Is a non-profit job really different from a job in the for-profit sector?

Well, yes and no.


The for-profit sector has one over-riding goal. That goal is profit. I don’t mean to imply that people in for-profit businesses aren’t good people doing good things, but the whole reason for the existence of the company they work for is profit. Profit is not a bad thing. Profit motivates people to work hard, try new ideas and innovate. For-profit companies come up with all sorts of idea that help people, families, and society in general. If a pharmaceutical company invents a vaccine for AIDS that will be a huge benefit to many individuals and society in general. The company will also make a lot of money from it. That profit does not take away from the fact that it is beneficial.

At the other end of the for-profit spectrum examples like Enron and AIG come to mind. These are examples where greed got the better of some people who could make decisions and they were purely interested in profit alone, at the expense of any possible benefit to individuals and society in general. Here there was no benefit to anyone, and actually a great deal of harm. Profit for profit’s sake led some people down the wrong path. Of course that can also happen with a non-profit as we saw with the United Way scandal, but I think it is much less likely.

I spent 15 years in for-profit and had a successful career there. I enjoyed my work, but as I moved up in the company it was more and more about profits, quarterly statements, capital and return on investments. That just didn’t excite me. I knew we did some things that benefited the world but most of it either didn’t benefit anyone or actually harmed some or at least had the potential for harm. The idea of working myself silly for the enrichment of stock holders just wasn’t exciting anymore.

That’s where the real difference is in non-profit. The mission. The actual work could be the same. An office manager, finance director, HR manager, etc., all pretty much do the same thing in non-profit companies as they do in for-profit companies. The different is that their work in a non-profit is not about making money for stock holders. It’s about the mission. It’s about cleaning up lakes and rivers. It’s about taking care of sick children. It’s about providing bed nets to African children to keep them from getting malaria. It’s about preserving ecosystems for a healthier future. It’s about providing vaccines to a mother who couldn’t otherwise afford to get her children vaccinated. It’s about providing a bed or a meal to a family in need.

So ask yourself, “If I got up every day and went to work knowing I was helping to fulfill one of those missions listed above, vs. making money for stock holders, would I feel differently about my job? Would I be happier to get up and go to work every day?” If the answer is yes, then for you a non-profit job probably would be different than a for-profit job.

One other difference that I can address is purely part of my experience. I cannot say that this applies across the board but it has been my reality. Non-profit companies, again in my experience, are just more humane. The non-profit places I’ve worked have been more sensitive to me as a person, to my need for a work/life balance, and all my other needs than the for-profit companies where I have worked. I think it’s just an artifact of the mission. If you really care about the world, it’s a little easier to treat people close to you better, and a little harder to treat them poorly. It just goes against the grain of why you are there in the first place. That does not imply that you won’t work hard in a non-profit because you will. Perhaps harder than you ever worked in a for-profit, but somehow it just feels better.

That is not to say that all is happiness and light in the non-profit sector. Unfortunately this sector has its share of jerks, a**holes, and just plain mean people. There are folks out there just worried about getting ahead and they will step on anyone in their way. But generally speaking that kind of behavior tends to be much less accepted in the non-profit workplace. Those folks tend to be “in the closet” so to speak. It’s only really bad when one of them becomes a boss, but unfortunately that can happen here just like anywhere else.

Finally, let me dispel a myth about the difference between the non-profit and for-profit work places. When I left for-profit some of my friends and co-workers implied that I would be disappointed in non-profit. Some told me that people went to non-profit when they couldn’t get a job in for-profit and that the work and general quality was just lower. In my experience that could not be further from the truth. The people I have worked with and come across in non-profit have been just as skilled, knowledgeable, thorough, meticulous, and hard working as anyone I’ve met in the for-profit world.

Please email me with your questions at zippyjobadvice@gmail.com