USD Magazine, Fall 2003

The Business of Betterment Good news! Improving people' lives is a pwth industry. Cuecrs in health services, such IS llUQe, and

Illinois-~ Abbott, Langer 8c Associates rcpomd that nonprofit salaries continue to lag behind for– profit scaor jobs. CEOs in nonprofit organiza– tions with budgets ofmore than $25 million earned an average of$115,000, the survey said. Those who worked for organizations with budgets under $250,000, which account for about half of all nonprofits, showed amedian income of $28,260. In general, nonprofit salaries tend to be about 10 percent lower than salaries offered in the pri– Yllte scaor, says Robert Walker, executive director ofThe Management Center, which provides man– agement assistance to nonprofit organizations in orthem California. While they may not have the same earning potential as someone in the corporate structure, they can earn a comfortable living,• adds Richard Potter, vice ptesident for development and com– munications for the national American Humanics headquarters. -what most nonprofits arc trying to do is get (salaries for) entry-level positions to the same level as entry-level teachers. Some nonprofits arc doing even better than that, Potter says. ~ the Boy couts ofAmerica, entry-level (pay) is higher than wbar a first-year teacher would make. It depends on the me of the organimion and it depends on location.•

~wees, Scales says, adding that stUdents from all academic backgrounds ue Bocking to non– profits and that an increasing number of stUdents ue geaing a leg up by punuing an American Humanics cen:ificate. Heather Joslyn. editorial manager for The Chnmiele ofPhikmthropy. a newspaper for the nonprofit world, Sll}'I overall demand is extremely high for fund-raisers in all fidds, because of high turnover in that seaor. ·AD kinds ofnonprofits - theaters, hospitals, environmental groups and univmities - need fund-raisers Joslyn Ba)'S. onprofus depend on these people wr their bread and butter. They need them to bring in the donations and proposals for grants, ~ with so many states cutting back funding. 7---, Despite the demand for nonprofit professionals - u evidenced by the proliferation ofheadhunt– ing 6rms geued mwmd nonprofits and nonproiit jobWeb sites like oppommityknocks.org, idealist.org and elfuetwork.00m - the 6elcl still doesn't ofli:r pay that can oompete with the busi– neais world. A 2002 national salary survey by

caseworkm in nonprofu hospitals, aaditionally have accounted for most jobs in the nonproiit sect0r. But trends point to future growth in many other areas especially youth and human services. Jobs in those 6elds ue plentiful and diverse, rang– ing from aecutive director positions at Habitat for Humanity and outreach advoc:ata for the YMCA to team leader positions for groups like Lutheran Child and Family Services. kcoiding to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, demand for youth and human semc:e professionals is ezpec:ted to increase by 49 percent in the next twO years. For m:ent college graduates, sa}'I USO Cmer Services Ditector Linda Sales, there is an abundance of entry-level jobs, includ– ing residential 00unsclor jobs in a group home set– ting or teaching and ooaching positions in settings that genmlly don't require a teaching aedcndal, such as with the Peace C.Orps or the YMCA. "The thud 81a is administratioa. which cover, everything from customer service to human

"Some people may have been running a nonprofit for 20 years, bur flying by the seat of their panes," Libby says. "They're running very well-respected organizations in the com– munity, but there are so many facets to run– ning a nonprofit char make che cask so com– plex. They can be excellent in program design bur not as sharp on financial manage– ment or human resources. "I chink char may have something to do with chem coming back to school and looking for ocher ways to survive," she adds. "The tra– ditional fund raising is no longer working. I chink a lot of their motivation is learning how to operate smarter with what they have." Students like Leif Ozier enrolled to help advance their careers. Ozier graduated from USD in 1998 with a bachelor's degree in sociology and went straight into a nonprofit career at Catholic Charities, where he edu- Leif Ozier educates a merchant about the negative effects of cigarette advertisements as part of an anti-tobacco program run by Catholic Charities.

cares immigrant and refugee populations in San Diego County about the dangers of tobacco. After five years of outreach and field work at Catholic Charities, however, Ozier felt the need to explore ocher avenues in his chosen career. He enrolled in the master's program at USD, he says, to gain an "overall knowl– edge of how the nonprofit sector runs." "I aspire to gee into the management side of nonprofits," he says. Like his peers, Ozier doesn't expect to gee rich. Tougher economic rimes have spurred the need for more nonprofit agencies, but the proliferation of such agencies means each organization muse scramble even more for a piece of the shrinking fund-raising pie. "In the 1990s, there were foundations char had a lot of money and corporations doing well and giving away more money," says Richard Potter, vice president for develop– ment and communications for the American Humanics national headquarters in Kansas City, Mo. "The nonprofit sector has grown

USD student Christine Bogenrief and a "trainee" at Canine Companions for Independence, where Bogenrief interned this summer. significandy in d1e last 25 years, and higher education is catching up with char growth as the nonprofit groups become more dependent upon d1e need to be run more professionally." Bue Potter says che strides made in train– ing nonprofit professionals have been enor– mous, and adds char the people motivated to (continued on page 37)

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FALL 2003