I talked about our new membership categories in a recent post, but some recent news had me thinking more about our Young Professional category.
You may have seen the report from Johns Hopkins’ Center for Civil Society that nonprofits added jobs at a rate of more than two percent annually over the past decade, while for-profit jobs were cut by 0.6 percent each year on average over that same time. The nonprofit sector is now the third largest type of private employer in the United States, accounting for nearly 10.7 million workers in 2010 and behind only retail trade and manufacturing.
At the same time, read any survey of young people these days, and you’ll see that jobs are, far and away, their number one concern. Consider too the growing number of degree and certificate programs in fundraising and nonprofit management, and that fundraising has been named a couple of times to lists like U.S. News & World Report’s Hot Jobs for the Future.
Add it all together with the newer generations’ interest in engagement and philanthropy, and I think we’ll see a lot of young people join the profession over the coming years. That’s why we created the Young Professional category, and the influx will help keep the profession vibrant with new energy and perspective.
But we’ll need to welcome them, just as other fundraisers welcomed us when we joined. Whether it’s offering a few kind words of advice, providing tips on a particular project or a serving as a mentor, I hope you’ll get involved and help our new fundraisers. Just as we need them to keep the profession strong and growing, so too do they need us—to get them started on their fundraising journey.
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5 comments:
Thank you for the post. As a young fundraiser, I owe a great amount to veterans in the field who have taken the time to welcome and support me in the profession--most of whom I met through my local AFP chapter.
Yes that is true, Social Networking has became a profession. Even there are professional tools, Tweet Adder Review which is a great boon to twitter surfers.
I am so excited about this new category! I think it will attract a lot more of the young fundraisers out there. We will have the opportunity to learn and experience from other members who have been in the field longer than we have and there is also the benefit of being able to relate more to people our own age who share career goals and interests.
One of the ways to gain the most of networking is to be active and visible. Seniors are encouraged to join senior friendly organizations and groups. These groups can offer discounts and benefits as well and other initiatives based on age.
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