Do you really work in the #nonprofit sector if you've never:
💯 Been told asking for more money is selfish and "takes away from the mission"
💯 Been laughed at for daring to try to ask for more money because there is none
💯 Had your motivations for doing the work questioned when you inquired about a salary increase
💯 Been told to be grateful to even have a job during a time like this
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💰 The nonprofit sector contributes billions to Canada's economy, accounting for nearly 9% of the total GDP.
👩💼 Between 75-80% of the sector is made up by Women, almost half of sector workers are immigrants, and nearly a third are racialized.
🧕 Half of all jobs held by immigrant women and almost a third of jobs held by Indigenous and racialized women are in the nonprofit sector.
↙ People working in the sector make, on average, $20,000 less than their for-profit counterparts.
One nonprofit I worked at had a core value "get the job done, period."
This was pretty well understood to mean that you were expected to serve the mission, no questions asked.
Give it all to the cause, don't be so naïve as to expect anything in return, and be very grateful when a perk is offered (like free coffee!)
In the wake of the pandemic, attitudes are shifting in really important ways as the sector (slowly) learns that investing in people, committing to providing a living wage, and promoting flexibility in the approach to our work are actually fundamental aspects of the mission and are not in opposition to it.
It's so important for nonprofits to look inward and ask whether they uphold their mission and vision internally, or whether they expect staff to sacrifice their well being at the altar of the cause, ultimately undermining the cause itself.
❓ What positive changes do you want to see, or have you seen, in nonprofit work over the past couple of years?
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