A presentation prepared for students in a introduction to nonprofit course who are considering the roles professionals have in the nonprofit sector, how best to identify career opportunities and how to match their interests with a career in nonprofit leadership.

1. Picturing Yourself in
Nonprofit Leadership
Michael Tullier, APR
CAHS 2700
February 22, 2012

2. Zoom in on your interests
• Start gaining experience now by deepening your volunteer experiences
• Before you job hunt
• Seek to advance a mission, not just find a job
• Beginning your job hunt
• Broaden your career aspirations / cast a wide net
• Make interviewing a hobby
• Research prospective employers
• Manage your brand before asking to manage the organization’s
• As you job hunt
• Always accept the invitation to ask a question
• Remember that a leader is a leader no matter the job title

3. Go for the wide angle
• Get to know all areas of the operation
• Travel outside your box
• Seek opportunities outside your primary job duties
• Support the organization personally
• Make your passion infectious
• Look for volunteers and donors who share your passion
• Turn others’ passion into an investment in your organization
• Understand the rules and regulations that affect your organization
• Embrace ethics
• Seek out codes of ethics for your practice area

4. Vary your lenses
• Volunteer outside your organization (learn how others work)
• Be a joiner
• Diversity your experience
• Expand your network (civic/professional organizations)
• Request support for professional development, continuing education
• Broaden your toolkit
• Search for free resources
• Identify a mentor or mentors

5. Focus on success
• Define outcomes, not just job duties
• Measurement, measurement, measurement
• Quantify your work output and outcomes
• Demonstrate your significance in the organization
• Find a cause you could focus on throughout your career
• Be a loyalist
• Make a personal commitment to organization for at least 3 years
• Be patient as you await the opportunities that lead to quality career
experience

6. Consider different poses
• Operations and management
• Business-focused job functions
• Revenue generation/sales
• Human resources
• Public relations, government relations, board relations, community relations,
• Communication-focused job functions
volunteer relations
• Recruitment/retention: members, clients, constituents, alumni, students
• Fundraising/development and donor relations
• Grantwriting, corporate/foundation relations
• Social media and online content management
• Education, training, outreach