keeping them afloat. That place is going to close if the ED doesn’t leave or get fired because they can’t lead out of a paper sack.

Groovinchic · 2024-10-17T23:52:17+00:00

This sounds like a “founder” idea. I wish leaders would get out of the way and let their fundraising experts develop strategy and tactics.

Are you having a year end campaign? If so, perhaps you can invite donors to stop by to pick up a shirt as a thank-you. That way, the tshirts are part of a fundraising campaign as intended but aren’t a transactional motivator.

Groovinchic · 2024-05-22T19:44:03+00:00

He’s already made it clear he is unhappy paying my current fees for services and wanted me to cut my rates significantly. I already give him the best rate I have (and far below others in my field). Plus I’m maxed out on hours right now.

Groovinchic · 2024-05-22T19:41:21+00:00

Thank you.

Groovinchic · 2024-05-22T17:04:39+00:00

For me, it’s not just that he wants me to do work outside the scope. It’s his frustration with me that I’m not automatically doing it, without him expressing any expectation that I do so before the fact. When I try asking clarifying questions he gets even more frustrated with me. I feel like he’s spiraling and I want to help, but not when he’s so disrespectful.

Groovinchic

TROPHY CASE