Today, thanks to Heather Mansfield, who runs the Twitter NonprofitOrgs profile, I came across a great article that I would like to share with you. Entitled, “Setting the Record Straight about Nonprofit-Focused Graduate Degrees” by Nonprofit Leadership 601. This is a great article that explains the subtle differences in nonprofit-focused master’s degree programs.

I chose to go the Master’s of Public Administration with a Concentration in Nonprofit Management route. It is, so far, serving me well. I think it is a great degree because there is so much versatility to it. As Nonprofit Leadership 601 states, there is so much versatility to the degree because as a student you are “studying the intersection between government and nonprofits” and this “master’s degree program… offer(s) core courses in managing a governmental organization (while) offer(ing) elective courses in managing a nonprofit organization.” So, following graduate school, a person with this degree can either go into the government or nonprofit sectors. Also, it keeps the door open between the two because you might change your mind while enrolled, because the experience of graduate school may change your mind about a given field (nonprofit to government or vice versa).

I thought I would end up with a concentration in policy analysis, but due to scheduling and a growing interest in the nonprofit field (attending school part time while working for a nonprofit full time), I decided to go the Nonprofit Management direction. I am glad that I did. Today, I am employed by another nonprofit organization and I understand a great deal about the nuances of legal entity, the need for professionalization, how to approach performance measurement of a given program and how to evaluate its efficiency, the difference between a 501(c)(3) and a 501(c)(4) as well as what private inurement means and how to avoid it or understand its avoidance by the management of the organization.

The nonprofit field is vibrant and holds a promising future. As problems face society that neither government or the private sector are willing to address, nonprofits step in to fill the void. Nonprofits also can focus on a single issue area, different from the government sector. If you are passionate about something and want to help, this is the path for you. Please take a look at the Nonprofit Leadership 601 blog post and I hope you will consider a future in the nonprofit sector through pursuit of a nonprofit-focused master’s degree.

Each election cycle, the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) hosts the Dirty Dozen on their Web site. According to the LCV Web site, “Every election year, LCV’s trademark Dirty Dozen program targets members of Congress — regardless of party affiliation — who consistently vote against the environment… where LCV has a serious chance to affect the outcome.” As a part of my role with LCV, I was entrusted with the most recent update to the page where the public can vote for the next member as well as the subsequent sharing page. I hope you can stop by and make your voice heard. It only takes two minutes to vote. Voting ends at midnight this Thursday, August 26^th.

Additionally, for all of you who may live in Pennsylvania or know someone who does, I also updated a campaign page about Pat Toomey, a candidate for United States Senate. My role was coding the page for style and feel. I really enjoyed these small projects and it gave me a chance to reverse-engineer how the LCV Web site and other Web properties are constructed to learn how to use them for future assignments.

As a point of concern that I would like to address, I want to assure you that I will not continue to post every project that I am a part of at LCV. I am excited that I get to use my skills in graphic and Web design on the job again. It is something I really enjoy and I think it lets me express myself in amazing ways. There is something about making written text turn into a picture before someones eyes and I am not talking about telling a story.

There’s only a few days left, please go vote today.

This week, I started a new position with the Leage of Conservation Voters (LCV) as Manager of Grassroots Advocacy and Online Advocacy. This nonprofit is an environmentally focused nonprofit that has a 501(c)(4), 501(c)(3), PAC and 527 legal recognition. What makes this organization great is that they can name names without jeopardizing their nonprofit status by sheltering their activities within a 501(c)(4) legal entity. The only downside to this is when people donate they cannot deduct their donation, but the organization does not pay taxes to operate (however, they do pay certain taxes such as sales tax, personnel taxes, etc.).

Essentially, my functions consist of working with the Convio eCRM and CMS system performing e-marketing functions, devising communications strategies to raise revenue from donors who donate less than $1,000 each year as well as optimizing advocacy campaigns. Much of this work is similar to what I did while I was at United Cerebral Palsy. Already, after reading reports on the first day to get caught up, I am finding that they place a high value on performance measurement and program evaluation to fine tune what works and what doesn’t when communicating with their members. The work is fast paced and exciting. I am glad that I chose to work at LCV and I am quite sure that you can expect some of my observations while on the job to shine through here in my posts.

In the future, my posts may be more and more aligned with this role, but I will also endeavor to reflect my thoughts and views on certain subjects relating to the nonprofit and public sector as they come up. I look forward to the future with LCV and I hope you’ll join me in exploring this new horizon and adventure in my life.

Just a quick update today. I understand that it has been some time since my last post. Much of this is because I have spent all of my energies on my job search. This effort has paid off so far. Tomorrow, I have two interviews as a follow up from last week. Last Friday, I had three interviews scheduled. Each of the positions involves e-marketing, online fundraising and advocacy, search engine optimization (SEO), possible Web development and new media activities. I am really excited and hopeful for something to come through soon.

I will post more soon, once I know more about the direction of my job search. Thanks for following along with me as I undergo this career adventure. I should be back soon to post something more relevant to the nonprofit and public sectors.

Today marks three complete months of unemployment for me. The average, according to the US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics is 32.8 weeks. I am only on week 13. Unemployment insurance will only last six months, or 26 weeks. This indicates that unemployment insurance may run out while I seek out gainful employment. However daunting that this may seem, I still have two prospects in the air at the moment and I am awaiting call backs on whether I am a good fit for the second round of interviews or not.

At this point, I am still working to get what is owed to me by the DC office of unemployment because they need to verify how many weeks I was paid severance by United Cerebral Palsy. Needless to say, the old addage that you should save up at least six months for any given situation where you might be out of work is an understatement and it should be six weeks longer than that time frame.

Like many others, I am finding it difficult to get ahead in life. Each time that I feel that my family and I are making some progress (e.g. paying off my credit card for the first time since college as an undergraduate; still working on the Mrs. cards, however), we are dealt a set back.

My period of unemployment may be the greatest set back that we have ever had to endure as a family. Previously, any time that I spent out of work was minimal and less than a week to four weeks. Further, there is a social pressure for me to protect the family financially. If I cannot protect or at least contribute to the family financially, what more can I provide for our family? I would like to emphasize, however, that I am not seeking to diminish the fact that I am a father. I can provide care for our daughter and perform the duties of a domestic engineer. These activities are not beneath me and I am happy to perform them, but, when we make a choice to seek gainful employment, something fulfilling to the soul (not that domestic engineer activities aren’t) and something that provides and contributes to the well being of the family unit, that is a conscious choice that must be pursued. I am not making the choice to stay home. If I were, this period of unemployment would not be something where I would make a point to be concerned about its affects. Psychologically, this period is trying for my family and I.

We all face some form of adversity in our lives. It is something that shapes us, builds character and makes us better for having endured the insufferable. This experience has shed light on many things and given perspective to both my family and I. Certain things, previously thought of as important, are not that important (e.g. keeping up with the Jones’). What is important is that we are happy, healthy and resiliant. We will not let this beat us. We are getting through this together.

Sometimes we seek out assurance from great thinkers of the past to put current circumstances into perspective. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once wrote, “How sublime a thing it is to suffer and be strong.” Abagail Adams wrote along the same vein, “It is not in the still calm of life, or the response to a pacific situation, that great characters are formed… Great necessities call out great virtues.”

It is the process that we must all appreciate and accept as our trial by fire. Something that we must pass through to find a new sense of self on the other side. We cannot go around or find a way to cheat our way through the experience. It is something that we must all endure. It is what makes us human and something that we share as a part of the human condition. As difficult as the situation currently is, it is something that will shape me to find commonalities and a level of understanding with my fellow man. This is something that I will carry with me all the days of my life.

As difficult as the current situation may be for me, it is something that I openly embrace. We will get through this. We will see days of prosperity in our future. We must have hope and we will find that a happy ending is just around the corner.