Journalism, Fundraising, and Teaching or the always tempting Graduate studies

[Nowtide]

Hey Everyone,

I am interested in pursuing a career in Journalism or Fundraising/Volunteer Management and am hoping to hear from others who might already be in these careers.

Can you talk about some challenges or difficulties you find in the career?

What is the job security like? The Job satisfaction? The Money?

I am also thinking of doing some grad studies or maybe some teaching as I am currently at a crossroads and must make a career change.

Any stories are welcome,

Nowtide

[wordsmith]

I was a journalist for the past six and a half years, before switching back into the nonprofit sector (which I first worked in out of college). I've never worked in fundraising or development in np, though, only direct service...fundraising isn't my cup of tea. AshleyJordan works in that branch of the field, though, maybe she'll see this. I can answer from my experience in journalism, though. I worked in print journalism, BTW, as a reporter, writer, photographer, and editor.

Challenges and difficulties:

*At first, being assertive and going out after stories, when I was new. But you get over that really quickly.

*Lousy hours. Depending on how big your employer is, how many other employees, what the breakdown of responsibilities is, and some other things, this can vary...but it's ordinarily a more than 9-5 job, in most cases.

*Lousy pay. Especially for the demands.

Job Security:

*Pretty good when I started. Overall, though, the industry's been seeing a lot of cuts and reductions in staff. This is print, though, I can't speak for radio/TV/"new media."

Job Satisfaction:

It's generally fun, interesting, varied, not boring, and not the standard sit at a desk cubicle grind at all. The atmosphere is generally pretty appealing, but the hours and pay thing can make even the most fun, varied, non-boring atmosphere grinding after a while. But I found it to be very satisfying work. Just not very satisfyingly compensated, both in terms of pay and time off.

The Money:

As noted, not so hot. Liveable for a single person, or a supplementary income to a spouse or partner's better income...but by liveable, I mean you can probably meet your expenses...not that you can live the high life, so to speak. And it would be very, very difficult to have a family as a journalist, both because the pay is poor, and because the hours are unconventional and demanding. I knew very few journalists when I was working in the field who had families who were still living at home. Most were either single and/or childless, and some had come to the field after their families were grown.

[AshleyJordan]

Yes, I work in fundraising. I've done grantwriting for orgs and on a consultant basis, event planning, board development, individual fundraising, everything.

Can you talk about some challenges or difficulties you find in the career? Challenges-- depends on who you're working for. If it's a small organization, money's always tight. Grant reporting is a huge PITA and very time-consuming. Sometimes individual donors (especially the large ones,) require a lot of hand-holding, as do board members. It's also very stressful.

What is the job security like? If you can prove that you can raise (and increase,) income for an organization, your job security is great. It's a small field, and everyone knows each other, so it's also pretty common for me to hear from recruiters, etc.;)

The Job satisfaction?
For me, it's great. The job combines a lot of my interests (socially conscious, get to write, interact with people, lots of autonomy.) As you progress in the field, satisfaction increases. It's also very competitive.

The Money? I make a very good salary, even for NYC, and my benefits are wonderful.

[Nowtide]

I was a journalist for the past six and a half years, before switching back into the nonprofit sector (which I first worked in out of college). I've never worked in fundraising or development in np, though, only direct service...fundraising isn't my cup of tea. AshleyJordan works in that branch of the field, though, maybe she'll see this. I can answer from my experience in journalism, though. I worked in print journalism, BTW, as a reporter, writer, photographer, and editor.

Challenges and difficulties:

*At first, being assertive and going out after stories, when I was new. But you get over that really quickly.

*Lousy hours. Depending on how big your employer is, how many other employees, what the breakdown of responsibilities is, and some other things, this can vary...but it's ordinarily a more than 9-5 job, in most cases.

*Lousy pay. Especially for the demands.

Job Security:

*Pretty good when I started. Overall, though, the industry's been seeing a lot of cuts and reductions in staff. This is print, though, I can't speak for radio/TV/"new media."

Job Satisfaction:

It's generally fun, interesting, varied, not boring, and not the standard sit at a desk cubicle grind at all. The atmosphere is generally pretty appealing, but the hours and pay thing can make even the most fun, varied, non-boring atmosphere grinding after a while. But I found it to be very satisfying work. Just not very satisfyingly compensated, both in terms of pay and time off.

The Money:

As noted, not so hot. Liveable for a single person, or a supplementary income to a spouse or partner's better income...but by liveable, I mean you can probably meet your expenses...not that you can live the high life, so to speak. And it would be very, very difficult to have a family as a journalist, both because the pay is poor, and because the hours are unconventional and demanding. I knew very few journalists when I was working in the field who had families who were still living at home. Most were either single and/or childless, and some had come to the field after their families were grown.

I appreciate your honesty here. When I talk to the people in the academic programs they seldom say any of the above and tend to tip toe around my direct questions. It's too bad about the field because it seems interesting but not so interesting that it's worth the sacrifice to the rest of your life.

Cheers,

Nowtide

[Nowtide]

Yes, I work in fundraising. I've done grantwriting for orgs and on a consultant basis, event planning, board development, individual fundraising, everything.

Can you talk about some challenges or difficulties you find in the career? Challenges-- depends on who you're working for. If it's a small organization, money's always tight. Grant reporting is a huge PITA and very time-consuming. Sometimes individual donors (especially the large ones,) require a lot of hand-holding, as do board members. It's also very stressful.

What is the job security like? If you can prove that you can raise (and increase,) income for an organization, your job security is great. It's a small field, and everyone knows each other, so it's also pretty common for me to hear from recruiters, etc.;)

The Job satisfaction?
For me, it's great. The job combines a lot of my interests (socially conscious, get to write, interact with people, lots of autonomy.) As you progress in the field, satisfaction increases. It's also very competitive.

The Money? I make a very good salary, even for NYC, and my benefits are wonderful.


This is great information. It is hard to talk to people in the field as I don't really know many who do this kind of work and to be honest I don't think people give it a lot of credit.

How did you originally get into the field?

My B.A. is in History and I have found 2 post grad programs for Fundraising programs both of which include internships so I suspect I will go that route but would like to hear your ideas about getting started.

MY thoughts about the field are exactly what you mentioned, socially conscious, get to write and work with people etc.

Do you find yourself doing cold calling to potential clients or is that not really part of the professional side of fundraising?

Cheers,

Nowtide

[AshleyJordan]

How did you originally get into the field? My first job in college was with an organization that did a lot of grantwriting/research into that field. I didn't have any particular interest in fundraising at the time, this was just the job that helped me through school. I developed an interest, and began writing grants FOR FREE (very rare) for my profs and artist friends. I quickly realized that you could make a decent living off of this, and eventually grew to where I am now.

My B.A. is in History and I have found 2 post grad programs for Fundraising programs both of which include internships so I suspect I will go that route but would like to hear your ideas about getting started. There are professional certificates in the field (including one I considered getting,) but experience is much more important, especially when you're getting started. I'd try to get an entry level job at an area nonprofit, or, if that doesn't work, try volunteering a couple hours a week to do grantwriting, prospect research, or other development for an org. Also, while I wouldn't recommend a fundraising certificate just yet, I would recommend a class in grantwriting, or board development, or whichever aspect of development interests you most right now.



Do you find yourself doing cold calling to potential clients or is that not really part of the professional side of fundraising? I wouldn't say I ever do cold calls, no. Everyone I deal with has some pre-existing relationship with my organization (been invited to an event, knows one of our donors, etc.) But you do have to be very, very comfortable talking about money AND talking with just about everyone. The last part-- being comfortable talking to ANYONE and at ease in most social situations-- is essential, unless you want to avoid dealing with individual donors and stick with grantwriting/prospect research.

[wordsmith]

I appreciate your honesty here. When I talk to the people in the academic programs they seldom say any of the above and tend to tip toe around my direct questions. It's too bad about the field because it seems interesting but not so interesting that it's worth the sacrifice to the rest of your life.

Cheers,

Nowtide

Don't get me wrong, it was an awesome job, and I loved the job itself...and I learned a TON doing it, plus, it was fun and interesting in ways I seriously doubt future jobs will match. It just was hard to justify devoting more years of my life to something so all-encompassing. It really depends on a lot of variables exactly how much of your life it will suck up, too...a lot of people asked me, when I got out, if I was sure I didn't just want to move to a larger outfit, where there would have been less responsibility all on my shoulders, more people to share the load. But my brother, and loads of other colleagues in the field all work for much larger staffed papers, and there appears to be no real difference, it still demands a lot of your life.

[Nowtide]

How did you originally get into the field? My first job in college was with an organization that did a lot of grantwriting/research into that field. I didn't have any particular interest in fundraising at the time, this was just the job that helped me through school. I developed an interest, and began writing grants FOR FREE (very rare) for my profs and artist friends. I quickly realized that you could make a decent living off of this, and eventually grew to where I am now.

My B.A. is in History and I have found 2 post grad programs for Fundraising programs both of which include internships so I suspect I will go that route but would like to hear your ideas about getting started. There are professional certificates in the field (including one I considered getting,) but experience is much more important, especially when you're getting started. I'd try to get an entry level job at an area nonprofit, or, if that doesn't work, try volunteering a couple hours a week to do grantwriting, prospect research, or other development for an org. Also, while I wouldn't recommend a fundraising certificate just yet, I would recommend a class in grantwriting, or board development, or whichever aspect of development interests you most right now.



Do you find yourself doing cold calling to potential clients or is that not really part of the professional side of fundraising? I wouldn't say I ever do cold calls, no. Everyone I deal with has some pre-existing relationship with my organization (been invited to an event, knows one of our donors, etc.) But you do have to be very, very comfortable talking about money AND talking with just about everyone. The last part-- being comfortable talking to ANYONE and at ease in most social situations-- is essential, unless you want to avoid dealing with individual donors and stick with grantwriting/prospect research.

This is great information. The one benefit I see about taking the program here is that there is an internship as part of the program and it is run by a guy names Ken Wyman who is featured in a ton of articles and written lots of books. I even saw him called "the greatest fundraiser in the world" in a major newspaper. I am in Canada and the program is run through an Ontairo College which means that it is probably a legit program...ie not a quick program at a career college promising the world and charging huge money to go.

I think the program would offer lots of industry contacts and experience but bypassing any more education would be most welcome if I could find an entry level position or internship.

[Nowtide]

Don't get me wrong, it was an awesome job, and I loved the job itself...and I learned a TON doing it, plus, it was fun and interesting in ways I seriously doubt future jobs will match. It just was hard to justify devoting more years of my life to something so all-encompassing. It really depends on a lot of variables exactly how much of your life it will suck up, too...a lot of people asked me, when I got out, if I was sure I didn't just want to move to a larger outfit, where there would have been less responsibility all on my shoulders, more people to share the load. But my brother, and loads of other colleagues in the field all work for much larger staffed papers, and there appears to be no real difference, it still demands a lot of your life.


I hear you, I can certainly understand the attraction to the field and from what you've said all of my thoughts and worries about the field are true. I think the career is a good match for my interests but the lifestyle is a bit hard for me to accept.

[wordsmith]

I hear you, I can certainly understand the attraction to the field and from what you've said all of my thoughts and worries about the field are true. I think the career is a good match for my interests but the lifestyle is a bit hard for me to accept.

Which is a perspective that's generally true of most people; which is one reason why you (and most people) don't know very many journalists personally. Think about how many journalists you actually know, among your peers, when compared to how many people you know in scores of other professions and vocations. It's an attractive field to think about, to many, but kind of tough to actually DO, for most people.

[Nowtide]

To this following this thread, I have been accepted into a post graduate program that includes an internship and plenty of opportunity to do special projects in the field of Fundraising and Volunteer management. I have made some great contacts in the field who speak very highly of the program that I am going to be taking.

In addition I am returning to University in 2 months to finish my degree in History.

I am terrified and excited all at once.

[roulettefanatic]

congratulations....it's definitely understandable to feel two things at once....i sort of feel like that now since i'm thinking about a career change....

[Nowtide]

Yes, I work in fundraising. I've done grantwriting for orgs and on a consultant basis, event planning, board development, individual fundraising, everything.

Can you talk about some challenges or difficulties you find in the career? Challenges-- depends on who you're working for. If it's a small organization, money's always tight. Grant reporting is a huge PITA and very time-consuming. Sometimes individual donors (especially the large ones,) require a lot of hand-holding, as do board members. It's also very stressful.

What is the job security like? If you can prove that you can raise (and increase,) income for an organization, your job security is great. It's a small field, and everyone knows each other, so it's also pretty common for me to hear from recruiters, etc.;)

The Job satisfaction?
For me, it's great. The job combines a lot of my interests (socially conscious, get to write, interact with people, lots of autonomy.) As you progress in the field, satisfaction increases. It's also very competitive.

The Money? I make a very good salary, even for NYC, and my benefits are wonderful.

Do you find yourself making a lot of cold calls? I have been volunteering with a group in fundraising and event planning and I HATE calling people to ask for donations. Is there more to this field or is cold calling really a part of the job?

Cheers,

Nowtide

[AshleyJordan]

we have a telemarketing firm that handles cold calling, but i do call current donors (or those who are likely to attend our events/make a donation,) and ask them to meet with me. i don't ask for $ over the phone.

[Nowtide]

This is comforting to hear and what I suspected of most places. This is a small palce so I am getting lots of experience with event planning, grant writing, committee work, and donor research...but with that comes the chore of calling attendees of last year's golf tournament and donators and asking them to donate/attend again.

I don't really like this aspect of fundraising, if I worked with a bigger group I would not be doing the cold calling but I also would not be getting all of the other experience either.

Cheers,

Chris

[Nowtide]

I just got back from a meeting this morning with the group I volunteer with and now they want me to do some door to door canvassing for donations. I am not at all keen on this. I was already frustrated with making calls for donations, now I am really frustrated and stressed about door to doors.

One of the things that made me really think twice about Fund raising is that I DO NOT want to be making cold calls or canvassing for a charity- I am not interested in that at all. Now what? I am gaining lots of other sills from this group but I dont want to do any sales.

Cheers,

Nowtide

[Franti]

-To be honest with you all three of the careers you've mentioned have similar drawbacks. If you don't want to go door to door or cold call people you shouldn't do fund raising or journalism.

Teaching is a massively tough job with the same pay and hours problem as journalism. I am a journalist and have been incredibly successful in my 2.5 years of full-time work. Despite having a ton of my work nationally syndicated and being recognized by many outside organizations with awards etc I am getting a 2% raise this year. Which is really a pay cut if you consider inflation.

I have been getting a ton of hits on job applications in terms of interviews but nothings materialized yet, if I don't get into a better situation in the next 6 months or so its gonna be law school for me.

The other thing about journalism is when you do really really good work like dig into something deep and intense and you are breaking investigative work, its incredibly stressful and emotionally draining.

Its also SUPER competitive. So you have to have a thick skin my man if you want to get anywhere with it.

[wordsmith]

I'm teaching, now, after years in journalism, and journalism was far more time-consuming, for me. Teaching's time-consuming, too, no doubt...but I used to be up all night writing and going to press, and getting called out all the time to cover things. Journalism was very gratifying and interesting, but keeping up that kind of schedule and pressure would have eventually had seriously adverse effects on my health and happiness.

[Nowtide]

-To be honest with you all three of the careers you've mentioned have similar drawbacks. If you don't want to go door to door or cold call people you shouldn't do fund raising or journalism.

Teaching is a massively tough job with the same pay and hours problem as journalism. I am a journalist and have been incredibly successful in my 2.5 years of full-time work. Despite having a ton of my work nationally syndicated and being recognized by many outside organizations with awards etc I am getting a 2% raise this year. Which is really a pay cut if you consider inflation.

I have been getting a ton of hits on job applications in terms of interviews but nothings materialized yet, if I don't get into a better situation in the next 6 months or so its gonna be law school for me.

The other thing about journalism is when you do really really good work like dig into something deep and intense and you are breaking investigative work, its incredibly stressful and emotionally draining.

Its also SUPER competitive. So you have to have a thick skin my man if you want to get anywhere with it.

I appreciate your thoughts. I will say thought tha tin doing research into the field of fund raising I found very few people...in fact none, who report having to do cold calling to people's homes or walking into businesses cold and asking for money. I was surprised to have been asked to do this but mainly because I don't like doing it. I've decided to see it as an opportunity to challenge myself and my introverted ways and to build people skills. Although I know door to door sales is not a part of fund raising I think it's good to be able to approach people and sell them an idea.