Benefit from the Boom in Non-profits

While some market segments are indeed slowing down as economies cool, one in particular is busy booming. The Non-profit Executive Market* has grown 13% in the past year, adding 34,000 positions. If we add in the almost 14,000 who changed positions during this period we are talking about 48,000 executive opportunities in the past year—16% of the current market volume!

That is a lot of opportunity—the kind that The Barrett Group renders attainable every day by helping executives reinvent their careers through our tried and true five-step career change process.

Here is how one landed client explained her motivation to hire us when she decided to exit the non-profit sphere:

“I was so busy working that I never spent time getting clarity on what to do next in my career or reflecting on what I brought to a position. There came a point in my sixth year when I felt strongly that there was more that I wanted to do,” said Elfreda. [Read more.]

In fact, women make up 46% of the non-profit cohort—a very high percentage compared to other industries. True, the tenure is relatively low at 2.1 years. Still, the forward-looking hiring demand is “high” according to LinkedIn. Regionally, the US and Canada account for two-thirds of this market while the EU and UK make up 89,000—the lion’s share of the remainder.

In the Non-profit Executives’ Titles chart it becomes clear that if one wants to be a CEO or President, this seems to be a rich industry vertical for those titles—collectively these two titles represent 54% of all executive titles. The industry clearly welcomes female executives, particularly in roles such as Director (52%), Vice President (51%), and COO (51%). As far as demand is concerned, taking only the published market into account (i.e., help-wanted ads), the Director and President titles were by far the most in demand. Still, The Barrett Group (TBG) finds that most executive opportunities are never published—75% of our clients land in the so-called unpublished market, for example, so there is likely to be far more opportunity than that visible in the want ads (if you know how to find it).

Executives considering whether to explore the non-profit industry will want to know how compensation compares versus the for-profit segment.

Here’s one industry expert’s perspective: “I would say the salary levels between the nonprofit and for-profit sectors are actually converging. If you’re comparing the same positions at similarly sized organizations, the salaries are going to look similar. Where they start to diverge is with incentive pay…” [See source.]

However, TBG is also well known for helping executive clients add compensation during the offer negotiation step in our five-step career change process. We can virtually always add tens of thousands in compensation, whether through salary, bonuses, benefits, equity or other means—because we have been helping execs land opportunities now for more than 30 years.

Who employs executives in this industry?

The Largest Non-profit Employers of Execs chart provides a summary with some very familiar names such as the Red Cross or Rotary International, but also many that may not be so well known.

TBG clients benefit from the research support we provide at the initial screening stage or in-depth interview preparation stage so they can always be optimally prepared.

As far as industrial focus is concerned, Higher Education-focused non-profits employ the most executives, followed by Civic and Social Organizations, Education Administration, Government Administration, Medical Practices, Hospitals and Health Care, Software Development, Business Consulting and Services, Law Practice and Philanthropic Fundraising Services.

Naturally, Fundraising receives a lot of attention in terms of the skills non-profit executives bring to the table, along with non-profit management, board development, certifications, compliance, as well as grant writing and volunteer training. If these seem overly specialized to would-be entrants, bear in mind that TBG routinely helps executives move between industries by highlighting their relevant and transferable skills in ways that help them appear as highly desirable candidates on paper and in interviews—often regardless of whether they have ever worked in the target industry or not.

Here’s how one non-profit executive summarized his TBG experience:

“The Barrett Group got me over the hump. Jerry [his career consultant], in particular, was a wealth of information. I would recommend him and The Barrett Group to anyone. I’m one-for-one after working with The Barrett Group. And I’m sure that isn’t a coincidence!” [André – Chief Financial and Operations Officer, Read more]

Which cities employ the most non-profit executives?

In the US, New York (+16%) tops the chart with almost 18,000 such executives. Washington DC (+14%), Los Angeles (+12%), San Francisco (+16%), Chicago (+15%), Boston (+19%), Atlanta (+10%), Miami (+11%) and Dallas-Fort Worth (+12%) round out the rest of the top cities. Outside the US, London (+20%) comes in at the top with almost 10,000 non-profit execs, followed by Paris (+34%), Toronto (+20%) The Randstadt (+7%), and Istanbul (+7%) completing the top five. In short, there is no shortage of executive roles in the non-profit sector.

We hope you now recognize that the opportunity is real. How about your career ambitions? Are you ready for a big change? If so, let us hear from you and we’ll help you achieve your dreams.

*In this BLOG post “executives” will generally refer to the Vice President, Senior Vice President, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Managing Director, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Marketing Officer, Chief Information Officer, Managing Partner, General Counsel, Head, President and Director titles principally located in the US, Canada, Europe, the UK, and/or the Middle East. Unless otherwise noted, the data in this publication will largely come from LinkedIn and represent a snapshot of the market as it was at the time of the research.