This article was written by Heather Nelson for Charity Village. It provides three key considerations for making the transition from the private sector to the nonprofit sector.
Maybe you’ve tried the corporate route and want to make a move in a more fulfilling direction. Or maybe you’re facing an unplanned career change and are thinking the world of nonprofit may have the role for you. As someone who has worked in, and with, the charitable sector my whole life, I have a ton of advice for people looking to make a career change into a fundraising role or pursue a management job in a nonprofit.
12+ years in corporate fundraising coupled with 10 more in the nonprofit sector alongside 5 years of teaching Introduction to Fundraising at Ryerson University has offered me the opportunity to connect with hundreds of people looking to transition into, or ignite a career, in the charitable sector. Here’s what I’ve learned.
Three things to keep in mind when transitioning from corporate to nonprofit
The biggest challenge I see in those looking to make the transition from corporate work to charity work is the assumption that any part of the move will be easy. I say this with the most love, compassion and hopefulness I can muster; it is not.
The truth is that while your skills are useful, and some undoubtedly transferable into the world of nonprofit, making this move takes intentionality. It takes planning. And most of all, it takes time. While you’ve likely developed business development savvy, marketing skills and people management experience (all of which are incredibly useful to the nonprofit or charitable sector), you haven’t actually been working in the sector. So, when you decide to make the shift, you need to own this in a bigger way than you probably expect.
Here are three things to keep in mind as you begin your transition:
1. You have transferable skills, but you haven’t used them in a nonprofit/charity setting. If this is the case, it is important to understand that there are elements of using these skills in the non-profit arena that will challenge your experience. It will force you to use these skills in a different way. For example, you may have to operate with limited resources and you may be surrounded by others whose primary concern is not revenue generation in the traditional sense.
Read more at: https://charityvillage.com/the-3-things-you-need-to-know-if-you-are-transitioning-from-the-corporate-to-the-nonprofit-sector/
