Anonymous wrote:The important skills to learn in college for mission-driven jobs is how to think, problem solve, and communicate. She can major in almost anything she's interested in and she'll get those skills -- this is the perfect place for the liberal arts.

+1

The important skills to learn in college for mission-driven jobs is how to think, problem solve, and communicate. She can major in almost anything she's interested in and she'll get those skills -- this is the perfect place for the liberal arts.

Non profit is just a way of describing the business registration. What kind of good does she want to do in the world? Is she interested in agriculture, infrastructure, environment, mental health, animal welfare? There are jobs that make a difference in those areas in for profits and non profits. If she just wants something that is mission-driven and helps her feel good about going to work every day, she can figure this out later. In that case her major doesn’t really matter and she’ll probably start in a job as an entry level program officer or admin and figure it out from there.

I stumbled into my career by taking my first job as a scheduler in an elder service organization. It was grunt work, but it led to more interesting things in time.

Social policy (Northwestern)
Public policy
Human development (Vandy/Cornell/Northwestern)
Sociology
Global development (Cornell)

As others mentioned, there are so many types of nonprofits, it would be helpful to know more about this interest. For example, are they interested in health care or legislative advocacy? Are they is interested in homelessness (for ex), do they want to work directly with people providing social services or perhaps is more into legal advocacy? Do they want to work with children or promote the arts? As others mentioned, there are jobs like HR or accounting within the field and a lot of jobs in program evaluation etc as well. It goes on and on.

The good news is, its relatively easy to switch between different areas of focus (eg between housing services and health care, for ex, or between direct service and advocacy work). But Bachelors level degrees are limiting, they will probably need to get a masters to move up (eg MSW, MBA, MPA or something else). I think people with all sorts of bachelors degrees end up in this field but common ones are psychology, government, etc. But honestly I've seen all sorts of degrees!

Working directly with individuals to provide treatment or services is a tough field. The money isnt there, but the demands and work hours are. They will have to have a strong internal motivation because even outside money, the recognition and perks are absent, but the stress is present.

But kudos to your child! Reading this board, you dont see a lot of stories about kids wanting to do this work and I do believe this field is full of smart, unsung heroes.

I'm a lawyer at a legal services nonprofit. No one has ever asked or cared about my major. We also employ social workers; while many of them majored in psychology or similar before getting their masters, it's not required. The development people have also majored in a variety of things.

Your student should major in whatever they find interesting. Many nonprofits are mission driven, so studying something relevant to their interests (urban studies, public health, political science, whatever) might help show why they want to work for a particular nonprofit. Volunteering would do that too.

Non profits and associations also always need STEM skills, because usually those people try to get paid more at corporations.

Many associations have all the same roles as corporate, so they need HR, Finance, IT, etc, just like a for-profit company.

My DH works in the non profit sector and a common role is Development. They raise funds for the organization’s mission by working with donors from corporations, individuals and foundations. It involves a lot of writing and being organized. He has a bachelor’s in English.

Look at the job descriptions for Director of Development at a non profit.

slac*

most majors at a slc

Public administration

Any major could work but psychology is a good foundation. Unfortunately, the non-profit sector is a tough job market. I’ve been looking for a few years but most of the jobs I see pay $40-50k. I would definitely suggest having her volunteer for several to make sure it’s the path for her. The one area of non-profits that seems to be hiring with a decent salary is fundraising but I’m not sure what kind of major is related - maybe marketing or business.

Social work, psychology, etc. if they are interested in the delivery of direct services, business administration, non-profit admin., public admin., etc. if they are interested in something more on the Indirect side of things.

There are many types of non-profits. Hospitals are often set up as non-profits and so are charitable organizations like soup kitchens/food and so are some arts centers.

Why don’t you have your daughter try to narrow her interests down a bit and volunteer somewhere to get a sense of types of career options

DC wants to work in the non profit sector doing something that helps people, but they are unsure what major will help with this.