So there is a dirty little secret in the next gen movement. Gen X folks can pull the same ageist nonsense that baby boomers do. I know this is absolutely shocking (unless you are a Gen Y nonprofit staff member that is sick of your Gen X coworkers constantly railing against your generation). Alfonso Wenker, who is a blogger at From Our Perspective and is featured in How to Become a Nonprofit Rockstar: 50 Ways to Accelerate your Career, has a lot to say on this topic. From Alfonso:

I was hired for my first nonprofit job when I was twenty years-old. Yes, HIRED. It was a paid gig. AND it was a job in philanthropy to boot – and I still work for the same organization.

To this day I am still entirely humbled and grateful to Greg, my first boss, for hiring me. He took a risk and saw potential. And also, to this day, people continue to do a double take when they hear that I am in my twenties and work for a foundation in a lead program role. I still find myself saying at events and happy hours, “Yes, I am on staff and have been for three years.” It gets old after a while. Now in most settings I would expect that folks might be surprised to hear that a 23 year-old is the director of programs for a regional LGBT foundation, but the last place I’d expect to get pushback is at an event for young professionals. This has been a huge challenge for me.

When I landed what I call “the first job of my dreams”, I immediately started attending networking events, professional development seminars and of course “YP” events. Working in philanthropy I felt a little over my head at first. Everyone was older. Most everyone was white. Many had been seasoned nonprofit professionals before they arrived as program officers at a foundation.

I thought my one safe haven would be attending “YP” events. Think again. I suppose you could call what I encountered at these events, acute ageism. Sharing my age seemed to leave a bad taste in the mouths of people I thought to be peers. I continually had to assure my colleagues at these events that “No, I in fact, am not an intern. I am on staff.” I was shocked. These were supposed to be my people. We were supposed to band together about being younger in field dominated by folks 20 and 30 years older than us. Instead what I found was a general mistrust and disbelief.

Sometimes when I was not “out” about my age, I found my other young colleagues cracking jokes about “those twenty something’s” or ridiculing the work of their newest intern.

Read the rest of Alfono’s post here.

Here is a great post from Pam Pompey on the GIFT blog (Grassroots Institute for Fundraising Training). Until we open up our vision about who is a giver and who is a receiver, we will be unable to solve the problems that face our society. (Special thanks to Theo Yang Copley for sending me this link). From Pam:

My head is still throbbing from my conversation with a program associate at a southern-based foundation. The conversation had me so upset I reached out to my board of directors for moral support. The foundation person (who is probably first contact for groups considering submitting a grant proposals) told me our organization was not compatible with their social change agenda.

Okay, I get that. Not all groups fit all grants. I preach that. But I was told my organization’s work wasn’t social justice work. I said, yes we are! I told her “We believe strengthening donor-ship and leadership skills of individuals (in communities of color) is key to helping groups build organizational capacity and sustainability. I told her working on community-led philanthropy and fundraising is working for social change.

The program associate disagreed. “Sorry, ya’ll don’t match our mission” is exactly what she said. But I assumed what she meant was that sharing cultural knowledge and developing people of color with a donor/fundraiser/activist mentality and the spirit of volunteerism, is not considered part of a progressive social change agenda.

Read the rest here at the GIFT Blog

I just finished reading the final draft of the book that I am co-writing with Rosetta Thurman “How to Become a Nonprofit Rockstar: 50 Ways to Accelerate Your Career” and it’s pretty darn good, if I do say so myself. The stories and examples included in the book are from hundreds of nonprofit rockstars, much life yourself, that have shared their advice through interviews, blog comments, Linked In Q and A’s, Facebook comments, and twitter chats. The book will be available on November 1st on this website. We have two versions for you to choose from: a paperback version with an extended resources section and an electronic version that includes the resource section as well as live links throughout the book, so you can move to action sooner. The electronic version can also be read on any ebook reader that can view PDF’s. As a New Voices of Philanthropy reader, I’ll give you a sneak peek at the book’s table of contents.

Table of Contents
Chapter 1: What a Nonprofit Career Looks Like 3
There is No Linear Career Path 3
Rosetta’s Journey 5
Trista’s Journey 8
How Do You Get from Here to There? 11

Chapter 2: Develop Expertise 12
Tip 1: Find A Great Nonprofit Job 12
Tip 2: Size Matters 18
Tip 3: Make the Most of Your Volunteer Experience 22
Tip 4: Learn How to Raise Money 25
Tip 5: Always Learn, Always Teach 28
Tip 6: Work Abroad 32

Chapter 3: Build a Strong Network 34
Tip 7: Prioritize Networking 34
Tip 8: Attend Nonprofit Conferences 35
Tip 9: Get Your Own Business Cards 36
Tip 10: Join Professional Associations 37
Tip 11: Go Talk to People 40
Tip 12: Build Your Own Frankenmentor 45
Tip 13: Start Your Own Network 50

Chapter 4: Establish a Great Personal Brand 52
Tip 14: Google Yourself 52
Tip 15: Stop Trying to be Two Different People 55
Tip 16: Write a Kick Butt Bio 58
Tip 17: Professionalize Your Online Presence 60
Tip 18: Start a Blog 62
Tip 19: Look Like a Leader 66

Chapter 5: Practice Authentic Leadership 69
Tip 20: Do Your Job and Do It Well 69
Tip 21: Join a Nonprofit Board of Directors 73
Tip 22: Lead a Committee 75
Tip 23: Cultivate a Slash Career 79
Tip 24: Polish Your Public Speaking Skills 83
Tip 25: Ask for Feedback 89
Tip 26: Do a Stretch Assignment 90
Tip 27: Speak Up! 93
Tip 28: Mentor Someone Else 94

Chapter 6: Plan for Balance 96
Tip 29: Develop a Personal Mission Statement 96
Tip 30: Schedule Time to Reflect 99
Tip 31: Don’t Skip Lunch 101
Tip 32: Fall Back in Love with Your Job 103
Tip 33: Ditch the Martyr Lifestyle 105
Tip 34: Clear Off Your Plate 108
Tip 35: Mind Your Money 111
Tip 36: When Work and Home Collide 114

Chapter 7: Move On Up 119
Tip 37: Create Your Own Professional Development Plan 119
Tip 38: Set Big Goals 120
Tip 39: Get a Master’s Degree 124
Tip 40: Manage Up 128
Tip 41: Get Paid What You Are Worth 131
Tip 42: Consider the Benefits 135
Tip 43: Get Promoted 137
Tip 44: Introduce Yourself to a Search Firm 139
Tip 45: Use Your Network To Find a New Job 147
Tip 46: Get an Executive Coach 149
Tip 47: Know When to Take the Leap 154
Tip 48: Resign Gracefully 157
Tip 49: Be a Good Manager 159
Tip 50: Run with the Big Dogs 163

Resources 167
Books You Should Totally Read 167
Professional Associations Worth Joining 168
Foundation and Nonprofit Fellowships We Love 172

If you are interested in having you community be part of the Nonprofit Rockstar Tour and booking the authors for an event, conference, workshop or book signing, email info (at) rosettathurman (dot) com with your request.