Making the leap to a nonprofit job

By Anne Fisher
October 23, 2009
Crains New York

You've probably never heard of Mark Mattia, but odds are you've seen his work. He was the marketing mind behind Skittles' long-running "Taste the Rainbow" ad campaign.

These days, Mr. Mattia, 51, is applying his selling skills in a new arena: He's vice president of marketing for the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City. Mr. Mattia has advanced degrees in math, so the job is a great fit.

Even so, after more than 25 years at big corporations, adjusting to the nonprofit world is challenging. "I was asked to start a marketing department almost from scratch, so it's been fast-paced," he says. "At nonprofits, also, you tend to have fewer resources, so you have to roll up your sleeves and do things that aren't in your job description. Some people may not be comfortable with that."

More executives are giving it a whirl, thanks to a growing demand for talent. A new survey by Bridgestar (www.bridgestar.org), a job board and social network for nonprofit executives, found 24,000 management job openings, mostly because the current leadership is retiring.

Curtis Grund, a vice president at human resources consultant ORC Worldwide, says nonprofits want "business executives with some volunteer experience who understand that nonprofits operate in a uniquely complex environment, including donors who have become more demanding recently, so you need strong management systems."

While nonprofits generally can't match corporate pay, they're trying to catch up. Mr. Grund cites a national study that compared compensation in a sampling of jobs, from HR assistant to CEO, at for-profit and nonprofit enterprises. In 2008, businesses increased compensation by an average of 7.7%. At nonprofits, pay went up by 19.4%.

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