Nonprofit Staff Lost in Unclear Roles

“Hahaha valid point, I've questioned the decision since I started because it's felt very fractured. I will say that when the other employees shared a screenshot of what she saw, none of my existing meetings showed up there but they are still on my calendar. I'm almost wondering if one of her employees sent her a calendar invite for their out of office request, and now that they don't work here that appointment shows as "No Longer with ___". I could see 3 other events on”

“Hey all, I work as a case manager in a non-profit that serves the homeless with a specialty in those who struggle with substance addiction. As a part of our wrap around services, our team is split into two groups: case managers and peer support. The "peer" team is a special certificate my state offers to those with lived experiences. A big part of my job is delegating field tasks to the peers. While my day is spent doing paperwork, file.auditing, contacting landlords, and interviewing”

“I am a director of finance at a nonprofit. My manager is the chief of staff. Every month I send the CEO his credit card reconciliation for him to send to our treasurer for approval. But before I sent it to the CEO, per the CEO’s request I send it to his EA for review. I sent the CEO’s latest credit card reconciliation for him to send to the treasurer and he saw that the total amount is wrong. Yes, I should’ve tripled the formulas before sending it to the EA for review and checked it again after”

“I am a middle manager at a gender based violence response non-profit. We have three other big teams of clinical interventions, and I manage our smallest team, of a single digit amount of community workers/peer supporters. Last week, I had to have a first ever performance management related discussion with one of my team members. She was hired just after me about two/three years ago, and it was the first time I’ve ever had any sort of “negative” discussion with her, if you can even characterize i”

“LI am a volunteer who was elected as a community leader in a non-profit that is supposed to be helping people fight for civic rights, especially as tenants and workers. The problem is that the manager doesn't have any training or expectations for me, but then after I give him ideas, he's so sad that I'm not a radical activist from the 1960s ready to take on The Man. I keep pointing out to him that if he cares this much about indoctrinating me to his perspective, the least he could do”

“I am currently the ED of a small non-profit with a 15-person volunteer board. I have been in the role for about 4 years and each year the board members seem to do less and less, and the help with fundraising is very low. This past year, the 15-person board only brought in 10% of the income combined. I have already brought some new people onto the board, but they just seem to follow the actions of the current board and just show up to the meetings, then check out until the next meeting. At one me”

“I’ve posted this in the legal advice subreddits t but posters here to hoping to glean some advice Location: California I have worked for a small nonprofit (less than five employees) for almost two years. Contracts are administered annually for pay, PTO etc however the ED never gets contracts out by the first of the year for even the first quarter. In March of this year I went on pregnancy disability at 38 weeks due to false labor and my midwives recommendation. I asked for my contract prior to l”

“I could really use some perspective and advice from people who’ve been EDs or served on nonprofit boards because I’m struggling to figure out if what I’m experiencing is just part of the job or a sign that something is fundamentally broken. I’m one year into my first ED role. Our org is facing a significant funding gap because nearly all of our programs were built around grant funding, and those grants are now ending within my first year in the role. The programs grew, staff got hired, and great”

“My nonprofit has several program tracks and there is specific language we (communications and marketing) use to target volunteers and donors in email and on social media. No matter how many times it’s been discussed, it never fails to have a program lead jump into our copy docs to leave comments such as “this is too short and doesn’t have enough information” (proceeds to write their entire program strategy as a caption), “this may come off as too negative” or, my favorite, “we don’t want to over”

“I keep the books for a small conservation nonprofit, six staff plus volunteers who do field site visits, and we've never had corporate cards. So everyone fronts flights, hotels, conference fees and mileage and submits for reimbursement. Travel runs about 35k a year and a big chunk is grant funded, so every bit of it has to get coded to the right grant. Right now it's a shared Google Sheet plus a form for receipts and it's held together with tape. People submit late and receipts go mi”

“Thanks for the insight appreciate your cander. Do you mind if I DM you? I would like to continue the conversation if you dont mind?”

“I honestly feel really discouraged today. I work as a therapist at a nonprofit agency in California. Over the past couple of years, management has repeatedly told us that the agency has been in a terrible financial situation because of funding issues, state budget changes, and uncertainty around behavioral health funding. Because of that, we were told there would be no raises. Last year: no raise. The year before: no raise. This year, after two years of nothing, we finally got a 3% cost-of-livin”

“That doesn’t sound crazy! It sounds like you redefined what success means to you. Managing a team of 50 also brings a completely different kind of leadership responsibility. What has changed most in the way you lead, delegate, and build systems that work for people with different needs?”

“Last year I applied for a Director level job at a regional nonprofit, pay range was very wide but the top of the range was close to what I could barely accept. Went through the process, it was great, efficient and I was hopeful there would be an offer soon. Months go by and about a week ago I got a message requesting I call. I reach out to HR and they congratulate me and tell me the offer amount...its no where near what I was expecting, not even close, so I counter, still not there. For the firs”

“I am working with a small nonprofit which is run by a five member steering committee. They have developed a rudimentary budget by activity/event but it is not comprehensive. I believe the budget gives each committee chair the authority to spend up to the budgeted amount. (Do you agree?) I am looking for advice on how to add things to the budget when we see we missed something and to get approval for miscellaneous items. submitted by /u/JanFromEarth [link] [comments]”

“Hey guys, reposting this with actual context this time so it doesn't get taken down! I recently joined an environmental education non-profit as their social media manager with about five years of experience with tools like hootsuite and later (little bit of sprout too). We just upgraded to recurpost’s paid agency plan after a great trial, but I completely missed the fact that they offer a non-profit discount and paid full price. I'm trying to see if we can get that discount applied retro”

“There is nothing our org needs help with that a college or high school student can do at the moment. But, because CEO accepted their request to help, more work was put onto me to find something for them to do. Then CEO met with the student without me for some reason. And then is bringing me in now to provide feedback. I provided feedback and the high school student did not agree with what I said. I took so much time out of my day to provide strong feedback and best practices. The student essenti”

“That does not sound crazy to me at all! It sounds like you reached the point where more money stopped being the only scorecard. A lot of people spend years building income, status, and responsibility, then realize none of it means much if the work no longer connects to anything human. Managing a business that gives 50 people dignity, structure, income, and purpose is not stepping backward. That is a different kind of success, and probably a more durable one. I wish you only the best and may you”

do you have a website?:)

“i left a director role at a healthcare startup two years ago to run a day program for adults with disabilities. went from tracking arr to tracking whether someone's meds got administered on time. 50 clients, 22 staff, medicaid waiver funding that pays net 45-60 days if you're lucky. the math is brutal compared to what i was doing before. margins run 8-12%, staff turnover in direct support is 45% a year nationally, and i spend more time on compliance paperwork than i ever did on product r”

“So, I've helped developed a number of nonprofits. But this is the first time Ive ever founded or been a director at one. Ive just been working without a salary for the last few months. But now we have started to generate income and I am wondering what is the best way of going about paying yourself ethically? Did some research online, and advice ranges from 'you don't' to 'your salary is decided by an independent board'. But how would I even go about addressing that? Absol”

“Ten year development director here, been with my current org for three years. We have struggled to meet our fundraising goals in that time because: A) *gestures at the world generally*, and B) I get virtually no support from org leadership. The board just approved a $1.44 million dollar budget for this fiscal year, up from about $1.2M the past three years. We (the President, ED, and I) have a meeting later this week. I know the President thinks it needs to be a come-to-Jesus moment for me. I&#39”

“Hi everyone, I recently accepted a part time temporary role as a leave of absence specialist for a non profit of about 500 employees. It’s a manual process and to be honest the organization is a bit of a mess. The organization has been around for 50+ years but still has start up vibes . I am currently working part time with them and this role does have an opportunity to turn full time in the future. I am well versed in leave management and what excited me about taking this on was the ability to”

“I'm a new database admin at a nonprofit, 4 months in. We just had a consultant build out our case management system. Nothing is live yet, no real client data in it, which is the one thing working in my favor. I didn't get involved since it was already at the final stages and he was conducting the UAT when I came in. Now I found out that the users still have no idea how it was supposed to work. While reviewing the build, I found some real problems: Client intake forms were built”

“I'm a new database admin at a nonprofit, 4 months in. We just had a consultant build out our case management system. Nothing is live yet, no real client data in it, which is the one thing working in my favor. I didn't get involved since it was already at the final stages and he was conducting the UAT when I came in. Now I found out that the users still have no idea how it was supposed to work. While reviewing the build, I found some real problems: Client intake forms were built”

“I've been at a new clinic for about 4 months now. The clinic director runs a tight ship and has the clinic organized very well. However she micromanages the therapists including myself and the other therapists quite extensively. If by some chance the therapists don't have a patient she will set them to cleaning or doing other chores. Recently, she got on my case because I take 5 minutes to look over patient past medical history/surgical protocols before starting my evals. Apparently the”

“Having worked in nonprofit finance for nearly 20 years, I've noticed something that doesn't get discussed very often. In many nonprofits, salaries account for 60–70% of the grant budget, yet the process of allocating employee time across grants and programs is still surprisingly manual. Payroll itself usually isn't the problem. Most payroll and HR systems handle payroll, leave, taxes, and attendance well. The challenge comes before payroll. Finance often has to determine how each emp”

“Hi everyone! I’ve seen a few posts here about Coordinated Entry, but they didn’t quite answer the questions I have. I work for a local nonprofit that serves youth ages 18–24 who are experiencing homelessness or are at risk of becoming homeless. Currently, we identify participants through biweekly case conferences with another organization. Lately, we’ve been discussing using our community’s Coordinated Entry system more consistently, but the other organization has expressed concerns that Coordin”

“I've been doing grant and proposal writing for decades. For every type of organization imaginable. From 8,000 people to 8 people and I think I might be over it. I work remotely for an organization, the smallest one yet, and recently went full time. Every organization has its own challenges but this one feels like I'm on trial. Like Im an urban outsider that just doesn't click with how things are done. Everyone is scrambling to scrape together loose change. If I ask bigger picture que”

“I know this is a common topic, and I have read pretty extensively on each of the posts. Big thanks to this sub for being a resource. I wanted to kind of get a little more input, because I have some extra pieces to this question that provides a little extra context. Currently, I work a city level government job. I am a permit tech, and the team I am on are the first line contacts that applicants have to our jurisdiction. So, the position has about a 70% customer service aspect. I make roughly $74”

“I'm 32 with a background in nonprofit/social impact. Three years ago I resigned after chronic health issues, burnout, and an abusive work environment made it impossible to stay. Since then I've supported myself through interpreting work and by co-owning small business with my parents, starting that business from the ground up made me realize I enjoy this far more than I ever enjoyed nonprofit work. Now I'm ready to relaunch my career and I want to apply for an MBA this cycle. Here&#3”

“I worked at this non-profit 10 years ago. The reason why I left is lack of management, toxic enviornment, high turn over rate and most of all I wasn't treated equally as a full time employee yet I was expected to the same standard (totally understand that) When I joined (this is youth residential center) I noticed certain staff was being lax on the rules, sometimes not even enforcing them, this caused chaos. Along with staff not doing duties and shift change complaining about it. I had a cow”

“So I’m a retired service member, was medically retired after 10 years, and I’m really struggling for some direction. My family has been in hospitality, restaurants my entire life. I live a humble life working at my uncles diner during the week, and my father’s seafood stand on the weekends, mostly for the love of the kitchen and to help the family. I make far less than minimum wage and that’s okay with me. My military disability is more than enough for me to live my life. That being said I feel”

“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”

“'ve been with a state agency for about 2.5 years, and I'm honestly at a crossroads. I started through an AmeriCorps service year, and after that I was hired into my first full-time state position. The thing is, the constituent services role didn't really exist before I got there. I've had a lot of agency to help define what constituent services should look like, create processes, track data, build outreach efforts, answer phones and emails, and wear just about every hat imaginabl”

“I've been with a state agency for about 2.5 years and I'm honestly at a crossroads. My current role is constituent services, but because my department is small I've also been doing grant work( document piling and processing), outreach, tracking data, “developing processes”, answering phones, handling emails, etc. The problem is that constituent services has never really felt clearly defined. Leadership has changed multiple times (3 secretaries in 3 years), I’m the only person in this”

“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 ano”

“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? submitted by /u/Low_Pride1989 [link] [comments]”

“I'm looking for some objective career advice from people who work in nonprofit arts organizations or marketing. I'm currently an Associate Director of Marketing at a respected regional performing arts organization. I've been there for about 4.5 years and was promoted internally from Marketing Manager 2 years ago. I’m burning out of what has become a toxic work culture. We’ve had a lot of turnover in all departments over the past couple of years. This job also requires a long commute,”

“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 dev”

“Hi All, I've recently started a new position in development and I'm wondering if anyone has recommendations for virtual trainings etc that provide a good foundation for the world of fundraising and development. My background is in programs so I'm not totally in the dark, just want to set myself up for success. submitted by /u/soy_bean_27 [link] [comments]”

“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 res”

“Currently, my role entails project management, zoning enforcement, staff reports, plat review etc. My director is giving me the go ahead to look into other areas where I can expand my role - ideally something that my county doesn't have yet. The thing is, is I'm new to my county and don't know how everything works, know exactly who does what etc to fill any gaps so to speak. I'm open to taking courses and obtaining certifications like PMP, GIS, code enforcement etc but we already”

'Do something until you're told no' is fantastic advice.

“Looking for grant resources (books, webinars, YouTube) anything really to help understand the basics of grant management. I have experience with post award workflows and am now taking on a bigger role. There is a “specialization in grant management” course at the university of Washington. On the fence, $1645 is a tough pill to swallow. submitted by /u/Total_Dependent_697 [link] [comments]”

Board member.

“Put together a list of all the things you are doing / supposed to be doing. Use a one on with the director to walk through what you think is most important and why and what you can actually do with the time you have available for work. Make it clear that you want to help but there isn’t enough time for you to do everything so confirm his alignment with priorities and then make it clear that the other stuff is not going to get support until they hire more people. Send a follow up email after the”

“Will your boss empower/support you if you decide to push back to protect your own time? Without all the details of your org setup, this sounds to me like a symptom of the heat ops is getting from customers. I’d want to take a bigger step back and ask their leadership for help on the trends you are noticing, initial questions/things I’d flag that come to mind: a) ops is having difficulty overcoming objections (training/knowledge issue?), b) we don’t have a proper support structure in place (why d”

“Push back, decline, just like you say no to drugs…say no to these meetings.”

“TL;DR: I was hired a year ago as a 20hr/wk ED for a tiny, rural performing arts nonprofit. Found total operational chaos and fixed the infrastructure by donating an extra 20 hours of unpaid labor per week. I just learned the Board has reserves they are considering locking away in an endowment rather than fund my actual hours. Feeling taken for granted. Can't stay, can't go, don't know what to do, looking for advice. I'm a "part time" ED at a tiny performing arts nonprof”

“Hello all - advice needed. Please be kind, asking in advance. I cofounded a nonprofit and have been on the board the entire time it has existed. I know the organization inside and out and have my hands in many different aspects. We are a small organization but a very effective one. I am currently the President and have been for the last 3 years. I run our TNR program, I run our spay/neuter clinic, I oversee our foster program, I run the board, and all of this is in addition to working full time”

“Hello all - advice needed. Please be kind, asking in advance. I cofounded a nonprofit and have been on the board the entire time it has existed. I know the organization inside and out and have my hands in many different aspects. We are a small organization but a very effective one. I am currently the President and have been for the last 3 years. I run our TNR program, I run our spay/neuter clinic, I oversee our foster program, I run the board, and all of this is in addition to working full time”

“With the start of the new fiscal year, my boss asked me to come up with a fun way to display our FY27 fundraising progress and big wins in our office that we can update monthly. I'm curious how other offices handle this. Our sister office has a giant whiteboard with their progress, but we're working with large empty cubicle walls in a public/common area, so I'm thinking of turning one into a bulletin board-style display. We don’t have any screens to do this digitally. If your office”

“At the small nonprofit where I worked last, which had a full time paid staff of seven people and four part time paid people, the person in charge of fundraising (who was full time) made less than $60,000 a year, and fundraising was just part of his job (he was also in charge of volunteer recruitment and onboarding, and some volunteer supervision).”

“Hello! I’m hoping to get some outside opinions. I’ve worked in fundraising events at a large, San Francisco-based nonprofit for almost two decades and have been lucky to take on increased responsibility throughout my time with the org. Currently, my role focuses on special events, volunteer management, and related admin/projects, and I oversee two full-time employees and one seasonal employee. Annually, our team manages four volunteer groups/boards, 12 board meetings, two 800+ person galas, inte”

“Hello! I’m hoping to get some outside opinions. I’ve worked in fundraising events at a large, San Francisco-based nonprofit for almost two decades and have been lucky to take on increased responsibility throughout my time with the org. Currently, my role focuses on special events, volunteer management, and related admin/projects, and I oversee two full-time employees and one seasonal employee. Annually, our team manages four volunteer groups/boards, 12 board meetings, two 800+ person galas, inte”

“I'm 44 and have always worked either as a K-12 teacher or in small-to-midsize nonprofits. I've developed quite a few transferrable skills and have amassed some solid leadership experience, and I've realized that the projects where I've consistently felt the most engaged and done my best work are at the intersection between internal communications, change management, and employee engagement. In the research I've done so far, it looks like the largest concentration of those typ”

“If you're a volunteer coordinator, and one of your key volunteers quits, gives only positive feedback when asked ("I had a lovely time volunteering here, so thank you!"), and then starts volunteering for an organization that does the same types of programs as your organization does, are you right to feel a bit hurt or confused? What should you do: just assume that the volunteer for whatever reason wanted to volunteer elsewhere, and be cordial whenever you see that volunteer, or is”

“Hey y'all, I work for a small non-profit that works primarily with the homeless. We have a clinic, a daytime shelter, and a housing/case management wing. I do case management for the housing -first program we run and, lately, I've been having a hard time justifying the work that I do to myself. After some really extreme staffing issues (firing good employees for minor technicalities while simply slapping employees guilty of MASSIVE ethical and HIPAA violations [one involving a literally”