HOTLINE

Responding to Readers' Questions About Fund Raising, Starting a Charity, and Career Paths

The Chronicle's Career Network asked its readers to submit questions about job hunting, recruitment, and management challenges in the nonprofit world. With the debut of our new monthly advice column, we respond to some of your inquiries with tips about resources and wisdom from experts in the field.

Q. I'm interested in learning how to write grant proposals for nonprofit organizations. Is there a market for this kind of skill, as either a freelance or temporary position? What educational skills and experience should I work to develop?

A. Absolutely, there's a market for writers of grant proposals. While many charities designate a staff member to apply for grants or make use of volunteer help, others turn to proposal-writing specialists who work on a freelance or consulting basis. It's common for proposal writers to get paid by the hour, though some take a flat fee for the completion of a project -- and others offer their services to charities pro bono.

The going rate for proposal writers appears to be between $40 and $75 an hour, though fees vary widely depending on the project's demands, the resources of the organization that commissions the proposal, the proposal writer's track record, and the cost of living in the region where he or she works.

It's relatively easy to learn the basics of grant-proposal writing, says Marc Green, editorial director at the Grantsmanship Center, in Los Angeles. "Anyone with common sense and a good plan can do it."

But many mistakenly think that solid writing skills alone will make them successful at proposal writing, he says. In reality, Mr. Green says, the best proposals are written by staff members who have been involved in planning the program that seeks funds.

Proposal-writing fundamentals can be gleaned in a number of ways. You should also take a look at the Nonprofit Handbook section of our Web site to find books about proposal-writing basics. The Foundation Center's Web site (http://fdncenter.org) includes a free online course in grant-proposal writing, a list of how-to books, and links to organizations that offer workshops. The Grantsmanship Center's Web site (http://www.tgci.com) offers advice for beginners, including information about proposal-writing workshops around the country. The center also offers practical guides, such as its booklet "Program Planning and Proposal Writing," which is available for $4 plus shipping and handling through the Web site or by calling (213) 482-9860.

Q. Can you suggest any resources for nonprofit professionals who would like to transition out of fund raising and into another career or field?

A. We haven't been able to dig up any books or other resources specifically aimed at fund raisers who hope to leave the field. However, we can tell you about some of the most common career paths for former development personnel.

Many become executive directors, says Walter Sczudlo, vice president of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, in Alexandria, Va. They also tend to move into jobs that require solid presentation skills, he says, such as public-relations or community-relations jobs. "A chief development officer at a university might go into alumni relations, for example," he says.

In addition, some move from raising funds to managing them, in either nonprofit or for-profit fields. (See this story from our Career Network archives, "Fund Raisers Find For-Profit Jobs Give Them the Best of Both Worlds.") But Mr. Sczudlo says these career moves are generally the exception rather than the rule. "I've been a little bit surprised how little financial training fund raisers have," he says.

Mr. Sczudlo points any fund raisers who are looking for a career change to the bookstore section of the American Society of Association Executives' Web site (http://www.asaenet.org/bookstore/). It lists a number of books that can offer practical assistance to fund raisers and other managers seeking to explore their options.

Q. I will graduate from the Columbia University School of Social Work next May and I am currently looking for a job. I would like to go into fund raising and development or human resources but I do not have any experience in these areas. What can I do to start my career? What kind of position should I be looking for?

A. We've got some good news and some bad news. First, the good news: Nonprofit fund raisers come from many different backgrounds, and many organizations welcome any help they can get in garnering funds, says Mr. Sczudlo of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. He suggests picking an organization whose mission inspires you -- presumably one with a social-services bent -- and donating your time.

"By volunteering, you can almost pick your position with an organization, within reason," he says. Get acquainted with the charity's fund raisers and offer yourself as an apprentice. "I can't think of a development office that would turn down a volunteer who wanted to learn the principles of fund raising," Mr. Sczudlo says. Such an internship may easily lead to a paid job, and even if it doesn't, he says, it will burnish your résumé.

To prepare for any fund-raising responsibilities, even as a volunteer, he says, you should educate yourself about the standards of the field. Information is available on the Web site of the Association of Fundraising Professionals' (http://www.afpnet.org).

Now, the bad news: Deborah Keary, director of the information center of the Society for Human Resource Management, in Alexandria, Va., wants to know why you didn't get a business degree if you're interested in her field.

"HR and social work are not at all the same thing," she says. "There was a time when HR was considered sort of a caretaking job. These days, it's looked on as a business position." Therefore, she says, you'll need training in the nuts and bolts of human resources: compensation and benefits, recruitment techniques, labor laws and compliance issues, and so on. It's an uphill climb for someone without a business background, she says. It's not an impossible goal but, Ms. Keary cautions, "we can't be too encouraging."

Though she allows that a social-work graduate may excel in one area that falls under a human-resource professional's jurisdiction -- employee relations -- she says you're going to need additional training before you can expect to be hired in human resources. She suggests looking into university business classes that focus on the areas mentioned above. To be taken seriously by potential employers, she says, certification as a Professional in Human Resources is key.

The exam is offered by the Human Resource Certification Institute (http://www.hrci.org) twice a year in major cities around the country -- the next opportunity is May 4, and applications must be postmarked by February 22. (The test will also be given this June at the Society for Human Resource Management's annual convention, to be held in Philadelphia.)

To take the PHR exam, you must have two years of paid human-resources-related work experience. Exceptions are made for students or recent graduates, but you then must take the exam no earlier than a year before graduation and no later than a year after graduation. And even after you pass the exam, it takes another two years of work experience in the field until you are considered PHR.-certified. (The Society for Human Resource Management offers test-preparation workshops and study materials at its Web site, http://www.shrm.org.)

Before committing to further training to prepare for a human-resources career, Ms. Keary highly recommends that you talk to people who currently work in that field and ask them what their daily chores are like. They'll probably tell you more about numbers crunching and navigating insurance regulations than about opportunities to use finely tuned people skills, she says. "You might be shocked at what it turns out you have to do," she says.

Q.I am interested in starting a nonprofit organization. It is a Christian camp designed for high school students. I would like some information on how I would get started.

A. Your first stop should be the Foundation Center's Web site, which includes a host of books and Internet resources to guide you through the process of registering as a charity, getting Internal Revenue Service approval, finding a lawyer, securing liability insurance, and so on. Go to http://fdncenter.org/learn/faqs/starting_nonprofit.html

In addition, you might find helpful a very comprehensive site written and compiled by Carter McNamara, co-founder of Authenticity Consulting, in Minneapolis. In addition to plenty of practical advice, the site offers detailed checklists for the tasks founders need to complete in order to get their organizations up and running smoothly.

Go to http://www.managementhelp.org/strt_org/strt_np/strt_np.htm

When starting a charity -- or, for that matter, when leading one of any duration -- it never hurts to compare notes on a regular basis with other managers of similar organizations. A resource that might be helpful in your specific case would be Christian Camping International/USA, an association of 950 organizations that operate Christian camps. The Web site links to those of member camps, so you might find it easy to contact people who run organizations like yours and ask them for tips. Go to: http://www.gospelcom.net/cci/

-- Compiled by Heather Joslyn

Got a question about job hunting, recruiting, or managing in the nonprofit world? Send it to us at hotline@philanthropy.com.