director

senior director

associate director

vice president

sales associate

CCS Fundraising

My experience at CCS was marked by a challenging work environment, entirely due to issues related to my supervisor's behavior and communication. Despite having extensive fundraising experience, even though the tasks assigned to me were relatively simple, there was a slight learning curve as I hadn't previously worked with clients. However, the real difficulty arose from my boss's communication style, leadership approach, questioning of my work ethic, gaslighting, and frequent changes in direction. This created interpersonal challenges, excessive stress, and negatively impacted my productivity.

There were instances where specific instructions given in meetings and work review sessions were later contradicted or completely changed without acknowledgment of the prior input. This inconsistency led to misunderstandings, with my work being criticized even when I followed the previously given instructions. There were times when my work wasn't reviewed beforehand, resulting in rushed assessments during short meetings and instructions to start over, despite previous approval from clients.

Over time, the focus shifted from reviewing my work to calls expressing doubts about my productivity and work progress. The communication became increasingly negative, with comments like, "I'm nervous to meet clients with you," or questioning my dedication and learning progress. Despite having always sent regular status reports and material updates, the negative comments persisted.

The overall work environment lacked a nurturing atmosphere, leaving team members feeling undervalued and stressed. In my last months at CCS, interactions with my supervisor became something to dread due to their negativity and hostile behavior. The reputation for being difficult to work with extended beyond our immediate team - many colleagues from other teams had heard of both current and former employees who had similar stories.

While I valued my relationships with colleagues and clients, the negative aspects, especially the lack of respect, overshadowed any sense of accomplishment.

If considering joining CCS, anticipate a demanding work environment. While there's potential for professional growth, navigating interpersonal challenges is essential. Maintaining a strong sense of self and seeking support from colleagues and HR is crucial for thriving in such an environment. I sincerely hope CCS takes substantial measures to address leadership behavior and fosters a more inclusive and respectful work culture.

Pros:
-Get to travel for projects -Opportunity to work with non-profits with great missions and help make a difference -Great experience building for fundraising -A respected name in the industry that looks good on your resume -Other directors are genuinely smart and hard working -Potential to be a collaborative work environment -Compensate as needed -Benefits -You will work directly with experienced executives -Company propaganda, I mean company retreats -Actively making efforts to improve DEI.
Cons:
-Sometimes you HAVE to move for projects -Sometimes you HAVE to work with non-profits with terrible missions and questionable morals -You will learn by trail and error, training is minimal. They are making efforts to improve it though -They will use you and dispose of you without a thought -Other directors tend to be competitive due to environment -Sub-par compensation comparatively; They actively try to keep it all very secretive so they can underpay most and make a huge margin off your work -Benefits are only what is generally expected and nothing more -They just recently gave everyone 3-weeks vacation and acted like it was a big gift. Careful taking any vacation though, you may get fired while on your trip. -Executive team has terrible communication and they WILL lie to your face, repeatedly -Actively diversitywashing

CCS Fundraising proved to be a comfortable and tight knit office to work for. I personally took away a great deal of knowledge about the philanthropic world that enriched my life and broaden my perspective in ways that reached beyond the office.
I had the opportunity to work with multiple executives of varying levels which, equipped me with the ability to understand the differing needs of executives from a junior to a senior level.
The hardest part of the job was understanding the differences in management style of the older managers versus the younger managers. There were some generational gaps within the CCS team that at times was reflected in the opposing directions various members in management took.
Regardless of challenges like this, CCS was overall a great experience. This was mostly because of the many wonderful people who worked in the New York office. It was a warm and fun environment that challenged each individual in ways that strengthened a person's skills.

There really is not a such thing as a typical day working for CCS as each consultant wears many hats. You will create materials, interview families, organize volunteers and many other tasks. CCS will throw you directly into a client site by yourself only a couple weeks into the job. This is very intimidating and difficult, but if you are a self starter and like working independently, this job is for you! The culture is very consultant-y, lots of buzz words being thrown around and intense expectations of work quality and near constant availability to the client. The best part was the schedule flexibility, some weeks you will be slammed and some weeks you can work from home a couple days a week (depending on who your client is of course). The worst part for me was the amount of travel, flying every Friday and Sunday gets old after a while and you start to realize that your personal life is compressed into 36 hours on the weekend.

A great place to work if you enjoy project management, managing multiple priorities, managing up, and are OK with navigating high levels of ambiguity. Your work experience will vary drastically based on the management team you’re under and the client that you are assigned to work with. Be prepared to be flexible, adaptable, and willing to execute ideas that you may not agree with. At the end of the day, it is a for-profit company that works exclusively with nonprofits. So it still comes down to what makes the company money and saves them money, not necessarily what the client needs.

Meaningful, engaging work with great clients in a fast-paced environment. Significant responsibility right out of the gate. There is a compact, intensive on boarding curriculum but you learn the job doing the job and often are quickly put in client settings after just a few weeks of orientation. People are very willing to help and there is a strong mentor program but you have to be proactive about reaching out. 

If you are someone who enjoys helping small or large nonprofits meet their fundraising goals, then CCS is the place for you.  You will become skilled in managing volunteers and working with leadership to pursue six and seven figure gifts.  The most enjoyable part was having a new client or campaign every 4-6 months and traveling the country (or region) as needed.

The non-leadership staff are wonderful, smart, and helpful, team players. The Boston leadership team is pretentious, unorganized, demeaning, and manipulative. They are borderline abusive and use bullying-like tactics to shift the blame from their mismanagement. They will promise a client anything, knowing it is unrealistic, and blame their directors. The overall culture is toxic and hateful. 


They were founded by fundraising for churches so the company as a whole is very conservative. They work deeply with the Catholic Church to support the conservative agenda, and it’s apparent. The hardest part, however, is that the leadership is inexperienced. Most supervising executives have never “been on the field” so their experience is very limited and formulaic. There is little to not support for new employees, and the turn over his very high. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
Travel but I had to pay upfront and wait 30 days to be reimbursed fir it

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
No training or direction from company 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Toxic from middle management but executive branch was helpful

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
12 hours with travel time not included

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Director 4 salaries reported	$86,750 per year
Senior director 3 salaries reported	$106,167 per year
Associate director 3 salaries reported	$75,000 per year
Vice president 4 salaries reported	$148,000 per year
Sales associate 1 salary reported	$600 per day

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