Posted on November 14, 2010

Nonprofit Job Market Perks Up

For the first time in two years, nonprofit online job boards are seeing an increase in the number of postings, the New York Times reports.

When the economic crisis hit in the fall of 2008, job postings on Idealist.org, one of the most popular nonprofit job boards, fell some 40 percent. Two years later, the level of postings is almost back to "pre-crisis levels," the organization's executive director, Ami Dar, told the Times. The uptick in open positions is being driven, in part, by a growing wave of baby boomer retirements, said Chronicle of Philanthropy editor Stacy Palmer. Her publication saw job postings unexpectedly double in a recent issue.

At the same time, in an age when nonprofits increasingly find themselves using new communications technologies and tools to achieve their missions, many organizations are looking to fill a new type of position — evident in job titles like digital marketing manager and social media director. Many of the people applying for those positions, the Times reports, have recently been laid off from jobs in the for-profit sector and are looking to use their skills to give something back to society.

"Increasingly people want to find meaning in their work," said Pratichi Shah, president and CEO of Flourish Talent Management Solutions, an executive recruiting agency that focuses on the nonprofit sector. "They want to be connected to their communities and part of a larger movement."