development director

development manager

director

regional manager

marketing intern

Arthritis Foundation

A typical day at work involved responding to e-mails, data analysis and report generation, customer interactions, relationship building, fundraising, mentoring staff, conference calls with management, developing budgets and insuring both states stay within budget.

During my time with the Arthritis Foundation I increased my knowledge of fundraising and about arthritis and what people with arthritis go through.

I managed 2 states and staff and volunteers I both states, which included board of directors and committee volunteers.

My co-workers are an energetic, creative group and we have a lot of fun together allowing us to network and brainstorm with each other insuring that our staff in all states are treated equally and they all receive the same direction on their job goals.

The hardest part of the job is to work remotely.  It is sometimes difficult not being able to walk across the room to ask a question or confer with a peer.

The most enjoyable part of the job is working with others and working for a great organization.  I truly love my job which makes it easy to sell the organization and to ask for money.

A typical day at work would be nice and calm, a bit slow, but overall easy and relaxing. Everyone does their own thing, and there are never any interruptions unless coworkers had to discuss certain things with the information the company shared with its employees. Throughout my work, it taught me how to very organized, well paced, and friendly to other people who I came across with during long hours of volunteer work. My coworkers are very friendly and helpful when I'm not sure what to do with a certain task, and will go over the guidelines with simply techniques in order for everyone to get their job done. Doing the work wasn't so hard, but getting it all organized, filled out, and making sure all the pamphlets were in the right boxes before they got shipped wasn't too bad, but took a lot of time to get done. Finally, for the best part of my work experience, I was able to work at my own pace so everything was done completely. It helped me to be more organized with the guidelines I was talked through by my supervisors, and overall, I got to be surrounded by great people who always helped me when I was stuck, but showed great teamwork so every could play their part to provide great customer service.

The senior leadership team is dysfunctional. Middle managers operate in fear. Executives talk the talk when it comes to being positive and encouraging. But behind the scenes they are petty and retaliatory if you intentionally or unintentionally step out of line. 

Fundraisers in the field who are most connected with their local community are ignored and their role trivialized. Intentionally siloed by their leader, disconnected from the corporate marketing team. No unifying strategy or messaging. 

The tools and technology I had at my disposal were surprisingly advanced for a struggling non-profit. The problem was any attempt to use them as intended was met with resistance. I was discouraged from working with my enthusiastic IT counterparts because of an absurd political rivalry at the senior level. 

Some great talent was in place when I arrived but the best of them quit or were terminated without explanation. 


Committed volunteers make this work environment a pleasure.  The challenge is working with direct reports that are in a different State.  As a Region, we have overcome most of the growing pains of merging from individual State Chapters to a Region.  It has been a challenge but fun and rewarding.  To see where we were just 3 short years ago and look at what we have become is incredibly satisfying and gives you a sense of pride.  I helped make that happen.

I am fortunate to work within the best group of individuals in our Senior Management Team.  They are bright, energetic and make coming to work fun again.

If I had to select my favorite aspects of my position, I would have to say working with our development teams.  Training, mentoring, coaching them to become successful.  Call me crazy, but, I also enjoy developing budgets, monitoring growth, having a seat at the table to develop the strategic plans.  I love having my finger on the pulse of the operations.

This organization has undergone many changes since 2011 and things are starting to really fall into place.  Fundraising events are exceeding their budgets and the programs are reaching far into the community.  The atmosphere at the office in Hilliard is welcoming, warm, and friendly.  There is a great balance between hard work and enjoying time with your coworkers, especially for those who get their work done and are successful.  The majority of the organization is females 35 and younger.  Compensation is lower than one would expect but that is due to the transition and tight budgets.  I anticipate that will change within the next few years.  Insurance is fantastic for a single individual (little out of pocket cost), but expensive to add a family member.  Vacation/Sick time is managed through PTO.  All employees are expected to lend a hand throughout the year at fundraising events and programs.

I hired, supervised and managed 7 volunteers in the office, all of whom had some form of arthritis. The Director was a wonderful person to work for. Had never worked for a Not-For-Profit company, found it interesting. There were only 2 people in the office, myself and the Director. The hardest part of the job was going out to ask organizations for discretionary funds and many companies did not have it. In order for us to keep our job you had to go out and find money to keep the organization going. The most enjoyable part of the job was organizing walks for the organization and putting together gala events to include donations for the auctions. I love putting parties together, it's something I really enjoy.

Working at the Arthritis Foundation has been a great experience. I've gained knowledge in accounting, project management and analyzing data. The workplace culture is relaxed and flexible. The hardest part of the job was learning accounting terminology, understanding statement of activities and revenue/expense coding.  After taking basic accounting courses and learning from accounting representatives has allowed me to excel in my role. 

The most enjoyable part of the job is project management. I was able to create new dashboards, project plans and tools to accomplish my tasks. I have the opportunity to work with internal stakeholders to complete deliverables. In addition, I have built relationships with sponsors/clients to meet goals and objectives.

Senior leadership needs to be terminated. New people with new ideas need to be hired. 
This organization has slashed staffing at the local level, while continuing to increase work loads, Fundraising expectations are unrealistic. I was responsible for several annual events (much more than any fundraised in other non-profits) with no staff support.
Senior management is terrible. There is no leadership, and no new ideas. Plans and trainings are hollow, filled with nice catch phrases, but no concrete support for staff. 
The national board has not held Sr. leadership accounatble for several years. So that the organization is in serious trouble.

I felt like everyday was a fight against HQ to do what was best for the organization.  They refused to understand that every city/state is different and tried to shove what worked in Georgia into every city/state.  The management alienated our top donors and volunteers with poorly thought out communication and just plain disrespect for all they had given to the organization over the years.

They do not use Test/Learn/Adapt, they are not creative and happy to just do the minimum.



My work at the Arthritis Foundation includes grant writing, fundraising, and event planning. Before I started at the Arthritis Foundation there was no established grant writing procedure and no current grants being pursed. I created an extensive, easy to use grant writing process that can be used after I leave. In addition to creating the grant writing process and applying for grants, I worked on the largest, most profitable fundraising event of the year, the Jingle Bell Run/Walk. This 2,000 person race required extensive planning four months prior to the event. Due to the limiting nature of nonprofit work I learned to wear many hats and adapt to working on a variety of tasks in a fast-paced environment.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Development director 8 salaries reported	$89,040 per year
Development manager 8 salaries reported	$65,835 per year
Director 1 salary reported	$84,000 per year
Regional manager 1 salary reported	$57,000 per year
Marketing intern 1 salary reported	$20.00 per hour

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