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this post was submitted on 16 Apr 2024
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I've been in the nonprofit/ngo world for decades now, tech, tech-oriented or tech-adjacent. I started my career in corporate and let me tell you I did truly hate it beyond my ability to express. I could have found a better job in for-profit but the fundamentals would be the same and I believe for me, at best I would have tolerated it. Would I go to work each day saying to myself this is all worth because I am helping others have better lives?
My transition to nonprofit was one of an accidental, happy discovery but that came at a cost of some personal dramatic, and traumatic events which I will not bore you with. I never knew you could work for a nonprofit, or even what a nonprofit was. So few things:
There are all kind of nonprofit, micro to huge. KaIser permanente ($100B/yr) is a nonprofit. The all volunteer org down the street that distributes sanitation packs to homeless may be a nonprofit. Some churches are nonprofits.
Some nonprofits are incredibly well run and others are horrendously disorganized. Generally, larger orgs are better run but more corporate in style and smaller ones less so, but that is not always true.
A career in the nonprofit world is entirely possible. It is usually true that pay is less than corporate but that is not always true even. If you value money over all other factors, then you are probably barking up the wrong tree. If being a happy person is higher up on your list, nonprofit is worth considering.
"The great thing about nonprofits is that you don't have to worry about money!" hahahahaaaa hhaa cries. Most nonprofits deal with an unending battle for funding in one way or the other. It doesn't mean they are necessarily unstable as orgs but funding comes and funding goes and most manage funding from multiple sources. For those involved with that aspect, it is a constant consideration.
As far as how to make the jump by far the best thing you can do is you have the capacity, is to volunteer at one that has a mission that appeals to you. It doesn't matter what you do as a volunteer. Go and see how it feels to you. What are the people like? What do you think of the work of the org? Caring about the org and its mission is the thing to assess first. Then see what opportunities there are. Many nonprofit are network oriented, so as you get to know them and they get to know you, doors may open that others are not even aware of.
idealist.org and workforgood.org and I am sure there are many other places to explore.