philanthropy manager

senior manager

volunteer coordinator

logistics specialist

coordinator

Make-A-Wish Foundation of America

A Typical day for me would be to check my Intern email and respond to the committee members that I am in charge of. Then I check in with my supervisor in regards to what she would like for me to get accomplished for the day. I work from 8-4 everyday and complete the checklist of items on the list my supervisor gives me each morning. These items can include, writing letters to wish families informing them that they are approved for a wish or that they are not. Also I write and fax doctors at the hospitals to have them complete eligibility forms. I also contact local companies to seek auction items, donations and involvement in Make-A-Wish. I am in constant communication either through email and on the phone, to make all the wishes come true. I write itineraries for the wish families and am in contact with airplanes, transportation companies and hotels.

The management style is awesome. She is very confident in my abilities to write the families letters and learn through a hands on experience. She always is asking how things are going, if I have questions. She is very welcoming.

My co-workers are normally not in the office because they are off promoting and working with other Make-A-Wish teams throughout Iowa. But every interaction I have had with them has been so positive and they are always willing to teach me new tricks.

The hardest part of the job is calling local companies and stores to ask for donations and see if they are interested in becoming involved. It is hard to ask for things especially on the phone, but I am learning.

The most enjoyable part of the job is granting the wishes. Seeing all your background work to actually make a difference. I love meeting the wish children, their stories and strength is so moving and incredible. There is nothing more rewarding then talking to a wish family and being apart of their journey.

I have been working at this company for quite some time now, and I must admit that my resignation letter is already sitting in my Outlook drafts, ready to be sent. Unfortunately, my experiences have been quite negative. There is a noticeable 'inner network' within the company that undermines any sense of fairness and equality. Those who are not part of this inner circle often feel excluded and undervalued, which severely impacts their professional growth. Many of the managers have attained their positions not through merit or skill, but simply by being part of this inner network, resulting in a toxic management style. The environment is so challenging that it’s not uncommon to see employees recommending antidepressants to one another just to cope. Success here is not measured by the quality of your work, but rather by how well you cater to the egos of those in charge. If you are considering working here, I strongly advise you to take these dynamics into account.

The work environment was extremely challenging due to poor leadership and a lack of respect among team members. Toxic dynamics went unaddressed, and feedback was often ignored. I do not recommend this company for those who value psychological safety and professional growth. One of the biggest challenges was working under managers who lacked both leadership and interpersonal skills. Decision-making was inconsistent and often driven by personal bias rather than merit, which led to low morale. Additionally, compensation was below average, with limited benefits and little to no room for negotiation or advancement.

With my internship at Make-A-Wish America, I was working mainly in the Entertainment/Sports Relations department and have become familiar with a professional office environment while being a key contributing member of a team. I was responsible for monitoring several inboxes while assigning and handling key guest ‘wishes’ and passing publicity requests to the appropriate manager, and communicating with high-profile individuals on a confidential level. In January 2014, I was called back to Make-A-Wish to be a contracted worker for the Entertainment and Sports Relations department to help with some very important transitional tasks. I was given over 52 wishes to personally coordinate and grant. This involved having stellar communication with the 62 chapters around the country, paying close attention to details, and drafting up request letters and other professional documents. It was a great learning experience and my manager was very pleased with the work I accomplished.

We had staff who were very negative and played a lot of games...making it tough to survive from day to day ...thank goodness I was out most of the office on official business and was not subjected to it too much...just sad, as such a cool organization, but the staff team did not always work as a team.  Overall, I would work again for them, but please make sure they are a good team and will give you training and mentoring...true mentoring.  I was one of their top fund raisers, but some of the staff were jealous, so it made it tough at times.  I left for a higher paying position with another company.
The best part was getting to know the Wish Kids and their families and the Sponsors were so dedicated as well as the volunteers...some of the best volunteers ever!  My two bosses were great too, truly amazing women, who I learned so much from!  Overall I am glad I had the experience!

Make-A-Wish is a great organization that does wonderful things for children with life-threatening medical conditions. The management changed while I was employed there and the management stopped listening to their middle managers. Their whole focus was to grow the medical outreach team before we had the funding to grant wishes. After about 2 years, my entire department was eliminated because we didn't have the funding to grant the wishes. I told my manager that I didn't think we should continue to grow at such a pace because the fundraising wasn't keeping up and she ignored me. When I was laid off, I was given about a month's notice, but my manager stripped me of all of my responsibilities. So, I literally had nothing to do. She even stopped my weekly one on ones. I volunteered to help my teammates because they were completely overloaded. I was treated as if I was fired but yet still had to come to work every day. It was really hard and painful.

My days consisted of organizing volunteers, record keeping and fund-raising. Dealing with local businesses was the highlight of my job, besides the obvious joy in making a difference in the lives of terminally ill children.

Management in Central Florida suffered from prior employee dishonesty and the credibility in the communities was difficult. The hardest part of the job was convincing donors that all the problems had been solved prior to my coming aboard.

I ran a 2 person office and my employee was a treasure.

The hardest part of the job was being replaced with a wealthy donor's wife who had no fundraising experience. Due to financial constraints (economic downturn) the decision was made to staff the office with volunteers.

I've been with Make A Wish for over 5 years now and have seen the National Office work place go from incredibly wonderful to watch your back type environment. Years ago we had great leaders who not only understood the mission but really cared about the employees who were working to achieve that mission. Now our leaders seem more about their own career advancement and pushing people around with their high demands and disrespectful tone that it's no longer a fun place to work. The CEO either is oblivious or just doesn't care and counting down the days to retirement. I am looking myself and can't wait to get out. I'll miss the old days and the wonderful people that worked here. I would not recommend any position within the National Office. If you really like Make A Wish, I would work work for a chapter.

Great mission but was treated like a elementary school student versus a University student. The people in the areas that I worked in were so fake and unfriendly, I actually questioned my major but then realized they are not a true representation of the general nonprofit world. My biggest takeaway was don't assume that if an organization has a great mission that the people would be just as great. That is not true based on my internship. I worked in areas such as centralized financial services, internal audit, and chapter advancement and wherever I was needed. It seemed like I was just there to do busy work or the general work the salaried staff just didn't want to do. I was hoping to learn much more than I did. I could give them a pass for not being organized but no pass for being mean and unkind.

Let me start off by saying that I love everything that the Make-A-Wish Foundation does for children with life-threatening diseases.

As an intern, I was near invisible when working with the staff. Even on my first day, no one even really acknowledged my presence. This is a relatively small office, of maybe 20 FEMALES, so as an African American female, I KNOW I was seen. 

What I expected from this position was to be engulfed in the world of nonprofit, shadow some of the higher ups, and receive critical advice from maybe the CEO. All day, I just filed, called jobs, and sat at a secluded desk in a completely separate building. I consistently expressed my enthusiasm for the Non Profit realm, but no one took me seriously.

It may have just been this office. It's sad to say that if I was offered a permanent position with MAW at this branch, my answer would be an astounding NO!

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Philanthropy manager 2 salaries reported	$50,000 per year
Senior manager 4 salaries reported	$89,500 per year
Volunteer coordinator 1 salary reported	$42,500 per year
Logistics specialist 8 salaries reported	$40,000 per year
Coordinator 1 salary reported	$54,000 per year

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