Tracy Brown Hamilton - Nongovernmental Organization (NGO) Professionals: A Practical Career Guide

Series Editor: Kezia Endsley

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Published by Rowman & Littlefield
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Copyright 2021 by The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Hamilton, Tracy Brown, author.

Title: Nongovernmental organization (NGO) professionals : a practical career guide / Tracy Brown Hamilton.

Description: Lanham : Rowman & Littlefield, 2021. | Series: Practical career guides | Includes bibliographical references. | Summary: This book walks you through the steps of deciding whether an NGO career is right for you and understanding the types of roles available within the sector.Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020034576 (print) | LCCN 2020034577 (ebook) | ISBN 9781538144732 (paperback) | ISBN 9781538144749 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Vocational guidance. | Non-governmental organizations. | Professions.

Classification: LCC HF5381 .H131956 2021 (print) | LCC HF5381 (ebook) | DDC 361.7/7023dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020034576

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020034577

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

W elcome to the world of nongovernmental organizations, or NGOs! This book is the ideal starting point for understanding the various careers available to you within the NGO sector, finding out which direction is the best fit for you, and discovering what path you should follow to ensure you have all the training, education, and experience needed to succeed in your future career goals.

The NGO sector is a broad one, with different NGOs tackling various issues nationally and around the world. The types of roles and careers available within an NGO are equally diverse. Although NGOs do not share the same goals or means of measuring success as corporate for-profit organizations, they do operate with many of the same roles, such as marketing, legal departments, product development, field research, and finance. Having so many paths to choose from is exciting, but it can also make it difficult to choose which is the best fit for you.

Because NGOs rely on so many areas of expertise to function successfully, almost any career path could be one that could be pursued in an NGO setting. Covering them all is therefore beyond the scope of this book. It will, however, address the most common careers and those most specific to the missions of NGOs. The careers covered in this book include:

Management and operations

Policy development

Research

Personnel and human resources

Campaigning and fundraising

Communications and public relations

Volunteer management

Grant writing

Depending on your passion and the cause you feel strongly about, NGOs offer a variety of career opportunities, from fighting a disease to working with animals to helping children who are living in poverty or abuse. Working for an NGO also enables you to travel the world if you so choose. The nature of the workdoing good and helping those in needmakes working in the NGO sector a fulfilling career path.

There is a misconception that all NGO work is volunteer based, which is not the case. Although careers in this field do tend to have lower salary ranges than similar jobs in the corporate world, it is definitely possible to earn a good wage working with an NGO. According to the website Of course salaries vary with the work you do and the organization for which you are employedthese will be covered in more detail later in the bookbut it is not true that you do not get a salary working for an NGO.

How does the job market look for young people seeking to enter the NGO sector? Although the field is a competitive one, it is growing rapidly. According to Fast Company, the NGO sector is the third largest in the US job market (following retail and manufacturing). There are approximately 1.5 million nonprofit organizations operating in the United States alone, American NGOs focus on tackling issues such as the environment, womens rights, healthcare, politics, and economic development.

A career in the NGO sector offers a wide diversity of job roles, as well as an equally diverse array of organizational missions. Getty Images/laflor

The future of the NGO sector is a positive one. In recent years, the NGO sector has increased in the United States and around the world. Looking at statistics of NGOs registered with the Internal Revenue Service, between 2005 and 2010 the number of NGOs increased 5.6 percent, and between 2005 and 2015 the increase was 10 percent. And in terms of finances, accounting for not only NGOs but the nonprofit sector as a whole in the United States, between 2016 and 2018, total giving from individuals, foundations, and businesses equaled $10 billiona 3 percent increase adjusting for inflation.

With so many already-existing NGOs in the United States and with so many new ones cropping up each year (later in this book you will see how you can launch your own), it is possible to find work within the sector wherever you live. Although many are based in major cities like New York and Washington, DC, there are opportunities for careers around the country, from rural to urban areas. And, of course, if you want to see the world, there is no better option than an NGO career.

I went to Palestine where I worked for a few months as a volunteer with children in refugee camp. It was during this time that I perhaps learned the most, and without realizing, made the decisions that set out my career.A. T., War Child and other NGOs