Have you looked on craigslist for a nonprofit job lately?
Here’s what I’ve been seeing.
Nonprofits that want all of your time and
don’t want to give you more than $13/hr
Nonprofits that want you to toil in the hot sun for $10/hr and accost people and ask them to give. They brush you off, you start again.
Nonprofits that say they want you part time so they can get away with paying you far below what you’re worth, and you KNOW that job is going to eat up all of your time.
Nonprofits that want someone with all of your excellent qualifications, at a fraction of the price it took you to acquire them!
Nonprofits that want you to work for them, for free, as a board member at a nonprofit that has no paid staff.
It’s not like we’re competing with China or India here, like manufacturers or programmers are having to do. No, we’re competing with other stingy nonprofits and our own willingness to sacrifice our economic future in the name of a cause.
What is a culture of destitution? When EVERYONE who works at nonprofits, except for chief executives, are underpaid. That is, MOST people who work at nonprofits make under US$60,000 a year. And the Huffington Post just did a feature on a study that shows how US$60,000 per year will make you happy, and anything beyond that won’t really make much difference, and anything below that will be not enough and stress you out and make you sick. So as nonprofit workers, we’re basically BEING ASKED TO SACRIFICE OUR OWN HAPPINESS. Why is this our way of life? Why can’t we do better for the people that work so hard to solve social problems?
A woman came to me yesterday and she said that in her nonprofit job interview, she asked about compensation, and the interviewers kind of laughed and said, “It’s $12 per hour, with an option of a raise after a year, HA HA HA WE ALL WISH WE COULD MAKE MORE,” and how much do you want to bet that the turnover in that position is between 6-12 months?
It’s interesting that the interviewer psychologically manipulated her into thinking that he ALSO got paid $12 per hour, and that she was silly for expecting more. What a sly way to make a culture of destitution seem NORMAL! Oh girl. It is so sad what some people will accept as normal.
Here’s a little present for you: I’ve been emailing these out to my friends and family lately, so here are all of my posts about Dan Pallotta’s excellent book, Uncharitable, all in one place.
No Life, No Liberty, Just the Pursuit of Wealthy Donors
Why is your nonprofit so DAMN reactionary?
Advertising Your Nonprofit Is Not Wasting Money
Why Are Nonprofits Asked To Fight With One Hand Tied Behind Their Backs?
Read it, share it with your friends.
What’s wrong with our society that we assign such a low value to people who want to solve our social problems? Why are we paying people who are working on making life better so little?
We’ve got to start demanding a higher wage. We’ve got to start being open about what we make, and demanding equal pay for equal work. We’ve got to start treating our nonprofit staff with the respect, kudos, and money that they deserve.
Come on!
I was just thinking about this after seeing the most ridiculous ad today for a nonprofit development coordinator — a coordinator! They wanted at least 5 years of experience plus a degree, master’s preferred. The starting salary? $28K a year — and this is Los Angeles! I thought, “these people must be smoking something,” but on second thought, I bet they get tons of applications. So sad…
Yes, we’re all complicit in creating a culture of destitution. How to change that seems to be the difficult question.
Wow. 28K per year. For 5 years of experience. And a master’s degree. In LA. THAT IS NUTS!!!
And right, they’re getting lots of applications, because people are desperate.
And how hard would it be to change the title to Director?!? I MEAN, if you’re the only development staff person, that’s basically what you ARE!
So much ego, so much jostling for position in a world that doesn’t value you!
I think we need to start demanding more. And one of the best ways to do that is to join or create a nonprofit union.
What do you think?
Mazarine
This is a great post; thanks for sharing it with me! First of all, I would like to say that I live in Israel (in Jerusalem), and salaries in general are not compatible with the cost of living (at least in the big cities). So when you talk about earning $10 or $13 per hour, I would say that in Israel it is possible to get the NIS equivalent of $10/hour (although many people are getting MUCH less), but already the NIS equivalent of $13/hour is hard to obtain unless you are on the executive level (and believe me, there is a big jump between what entry and mid level employees are making and the executive level salaries!).
Just yesterday, I responded to a job post for a fundraiser/PR coordinator (again, classic example of combining 2 jobs into one … almost everyone I know in the non-profit field in Israel has a “/” in their title, indicating that they do more than one job!). The organization wants someone with experience in both areas, and there is the possibility for overseas travel (sounds like quite an important and prestigious job, right?). The salary? 30 NIS/hour (about $8/hour). Oh, and they offered me commissions. I don’t know how it works in the US, but in Israel if an organization offers to pay you “base salary + commission” or “commission only”, the organization is seen as very unprofessional, and no one who is really a “professional” fundraiser would work at this type of organization. So I did my best to (politely) tell the woman that there was absolutely no way that I would work for such a low salary. Her response? “Well, we are looking for someone to raise money for us, not someone who will cost us money.” I suppressed my urge to scream and said to her politely, “But if you are looking for a true fundraising professional, you have to be willing to pay him/her an appropriate salary.” She responded that she is looking for someone who is “idealistic”. I suggested that perhaps she should try to find someone who is independently wealthy and does not need to work for money, but believes in their cause. What more could I do? 🙂
In your “Culture of Destitution” piece, you say that everyone who works at an NGO, except the top executives, is underpaid. Amen to that! You write that everyone is making less than $60,000/year. I’d like to point out that in Israel, most people in the NP field are not even making the NIS equivalent of $30,000/year (except of course for top management)! (By the way, my point is not to say “we have it worse than you”; it’s just to get the information out there 🙂 )
I also completely agree with your example that the interviewer will “manipulate” the interviewee into thinking that they are also making $12/hour, so the interviewee should not expect more. But if the interviewer is in top management, that is certainly not the case.
I like your idea that the CEO shouldn’t make more than 10 times more than the lowest-paid employee. If the lowest-paid employee gets $12/hour, that’s roughly $25,000/year (if my math is right), and then the CEO would be making $250,000/year, which in my opinion is an excellent salary, especially for non-profit. Also if, as you pointed out, $60,000/year is enough to live on (anything less is not enough, and anything more doesn’t really matter), why can’t the salaries be distributed more evenly? Of course the CEO should still make the most, but must there be SUCH a dichotomy between entry and mid level employee wages and top management wages?
I agree with you that most non-profits function in a reactionary way that is not productive, and are understaffed (as I mentioned before, many people have a “/” in their title, indicating that they do more than one job). Also, advertising is definitely not wasting money! How else can you raise awareness for your cause, and awareness will help raise money.
Lastly, I like your idea about the ability to take stock in charities. Then the non-profit world could really begin to compete with for-profit companies in terms of finding “investors” (donors).