Developing charitable managers

By ESTELLE SARNEY

Six months ago Penny McEwan changed tack from promoting products to pushing a cause. But it hasn't done her career any harm at all.

The national appeals coordinator for the Royal Foundation for the Blind found the skills previously honed in corporate public relations were not only transferable, but essential.

"We have to raise $12 million a year, so we have to be business-like and professional to achieve that goal," she says.

"I'm using the same skills in project management, budgeting and finance and communications that I used in the corporate world."

The difference is that she's making money not for her bosses' bottom line or for unseen shareholders but for her new "shareholders", people who are blind or visually impaired, some of whom she works with.

"I'm able to see every day what I'm fundraising for. If you work for a cause you absolutely believe in, it gives you such enthusiasm to do your job well," McEwan says.

Working with volunteers has been another new and exciting aspect of switching to a non-profit organisation.

"We had 15,000 volunteers around the country collecting for us during the last Blind Week. That's inspiring to know there's that much commitment in the community.

"Businesses are able to buy that sort of labour, but to know we can raise it through the goodwill of our public is very rewarding."

McEwan doesn't think taking a role in a non-profit organisation will be any hindrance to moving back into the corporate world in the future, should she want to.

"The last Blind Week appeal brought in $1 million. I think that would sit very well in the business world."

McEwan is one of the new breed of managers being sought by non-profit organisations as they struggle to deliver ever more services offloaded by the Government. They also need their sophistication to succeed in the increasing competition for donor dollars.

Companies Office figures show New Zealand has more than 21,600 incorporated societies and 12,700 charitable trusts.

Between $400 million and $1 billion is donated annually in support of community work, according to Fundraising Institute estimates.

McEwan's colleague, development manager Cushla Gamlin, previously ran an economic development agency and now forges relationships between the foundation and major corporates such as Heinz Wattie's.

"It's no longer enough to say that people should give. They need a reason to give, and should see a return," says Gamlin.

For that you need skills in research, cost-benefit analysis, how to make successful proposals, and empathy to understand different people's motivations.

At Barnardos, Murray Edridge is helping to bring a "corporate vigour to the wonderful aspirations" of the family services charity as its director for organisational development.

His background is as a chartered accountant, and he previously worked for the Open Polytechnic as its general manager of corporate services, for Radio New Zealand as business manager, and in the electricity industry.

"I spent a week last year at my daughter's school camp and was challenged by how people were helping kids," he says.

"When I saw this job advertised it just felt right. The pay in this sector is still a bit below that of the corporate world, but there's a whole lot of job satisfaction in working for an organisation that does some neat stuff in the community, and with people who are passionate about what they do."

However, pay rates in the voluntary sector are improving, says Dave Keat of the Fundraising Institute.

"Market forces will dictate that people are increasingly paid what they're worth, otherwise the sector won't gain the calibre of worker it needs to succeed."

Non-profit organisations can be a fast-track to management for health, education and social service professionals who see too little reward for their efforts in big hospitals and Government departments.

But you don't need a professional or corporate background to make a career in the non-profit sector.

Ally Ryan started out as a volunteer for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals seven years ago, cleaning out dog kennels and preparing food. Now she is employed fulltime as the SPCA's education officer.

The mother-of-three visits and hosts groups as diverse as schools, bowling clubs and people with special needs.

"I love getting across what animals should mean to people, educating people about their choices, and what the SPCA is all about," she says.

Ryan can now see her future extending to roles in organisations such as the Department of Conservation, zoos and wildlife protection agencies.

She has done a course in animal care at Unitec, and if she wanted to could start studying for one of a range of qualifications offered in non-profit management.

Unitec and Waikato University have worked together to design a programme that takes students from part-time certificate level to a doctorate.

Says Cushla Gamlin of the Blind Foundation: "You learn something from everything you do - sometimes how little you know, sometimes how much, and how you can use it to benefit other people."