Ways to Lure Youths Into Non-Profit Fold

To the Editor:

As a 26-year-old executive director of a mid-size Chicago family foundation, I feel qualified to comment on Pablo Eisenberg’s piece on the lack of enticements and opportunities for young people in non-profit careers (“Non-Profit World Must Reach Out to Its Future,” September 18). Not only did Mr. Eisenberg ignore programs already in existence to meet the challenge of training new leaders, but he also neglected to look at the way in which funders control the ability of non-profits to take advantage of those and other programs to insure sustainable, thriving workplaces.

Public Allies, or the National Center for Careers in Public Life, is an example of an organization already trying to address Mr. Eisenberg’s problem. Local associations of non-profit organizations, volunteers, and funders can look into the feasibility of replicating the program in their cities, as Washington, D.C.; Wilmington, Del.; Chicago; San Jose, Cal.; Milwaukee; and other cities have done.

Mr. Eisenberg’s plan to end the “cult of the C.E.O.” by developing fresh “human capital” is a start, but its real-world counterparts attempt to go even further to end isolation, arrogance, and institutionalization in non-profit life. Public Allies fosters a peer network of potential leaders, not ambitious individuals.

For one day every week, Allies must discuss their experiences and work with other Allies on community-based projects. At the weekly meetings, it is not uncommon to hear the Allies — lowest in the pecking order at their job placements within prominent non-profits — assess the ability of their leaders to do their jobs effectively and with integrity. If non-profits are able to continue to participate in Public Allies and other similar fellowships, we can expect to see those organizations, and their C.E.O./directors, growing and changing under pressure from new staff. But today, many organizations cannot participate in Public Allies because they lack matching funds or precious staff time to supervise an Ally.

Here is a place where funders can step up and make the health of the community a priority over their own strategic goals: They must not turn their backs on general operating support for non-profits. Without general operating funds, non-profits will never be able to pay half of an Ally’s salary, or provide staff development and training.

Non-profits will not, as Mr. Eisenberg hopes, be cutting-edge places to work, and they will not offer competitive benefits to lure young, intelligent, and diverse workers. They will run lean, but they will run into the ground creating program after program to fit into narrow and ever-changing foundation guidelines.

Creating more new programs based on good ideas will not solve Mr. Eisenberg’s problem. As funders and funded, we are already part of a collective of organizations with missions to address the pressing problems of our communities. The problem is deeper than Mr. Eisenberg thinks: Non-profits on lean general operating budgets cannot afford to nurture young people or participate in the very fellowships, some already operating today, that would bring them new life.

Jobi Petersen
Executive Director
The Mayer and Morris Kaplan Family Foundation
Northfield, Ill.

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To the Editor:

Pablo Eisenberg’s thoughts and suggestions are a clear first step in attracting and retaining a cadre of new professionals.

Mr. Eisenberg’s well-reasoned argument attacks one of the key issues in non-profit management. Non-profit organizations tend to operate on shoestring budgets out of necessity. Structurally, this provides no incentives for organizations to encourage teamwork among their staff members, much less nurture and encourage the next generation of leadership.

Sustaining new professionals will continue to present a crisis. Mr. Eisenberg’s proposed solution of developing two-year fellowships in a supportive, collegial environment is simply a beginning in developing a class of professionals with “vigor, idealism, and commitment to public service.”

Encouraging a passion for work vital to the survival of the third sector must start earlier. Educators at the high-school level should attack the prevailing mindset that for-profit entities present the only reasonable options for career development. Let’s open a discussion in classrooms and career-planning offices, places where life-long directions and paths are established.

Building a substantive career ladder for non-profit professionals will increase the number of interested applicants and help avoid the five- to ten-year sinkholes that many professionals face in their careers. Non-profit management should attempt to mirror many of the technical professions and provide a basic set of applications, studies, and practices common to all non-profit management.

Mr. Eisenberg’s concern for the future leadership of non-profit organizations is critical. The current leadership must start early and look often to nurture their successors. This will require a dedication by leaders with increasing professional demands and accountability. The long-term effects will be astonishing.

As a fairly new professional, I’ve been lucky to be guided and encouraged to respond to the ultimate social challenge, preparing for leadership in the third sector, by some truly key leaders. Let’s use Mr. Eisenberg’s suggestions as the first step in developing a clear and comprehensive approach to the future of non-profit management.

Gwendolyn Perry
Director, Investor Relations
Independent Colleges of Indiana Foundation
Indianapolis