Nonprofit Mistreatment of Employees–What Can Be Done?

Posted on June 1, 2011 by allison

Rosetta Thurman just asked a compelling question on her blog: Why do nonprofits treat their employees like crap?:

Every day, nonprofits have the opportunity to live out their values – not just in public, but in private, too. Folks in the community look to see whether “do gooders” are really walking the talk of social change or if they’re all about the money and power just like many politicians and corporations who don’t always have the interests of the people at heart. And what it comes down to is the sad truth that nonprofits like the YMCA don’t give a damn about their sick employees and Hispanics United are firing people for venting on Facebook. On the one hand, nonprofits do important work to help people, yet on the other, they seem to be the ultimate hypocrites when it comes to the way they treat the people they employ to carry out said work.

This concern goes beyond finger wagging at nonprofits–after all for-profits are known for their problematic treatment of their employees as well.  The issue is that when we claim to uplift people, change lives, empower communities, we need to embody our mission.  How can we empower people while disempowering our own employees?

At the same time, this mistreatment is seen as a necessity for nonprofit work.  Money for employees means less money for services (so the thinking goes).

In other words, we seem to have two very different expectations of nonprofits when it comes to how they treat their employees.  This brings up a variety of questions:

  • Why do these differing views exist?
  • What role do boards play in advocating and enforcing fairer treatment of nonprofit employees?
  • What stops nonprofits from moving towards fairer treatment?

We’d love to hear your thoughts–what can be done about nonprofit mistreatment of employees?

 

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Think you have too much debt to work in public service? Think again!

Posted on May 17, 2011 by allison

A common concern for young people who want careers in  the nonprofit sector is that the salaries aren’t always enough to help pay off student loans.  However, a little digging by Idealist.org reveals that there are opportunities to help people interested in public service manage, reduce, and pay off student loans while still working for a nonprofit.  Check out these three financial aid resources for people in public service by idealist.org.  The resources include:

and more. Be sure to bookmark the article as I’m sure these resources will come in handy.

Do you have any other resources or advice to add on how college grads can have careers in public service and manage their student loans?  Share them in the comments below!

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The diversity challenge facing nonprofits

Posted on May 9, 2011 by allison

The next issue of OnlyUp will tackle inclusion: how do we ensure that a variety of backgrounds and voices are included in the sector? In the process of preparing for this issue we came across interesting statistics in the 2011 Nonprofit Employment Trends Survey about how nonprofits of various sizes value diversity. According the survey:

“While the vast majority of respondent organizations believed diversity in all categories queried was important (ethnic, 88 percent, age, 80 percent, and gender 82 percent) the greatest diversity challenge was balancing ethnic diversity. 25 percent of small organizations thought that age diversity was of little importance or unimportant, compared to 16 percent of medium organizations and 10 percent of large organizations.[emphasis mine] Similarly, 24 percent of small organizations thought gender diversity was of little importance or unimportant, compared to 17 percent of medium organizations and 10 percent of large organizations.”

Why do smaller nonprofits seem to care less about age and gender diversity? And why do so many nonprofits struggle with creating a racially diverse workplace?

Indeed, valuing diversity and achieving a diverse workplace do not always go hand in hand. A recent CommonGood Careers report found that while many organizations say they value ethnic diversity, very little is done to create a diverse workplace.

What can we do to move the conversation forward and have nonprofits pay more attention to diversity?

Define diversity: Unfortunately, diversity has become a buzzword. Without a clear definition of what diversity means and what it looks like to have an organization that values diversity, how can we determine progress? This may vary from organization to organization but beginning with concrete ideas helps make large changes more manageable/approachable.

Put resources into becoming diverse: Resources include time and money. It may require a complete overhaul of recruitment strategies (or developing one); it may mean implementing a new way to survey employees; it may mean writing and revisiting an organizational statement regarding diversity.

Identify role models: What organizations are doing well in various aspects of diversity? What can we learn from them?

Not putting effort into creating an inclusive workplace has a negative impact on retention and leadership development. These reports demonstrate that nonprofits have a long way to go before embodying the change many of them seek to bring about in larger society.

What are your reactions to the studies? What can nonprofits do to become more diverse?

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Reflections on Our First Issue: Highlights and Lessons Learned

Posted on March 28, 2011 by Deepa

Dear OnlyUp Readers,

We have been both thrilled and overwhelmed by the number of people who visited and responded to our first online journal issue through comments, posts and emails.  There have been over 7000 visits to the website and over 4600 unique visitors!

However, what has been even more compelling than our numbers is the diversity of our readers who shared their thoughts by writing to the OnlyUp team and the comments that people have shared in response to the published articles.  We have received several messages from young nonprofit employees, AmeriCorps members, social entrepreneurs, social change bloggers, mid-level employees, high school students and “been-there-done-that” nonprofit gurus.

Here are some lessons learned, insights and recurring themes that we gathered from our readers’ comments:

  1. Our readers are our best source for new information and articles ideas. The  comment box had provided our team with a host of new writers.  We also received a variety of suggestions and recommendations for future articles, nonprofit resources, and program models that support our work.  Thank you!
  2. Our readers want advice about nonprofit careers.  They want to know the path that current nonprofit leaders took to get where they are now, the best strategies for finding satisfying jobs in the sector, and where to receive the necessary professional skills to build a career.
  3. Readers are dealing with the “in-between” post college or fellowship and the professional world.  While programs such as AmeriCorps exist to engage young people in service, comments on our website express the difficulty with finding a nonprofit job or even professional training that prepare young people to continue this meaningful work.   In the words of one of our readers, “you know, the in-between (being cut off from internship/mentorship opportunities because i’m no longer an enrolled student, but dying to gain some real skills in a workplace in which I’m logistically underqualified yet motivated beyond belief)” (see Tminiature’s comment under Intro to OnlyUp).
  4. There is also general frustration about a lack of professional growth, recognition, or opportunities for nonprofit employees who have been in the field longer.  Our readers shared stories that indicate that the nonprofit career ladder seems to be missing a few rungs, with nothing in between coordinator positions and full director/managerial roles.
  5. “There’s nothing better than a friendly shoulder to cry on or a pillow to punch when you come up against your frustration” (see Laura’s comment under Intro to OnlyUp). Our readers are excited that there is finally a forum to a read a story or article about a work experience that they can relate to and commiserate with the writer.
  6. There is a strong sense of determination and motivation amongst our online community.  Despite the frustration, the messages we received indicate that our readers want to stick around in the nonprofit world.  They are passionate about contributing their time and effort to social causes and want to find solutions to nonprofit workplace issues.

Last, but not least, we would like to address the intense dialogue sparked by Akhila Kholisetty’s article on work-life balance.  Most of the respondents to the article completely disagreed with the viewpoint espoused in the article.  Our decision to post this piece is aligned with our editorial philosophy—to share diverse perspectives and sometimes controversial viewpoints that will ignite an honest conversation amongst our readers.

We realize that some of our writers may not express popular opinions, but it is our hope that opening our journal to a variety of attitudes and beliefs, it will encourage reflection and critical thinking amongst both the readers as well as the writers as well.  That being said, contributors such as Danielle Stollak and Dyresha Harris will be addressing work-life balance and nonprofit expectations from very new angles in our April/May issue.

What Next?

In addition to our bimonthly posting format, we will be starting an ongoing blog—of which this is the inaugural post—that will focus on current events, topic based debates, helpful resources and links relevant to nonprofits.

Please keep sending us your ideas.

Onward and Upward,

Deepa

Deepa Vasudevan
OnlyUp Executive Committee

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Roosevelt Campus Network to help millennials redefine and pursue the American Dream

Posted on March 4, 2011 by Deepa

Read more: http://www.cnewmark.com/2011/03/millenials-reimagine-americas-future.html

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More college graduates are taking public service and nonprofit jobs

Posted on March 2, 2011 by Deepa

Catherine Rampell’s article in the New York Times highlights recent graduates who found work in the nonprofit sector, unexpectedly, due to the bad economy.

Read the article: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/02/business/02graduates.html

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