Making Less Money and Loving It
Do you have what it takes to become a non-profit CFO? If you're tough enough, there's good news: The non-profit job market is expanding—rapidly.
by Theresa Sullivan Barger, CFO.com August 15, 2007
CFOs at nonprofit organizations generally make less money, work more hours, and have fewer resources than their counterparts who work in the profit-making sector. But they're not complaining. Many finance chiefs who have made the leap to tax-exempt companies say they are involved in an avocation, where traditional career metrics—such as salary increases and bonuses—don't tell the whole story.
"Working at a nonprofit is a lifestyle. It's not a job or a career," says Michael L. Campbell, executive director and chief financial officer of the Hartford Children's Theatre Inc. Indeed, if the drawbacks don't make you skittish, and the idea of being caretaker to a mission, rather than profit margins, appeals to you, then you may be in luck. The non-profit job market is expanding.
Over the next decade, nonprofit organizations will need to attract 640,000 new "senior leaders," according to advisory and executive search firm Bridgestar. That total is equal to about 2.4 times the number of executives currently working in the non-profit sector today, says the group.
The proliferation of job openings is not a sudden swell, however, but rather a trend that has been developing steadily over the past decade. Between 1994 and 2004, the number of U.S.-based nonprofit organizations increased by 27 percent, while the number of public charities jumped by 65 percent, according to the 2007 Nonprofit Almanac. Furthermore, all three major financial metrics used to measure the success of nonprofits—revenues, expenses and assets—grew by at least 56 percent, during that time period.
