Finding a Job in a Nonprofit

Many nonprofit jobs are never advertised. So, you can expand your job opportunities by identifying organizations of interest to you and contacting them to inquire about potential openings.

Sources for advertised openings:
• Classified section of Sunday newspapers
• Web sites of specific nonprofit organizations
• Major job search sites on the web
• Nonprofit Web sites (see list in right column)

Sources for identifying organizations:

• Idealist.org
  database of ~50,000 nonprofit organizations searchable by location and area of focus.
• CareerSearch™ (Hamilton, Colgate)
  database of 1.5 million+ employers all sectors, including nonprofit; searchable by location and nonprofit specialty.
• Yellow Pages
  especially helpful for identifying nonprofit organizations in smaller metropolitan areas.
• Networking contacts, including alumni, family and friends.

Contacting organizations about potential openings:
Using your personal network or the organization's web site, identify an employee, ideally in the area you wish to work.

Once you have identified an internal contact, do one of the following:

• arrange an informational interview to find out more about the organization and its staffing needs;
• write a letter to express interest and inquire about openings.

To determine your best strategy, visit the career center.