Eight out of 10 new workers want to continue working at a nonprofit, even though 40 percent say they are dissatisfied with their pay. And about 65 percent said they have college-loan debt.
The survey, which tracked more than 900 people who have worked at nonprofits for less than five years, was conducted with help from the Nonprofit Leadership Alliance and the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network.
In addition to showing the financial status of fledgling employees, the survey paints a picture of improving economic health for charities.
Nearly 40 percent of the recent employees surveyed said they had landed their new positions after a job search lasting three months or less.
Trish Tchume, director of the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network, says she’s encouraged by signs of economic improvement but worries about the long-term toll that low pay and college-loan debt could take on new employees—and on nonprofit organizations over all, which may have trouble retaining young talent.
A survey of 1,100 charity workers that her organization conducted last year found that commitment to remaining in a nonprofit job weakened as employees got older. The average age of workers who responded to her group’s survey was 31; the average age in the Chronicle survey was 27.
Says Ms. Tchume, “The older folks get, the more the reality sinks in that 'this is my life.’”
A Service Society
The Chronicle’s survey demonstrates the growing attention to volunteerism by young people, including volunteer requirements in high school and college. Among the findings:• About 82 percent said that they had volunteered before they found paid employment.
• Roughly 38 percent either were hired by an organization they had volunteered for or made connections through other volunteering that led to their present job.
• More than 20 percent of those polled are current or former AmeriCorps members.
Brooke Sinclair, 31, has been volunteering for the Greater Houston Coalition for Healthy Futures since June. She’s hoping to parlay her donated labor into a full-time, paid position in communications or marketing at a charity.
While the official unemployment level in Houston may be 6.5 percent—significantly below the national rate of 8.2 percent—Ms. Sinclair says it feels as though she and her job-seeking peers are all looking for the same jobs.
“I’m really surprised at how hard it’s been to find something permanent,” she says.
In addition to her volunteer position, Ms. Sinclair devotes most of her time these days to marketing herself. She attends as many networking events as she can find and is trying to join the board of a local marketing association.
Many other people new to the nonprofit work force are also seeking to forge professional connections, according to The Chronicle’s survey.
About 68 percent of people in the study who are members of professional networks belong to the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network. Nearly 14 percent are members of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, and nearly 44 percent belong to other professional networks.
Ms. Sinclair is one of a significant percentage of would-be nonprofit employees who have yet to benefit as nonprofit finances begin to recover from the downturn. Of the workers in the study still seeking a charity job, 39 percent say their job search has lasted seven months or longer.
Jobs Wanted
Angela London has been searching for work for more than two years since she was laid off from her District of Columbia work-force-development job in February 2010—despite having a master’s degree in public policy from Georgetown University.“I think I’ve applied for something like 1,000 jobs,” says Ms. London, whose unemployment payments ran out in January.
Still, she says that she remains “painfully optimistic.” There are more jobs to apply for these days, she says, and in recent weeks she has gone on multiple interviews.
She also counts herself as lucky to have such zeal for nonprofit work—she wants to advocate for children, women, or elderly people—even if she has yet to find a position.
“You have to go where your passion is,” says Ms. London. “I know an awful lot of people who are working in fields they don’t care anything about.”
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