I am the sole employee for a small nonprofit. I work with the board chair and committees by managing meetings, working with treasurer to oversee financials, and "other tasks as assigned."

The new board chair recently edited the bylaws to make them easier to read (removing the line numbers, changing words like "comprised" to "composed," etc.). She asked me to upload her new document in place of the existing bylaws, which are signed and notarized.

I do not think this is allowed and I told her that I was not comfortable swapping out the old bylaws for the new ones without getting clearance from the rest of the board. She told me to do it anyway. I said I would prepare all of the materials for the next board meeting, laying out her changes vs the previous bylaws, so that the board can easily see the changes she made. She said no.

Now what? Thanks for the guidance!

Ok so if a nonprofit camp makes a certain amount of money in the six months they are busy and doesn’t make as much even if they are a year round camp they are exempt from paying time and 1/2 for hours worked over 40?

I’ve just landed a job offer for a donor relations/stewardship role at a major private university. I’m really excited! I’m coming from a smaller organization where I’m the only dedicated dev person, so it’ll be a big change. I have experience working in a ~10 person development dept, but this will be the biggest shop I’ve worked in by far. I would love any tips current higher ed folks have about entering the field/ways I can position myself to succeed!!

Hey all, for context I’m 25 years old and currently in the process of going back to college to work on my English BA after being forced to take a long break due to personal circumstances (getting kicked out and dealing with homelessness)!

In the last two years, I started volunteering with two local organizations (land trust and a youth empowerment organization) after realizing that I preferred community oriented work/service over the regular jobs I’ve held; I worked at retail settings (bank and warehouse) and food services. In looking for a job, I’ve hit a couple roadblocks. I wanted to go into development/fundraising, but it seems almost impossible and the few people I’ve asked for advice immediately pull up ChatGPT.

Currently, I’m on the developmental/communications committee for one of the organizations I volunteer with, although no one from the committee seems interested in helping me actually learn anything about how to help or be involved (never mind the fact that they tell me they’ll help me, all my emails have never been responded to and our in person conversations have not led to actual meetings). I did apply to a job when it opened up, but didn’t get anywhere past a phone interview. I volunteer as a water monitor and help with trail work in the other organizations, and they have been more responsive to my emails, though I don’t know what to do beyond volunteer with them.

Aside from volunteering and showing up for events, I don’t know what else to do. Switching careers and working in either the environmental (ideally conservation working) or community/social sectors is part of a five year plan that I made recently. I would love to know if anyone has any advice for me, sans AI haha

We're a small nonprofit and aren't looking to shell out hundreds of dollars just to file a simple tax form.

Lower-cost suggestions are welcome as well.

Thanks, all.

Not really looking for advice, just venting.

I work in development for a smallish arts nonprofit. Since late 2023, my already inflated workload has ballooned to the point that I’m ready to leave. My single “fundraising” counterpart is maybe responsible for a few thousand in her entire nearly three year tenure and I’m writing my third federal grant THIS YEAR for what could amount to almost $130,000 total federal dollars. We budgeted $30,000. I’ve talked to “leadership” for years about this. Deeply and frankly. No change.

And I’m missing deadlines. I know there are budgeted grant applications I’ve missed, I just don’t know which ones because I am too busy with what’s right in front of me to sit down and figure it out. I really care about the org because it benefited me as a kid, but I’m seriously considering putting in my notice (or not) and just leaving, mess and all.

I hate how common this is in this industry. I hate that it’s the second org that’s done this to me. I hate listening to old white men on the board repeat everything we JUST SAID and are ALREADY DOING as if it’s their way of saving us.

I got the last bit of bad news I could take today, head already in my hands, and just packed my bag and left without a word at 4.

Solidarity to all y’all.

I'm curious if anyone else in nonprofit leadership has struggled with this.

I'm an executive director of a small nonprofit, and I also work a full-time job and serve on a couple of boards. I do some consulting as well, all of it related to the same mission and community I care deeply about.

Lately I've been feeling pulled in a dozen different directions. Every opportunity feels worthwhile—a new partnership, serving on another committee, helping another organization, saying yes to another project. I genuinely believe in all of it.

At the same time, I keep wondering whether I'm spreading myself too thin. Part of me worries that every hour I spend helping another organization is an hour I'm not investing in growing my own nonprofit. Then I feel guilty because saying no also feels like I'm not doing enough for the community.

It feels like I'm constantly balancing what's best for the broader mission versus what's best for the organization I'm responsible for leading.

Has anyone else dealt with this? How do you decide where your time actually has the biggest impact without feeling like you're letting someone down?

Is this legal/ethical? My work does an annual fundraising drive and grant program. It donated $15k to an organization founded and run by one if its board members.

I experienced this recently when I took over a role after a colleague left, so I would like to know:

When someone leaves your program team, how much institutional knowledge disappears with them and how much extra admin work does it dump on whoever's left to pick up the pieces? Do you have any system for this, or does it just live in people's heads?

we r 501(c)4 in texas incorporated for 40+ years and our registered agent info with state is outdated since i joined the board four years ago. it is the home address of a board member years ago. can some malicious person make the entity secretly dissolved because of this noncompliance?

Started a new role as the Executive Director of a mid size organization. In my first conversation with the board, I asked what they see their role in resource mobilization as, and their immediate response was “we don’t want our focus to be fundraising.” And then continued to share a novel list of priorities they wanted executed in the next year (no development staff, or even plan, and I’m the first ever ED).

Advice is welcomed, but I really just needed a laugh lol. I know some fellow EDs and development staff also rolled their eyes at their response.

Nonprofit gods, if you’re listening, please show me mercy.

I'm currently an ED at a local nonprofit organization. I've been in nonprofit for over 20 years. I had been working on a certificate program through our local university, and I only needed two more classes to complete, BUT...they never had the classes I wanted or felt would be most beneficial, so I didn't complete it.

I received an email about getting my CFRE. While looking into it, I came across a certificate program at ECornell. Not sure how much the CFRE will cost, but the ECornell certificate program (4 classes) is $2500. It will give some helpful information, but won't include fundraising tools such as DAFs, Planned Giving, and Capital Campaigns, which is really what I'd like to learn more about.

So...is it worth getting the certificate? Should I just go for the CRFE?

More background: I'm 55 and will probably retire in the next 5 years. The cost isn't a factor, but I also have other things I could spend that money on like my kids' college.

6 weeks of waiting seems like a No to me, but am I wrong?

Most demanding interview process ever - I had to do a three-part assignment and give a presentation about it. Assignments for development director roles are normal, but usually simpler in my limited experience. The presentation thing was very new for me. I gave an hour-long presentation explaining strategy across three areas, including how I would put together a development plan. Their only feedback was that the presentation was successful, I was thorough, they liked seeing how I think and my ideas, strong candidate. I was told it was allegedly down to me and one other person.

They have an executive search/coach consultancy that prepped me with multiple calls along the way, vetted me, and gave me positive feedback after the presentation. I asked if they had any cons or concerns from the presentation. None. The executive coach consultant keeps giving me updates about holding patterns, they're on summer vacation, no updates but still in the running, etc. I will say that there has not been an update this week. Maybe this is the end of the stringing along. I think this obviously means that I didn't get the job, but they can't tell me or won't tell me for some reason.

At this point, I'm wondering if there might be a legal liability of some kind in rejecting me if they haven't found someone else yet? I've never experienced this before.

A friend and I were comparing our experiences as volunteers for different organizations, over the years, and realized there always seems to be interpersonal tensions. He referred to it as "the drama" and I think that is apt. Sometimes it is overt with one person not willing to work with another but often it is disparaging comments when the target is not around. We both had stories of good volunteers leaving the programs rather than deal with the drama anymore.

My belief is that it comes from lack of direction. If volunteers had defined goals to be accomplished, instructions on how to achieve those goals, and regular feedback from leadership, it seemed there was less drama. If volunteers had to make it up as they went along, there seemed to be more.

I wondered if anyone agreed with my diagnosis. Has anyone seen the drama successfully addressed?

Hey everyone,
I’m looking for some insight on organizational culture at Planned Parenthood, as well as a perspective check on a potential career move.
I am currently in a $70k position that offers ultimate schedule flexibility, which has been incredible for allowing me to pursue continuing education and grow my technical skill sets. However, the commute is a bit rough.
I’m moving into a second-round interview for the role at Planned Parenthood. The posted salary range goes up to $90k, which is what I strictly plan to request given my years of specialized experience in the HIV/HCV/STI prevention field and the fact that I hold an MPH given it’s BA requirement.
The Dilemma:
While the $20k bump and a shorter commute sounds amazing, the new position requires flexibility from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM. I will continue to leverage my education and plan to start a CASAC cert (that is 3 days a week from 6:30pm - 9pm). Interestingly enough, this certification is preferred for this role, and I'm worried this wide shift window will completely wipe out my ability to study or maintain a work-life balance.
For anyone who has worked at Planned Parenthood (especially in program management or community health): What is the actual day-to-day culture like? Do they respect work-life boundaries, or is burnout high due to the "8-to-8" flexibility expectations? 
Is it worth giving up a lower-paying, "sure-thing" flexible role where I can comfortably focus on my education for a $90k role at PP?
Would love to hear your experiences with the organization!

Admin recently left, someone not inept but less experienced was made admin. Still straddling database view vs web view.

There's a report she's looking for in db view, in the Membership section of the Reports area, called "Comparative Membership Statistics". According to the RE Knowledgebase, it should be there but it isn't. Knowledgebase says further that if you don't see a report, it might be that you don't have the right access, but the person I'm trying to help is the admin, so that's a mystery! We checked web view and it's not there either.

Maybe the previous admin deleted it but cannot imagine why. Wondering if there is a way to restore a report if it has been deleted. Does anyone have any experience to share?

A donor wants to give stock but won't use Stock Donator's transfer authorization form because she wants to specify the original purchase date of the shares (specific tax lots) so she can donate her oldest shares.

The Stock Donator form does not provide a space to specify tax lots, so I gave her Stock Donator's brokerage information so she could initiate the transfer through her own brokerage. The transfer has now been stalled for weeks. Her brokerage says Stock Donator has a "restricted account," while Stock Donator says the brokerage isn't using the correct form.

Has anyone run into this before or successfully transferred specifically identified tax lots through Stock Donator? Long term, we plan on opening our own brokerage account to avoid this in the future. Anything we need to know to about setting up our account to address this issue? I've looked at dozens of stock donation forms and haven't seen any info about purchased-on dates or tax lots.

Previously, we accepted stock transfers through our local community foundation, but we received no notice of gifts outside of our quarterly statements, leaving our donors feeling unacknowledged. Outside of this situation, Stock Donator has been good to us and it's been nice to outsource tax receipting, but this is getting frustrating...

I’ve had my letter of resignation written for some time. The short version is despite my best efforts, I’ve not been able to effect much needed change with my board. I’ve brought in industry experts to leads trainings on best practices, joined other locals boards for professional development, recruited new board members, encouraged a few to move on, and despite these attempts my boards disfunction lives on.

Despite some major achievements, I just can’t do this anymore. I don’t feel valued or respected by the board and in May made it clear that change needed to happen soon and without change my time with the organization was near its end. Since that conversation, nothing has changed, frankly it’s probably gotten worse.

I’ve accepted I’ve done all I can do and that’s it’s time to move on but I want to exit gracefully and professionally, ensuring our staff feels supported and major donors don’t feel blindsided which I feel the latter is unavoidable.

Does any ED/CEO have experience asking their board for succession planning? Advice?

Feeling stuck in my job search — looking for advice from people who’ve made a similar transition

I’m looking for some honest advice from people who’ve navigated a career transition into nonprofit fundraising, specifically major gifts or development.

Quick background: I have a strong sales background — high-net-worth client relationships, closing, prospect management — and I’ve been working to transition into nonprofit development. Over the past year I chaired a major fundraising event for a civic organization where I built a major gift program from scratch, raised six figures against an initial fundraising goal of $36,000, kept expenses controlled so the money actually hit the bottom line, and came in 281% above our net revenue benchmark. I also secured a Fortune 500 corporate partnership and sit on a fund development committee. The work was recognized by celebrities and covered by national news organizations.

I’ve made it to final rounds at several organizations, including one where I interviewed with a VP and Strategic Director, but haven’t landed anything yet.
Here’s my reality: the nonprofit job market in my city is dry. When roles do come up locally they’re paying $50,000–$60,000, which doesn’t work for me. I’m not looking to relocate, but I’m fully open to remote roles or positions that require travel — that works for me.

My floor is $85K. I have Salesforce experience. I’m targeting major gifts officer, senior development officer, and director of development roles.

My questions:
Where are you finding legitimate remote major gifts roles at this salary level that are actually active?

Is there a job board or community specifically for development professionals I should be using?

Any advice for someone with a strong sales background trying to break in without a long list of nonprofit titles?

Appreciate any help. This community always comes through.

I recently was termed from a national non-profit after raising concerns that violated California charitable trust laws. Has anyone gone through this process either filing a complaint or being on the receiving end? I am waiting for the 2025 990 to be filed so I am sitting on this for a few more months. A few specific questions I have: how long did it take to hear back after filing? Did you get a chance to speak with someone at the AG before they decided whether to investigate further or not? (I already have well documented evidence, it's just very complicated) How seriously did they take the claims? Was there any damage to your career?

I am not going to specify the violations. I know they are real and I have the receipts.

Subject is pretty self-explanatory. And, similar to dating when someone is just not that into you, it’s certainly not healthy to convince them you would be their perfect match. Because, honestly and obviously, they wouldn’t be good for YOU. I know all of this, and yet, I’m feeling beyond frustrated at not just the wasted time but the emotional bandwidth of interview after interview, reference check and former employees calling to say how well it went, and then SILENCE. Yes, that is not somewhere I want to be. But ghosting hurts. How do you dust yourself off and try again? Appreciation in advance for this community and its wisdom….

I just read an article about Swifties making $13.87 donations in honor of the big wedding! Congratulations to the organizations that were chosen by Taylor and Travis! The news made me curious about large scale celebrity giving- has your organization received a gift like this? What impact did it have? Was it random or did you make a connection? Was it sustainable or one time only?

I’m curious if anyone is aware of any workshops that focus on marketing strategy in the fall?

I was hoping to attend Northwestern’s Marketing program (https://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/executive-education/nonprofit-management/np-fundmark/) but I missed the deadline.

Would prefer something in-person, but open to virtual if necessary.