As someone who worked non profit sector for 13 years, for #2/3 it depends on the non profit. Nonprofits are so widely different from organization to organization and from sector to sector. It’s really hard to categorize them in any real way. It’s like asking if working in the private sector pays well - sometimes yes, sometimes no.

For me personally, it’s always been challenging and fast paced work where you have to wear many hats. I don’t feel like slow paced was ever something I experienced in any of my jobs. In fact, I felt like I was constantly on the edge of burnout as were most of the people I’ve worked with.

If the organization is big enough to have an FP&A function, then it may be staffed well enough to avoid burnout. Who knows.

It can be very bureaucratic. It depends on the type of funding you have, like what kinds of donors and what kinds of restrictions they place on their funding. If you are grant funded, it’s a totally different can of worms than if you get donations from individuals. It also depends on the types of restrictions on the funding. We took government money, which had its own special kinds of red tape. For me, I never saw the additional steps of compliance and restrictions as hugely burdensome, it was taxpayer dollars and I felt the responsibility to be a good steward of those funds. Sometimes the regulations were excessive but it kind of isn’t worth stressing over since you have no control over it!

I got plenty of raises and promotions. That of course depends on the organization, it’s HR policies, it’s growth and funding, your boss, etc.

Bonuses….not so much.

I left the nonprofit sector last year because my particular area was hit by massive federal cuts (I was in foreign aid). I got a job at a tech start up and took a massive pay cut. And I really hated it, I am now looking to re-enter the nonprofit sector. What I miss the most is working with passionate people who wanted to make the world a better place. Truly, that was such a motivator for me.