Getting Involved in Nonprofits
3 min read
Giving can be a rewarding experience, personally and professionally. However, with so many ways to get involved, you may be wondering what the best path is for you to make an impact.
As part of the NextGen Summer Series, philanthropy experts from Private Wealth Management (PWM) shared tactics young professionals can use to identify nonprofits that align with their identity, goals, and values.
The first thing to do when searching for a nonprofit to support is to outline your personal values. This will help bring your options into focus and ensure the resources and work you contribute to the organization is meaningful.
“Take time to figure out what you care about. Writing down your values will help you decide where you want to get involved.”-
Understanding what matters most to you requires some soul-searching. If it doesn’t come intuitively, don’t worry. You’re not alone. Few can easily list their core values on command. Take some time to think about it and sketch out a few value territories that resonate. This upfront work will pay dividends when you find a nonprofit that serves what matters most to you. Then, your work will have more meaning, and the energy you bring will be fueled by passion, rather than opportunity.
Here’s a handy tool to help define what values you might engage in nonprofit work: Make a note of the things you personally believe are most important.
Next, it’s important to know how nonprofits function. According to the Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund (GSPF), nonprofits are public-owned organizations that do work that society deems important. Below is a table that compares the ways for-profit companies differ from nonprofit organizations.
| Basis for Comparison | For-profit Organization | Nonprofit Organization |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning/Mission | A legal entity which operates for earning profit for the owner(s) | A legal entity, which operates for serving society as a whole |
| Source of Revenue | Sales of goods and services and capital contributed by owners | Donations, grants, subscriptions and earned revenue for services (i.e., school tuition, entrance fees, etc.) |
| Form of Organization | Sole proprietorship, partnership, or company (private or public) | Club, trust, public hospitals, churches, foundations or donor-advised funds (DAFs) |
| Staff | Paid staff | Paid and unpaid staff |
Once you understand how nonprofits work, it’s useful to think about the goals you hope to reach. Think about the different forms your efforts can take. In the nonprofit world, there are generally three things an individual can contribute: time, talent, and treasure.
TIME: How much time from your life are you willing to donate to help a nonprofit?
TALENT: What skills can you contribute to the function of a nonprofit or its fundraising efforts?
TREASURE: How much of your own money are you willing to contribute?
Determining what you want to take away from your experience of giving is also a useful way to make sure you’re fully invested. Whether your contributions come in the form of time, talent, or financial contributions, explore the goals you hope to achieve. Using the values you noted above, decide on the things you hope to achieve.
Acknowledging the personal benefits of getting involved with a nonprofit is not a bad thing.-
While the simple satisfaction of giving is indeed worthwhile, other advantages you might anticipate are things like tax benefits, community recognition, leadership experience, resume building, as well as friendships and professional networking.
When you know what you have to offer, the causes you want to be involved with and what you hope to gain from the experience will free you to give the most of yourself to a worthy cause.
However, when in doubt, remember, you can always just jump in. There's nothing wrong with simply volunteering to try things out and see if a nonprofit is the right fit. No matter where your journey of getting involved starts, you’re helping the greater good, so you can’t go wrong.
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