Many people retire from their competitive, dog-eat-dog, profit chasing jobs and want a change. Others who have not yet retired just want a change. One common dream is to get a job where you “can give something back” to society, while still earning a paycheck. These people seek paying jobs with not-for-profit entities, or nonprofit jobs. One problem these people encounter is a lack of nonprofit job listings for areas in the American “heartland”. While numerous websites yield many job openings on the East and West coasts, they show few, if any, openings in non-coastal areas. This article will address that problem by suggesting several websites to help you find a nonprofit job in “middle” America.
Nonprofit Jobs.org – The Best Site for You If You Do Not Live On the Coasts
Nonprofit Jobs.org (nonprofitjobs.org). This website shows the most significant numbers of nonprofit job vacancies located in the middle of the country. While other nonprofit job sites tend to show only jobs on the East or West coasts, Nonprofit Jobs shows them nation-wide.
Your best search option on Nonprofit Jobs is the search by Region option. You can search by city or state, but the most efficient method is to search by Region. A search of the Mountain Region (covering Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah) yielded 19 nonprofit job openings in the Region. In contrast, searches of these specific states on other websites yielded exactly ONE nonprofit job opening. This illustrates why Nonprofit Jobs.org is the website for you if you are not living on either coast. Subsequent searches of other regions yielded similar results; a search of the East North Central region (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin found 24 job vacancies and a search of the West Central Region (Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, and the Dakotas) found 12 job vacancies.
The job descriptions on this website contain full details on the jobs and most provide you contact points for the employer with an email address and a link to the employer’s website. Best of all, you can apply directly to the potential employer instead of applying through Nonprofit Jobs.org.
Philanthropy.com – Another Good Site If You Do Not Live on the Coast
Philanthropy.com (philanthropy.com). This website, sponsored by the Chronicle of Philanthropy, has fewer nonprofit job openings away from the coasts than Nonprofit Jobs.org, but is still worth checking out. Philanthropy.com shows many jobs on the coasts, but it also shows some nonprofit job openings in some “interior” states.
For example, while searches on Philanthropy.com found 79 nonprofit job openings in New York and 58 openings in California, they also found 21 openings in Pennsylvania, 18 openings in Texas, 6 openings in Indiana, and from 1 to 5 openings in states such as Kentucky, Kansas, Louisiana, and Utah.
While you may chose to open an account, and save your cover letter and resume on Philanthropy.com, it is not required to apply for a job found on the website. The job descriptions all contain contact information for the employer with an email address and a link to the employer’s website and you may apply directly to the employer.
Philanthropy.com offers a free account and a paid subscription account. Establishing an account may be worth it. The website is a major source of news and information for nonprofit leaders, fundraisers, grant makers, and other people involved in nonprofit “world. The website offers much nonprofit job hunting and career information and advice, as well as advice on performing nonprofit functions. The website offers a blog as well as forums where nonprofit professionals can offer advice and debate issues. Some of what the website offers is available through a free account, but the really “good stuff” is available to only paid subscribers. Decide for yourself whether you want to open an account at this time, and if so, which kind. However, once you land that first nonprofit job, you will probably want (and probably need) a paid subscription to Philanthropy.com.
Conclusion
This article presented a synopsis of two websites with job search engines good for finding a nonprofit job if you are not a coast dweller. By no means are there only two such websites, and the two discussed in this article may not be the best of the lot. However, they are simple to use and yield the most job “hits” located the American heartland. Give these two websites a try – and good luck with your nonprofit job search.
Sources:
Nonprofit Jobs.org
Philanthropy.com
