“This is more than a job,” says Michelle Dalva of her work with Habitat for Humanity International, “it’s a mission.”
The first thing that comes to mind when you think of charity work is working for free. While the majority of charities do rely on a steady input from volunteers, a majority of the jobs carried out are paid for.
There are over one hundred and sixty nine charities in the UK alone and these have over six hundred thousand paid staff members to manage them. Remember that a charity cannot only run on volunteers, they need specialized staff members handling the day to day running of the operations, event organizers, technical staff and you can find a host of great job opportunities from fundraising, marketing, accounting jobs to human retargets. The opportunities are large and the cause is well worth a career investment.
Get Involved, Learning From Success
Now while you may not earn what you would if you were to join a high flying corporation, charity work offers all works a sense of belonging to something more. Being involved means you can make a difference and still earn money doing it.
If you think of all the ways charities do make money, they use fundraising efforts, marketing campaigns, government funding and sales to bring in enough money to not only pay their staff, but to make a difference to a life. Working for a charity is more than just a job; it means you are making a difference to someone’s life right now, a change that they could only dream of.
Look around and you will see successful people inspiring career opportunities. Take Jessica Alba for example, she is more well-known these days for her charity career rather than her acting. From worldwide movies to charity awareness, Jessica has set up charity events and even her own company called The Honest Company. Jessica Alba is an example of offering her talent to raise money, which she has done numerous times at the Cannes Film Festival to raise money for the AIDS charity. In addition, Jessica has now set the mark for the rise of the start-up charity businesses; this is one female entrepreneur who is on a mission to become more charitable as well as pushing her new career forward away from the movies.
As you can see charity careers can be great, you do not have to be a scientist or a movie star even, it is having that drive and responsible mind to help others that will take you on your journey forward. So, you may be thinking what opportunities can you get involved with? Well, there are plenty of ways to become part of or work for a charity.
Career Opportunities
There are a wide number of career opportunities available globally and some of the roles that are looked for are project managers, team leaders, human retarget workers, IT engineers and fundraising assistants.
Whether you walk and knock on doors to raise money for your charity or you sit in an office to manage the books, you can expect a decent salary. To give you an example, a Fund Raising Assistant in the UK can expect to earn an average salary of £19,500 per year while a Fund Raising Head can expect a salary in the region of £43,000 per year.
When you compare the salaries to those being offered by large companies, there is very little difference. The big difference is the difference you are making to the world.
Do You Have What It Takes?
If you are passionate about the world we live in and want to help make it a better place, then you have what it takes. With so many great job opportunities within the charities you can find yourself knocking on doors fundraising for a set charity or arranging a fun run event to raise funds.
Maybe you have a degree and can use your skills to help the charity itself by repairing computers (hardware IT jobs) or writing new software programs or doing the accounting and helping them keep track of expenses and incoming amounts.
These days charity organizations and non-profits are investing well in marketing and social media jobs. Since community is very important to such organizations social media can help in getting the word out fast and help build a stronger community of contributors to their cause.
What you really need more than a degree and experience to thrive in a charity organization is:
- Strong interest and enthusiasm in the area of your choice
- Good communications skills
- Ability to work well in a team
You’ll notice that there are an abundance of fantastic charity work jobs available, even in these difficult times where people are struggling to find suitable employment. With these jobs you can be assured that you can make a big difference.
SALARY INFORMATION:
Tip: Search Careerbuilder, for instance to find jobs in non-profits and charitable organizations.
Ready to get started? Here are some tips on How to write a CV for charity and fundraising roles.
About the Guest Post Author:
Guest writer Jen Beswick has been involved in charity work. There are many charity jobs available worldwide so keep a look out for your next career in fundraising.