Resource Generation Family Philanthropy Fellowship

Want to learn about social justice, family philanthropy and national organizing, all while helping Resource Generation organize young people with wealth? Introduction Applications are now being accepted for Resource Generation’s Fall Fellowship program. The initial position available and advertised below is for the RG Family Philanthropy Fellow. This position is located in Seattle, with the possibility of the Bay Area for the right candidate. A small stipend is available if needed.

Background Resource Generation (RG) organizes young people with wealth to leverage resources and privilege for social change. Through community building, education and organizing, we help young people with wealth bring all they have and all they are to the social change movements and issues they care about. Key programs and resources include a developing network of local chapters, national conferences, delegations, action projects and publications. Find out more and check us out at www.resourcegeneration.org.

Fellowship Program RG is looking for motivated individuals to form our inaugural fellowship team. Each fellow will have the chance to work alongside an RG staff member on a specific topic area. Fellows will gain invaluable experience in the field of philanthropy, social change organizing and many facets of non-profit work.

Eligibility These are ideal positions for students or recent graduates, though all individuals are eligible and encouraged to apply. Fellows will receive supervision and support but should also be comfortable working independently. The schedule is flexible and we are happy to accommodate requirements for academic credit. Fellows can request a small stipend as needed.

Title: Family Philanthropy Fellow Location: Downtown Seattle, WA (possibility of Bay Area as well for the right candidate) Supervisor: The Fellow will be supervised and work alongside Michael Gast, RG Co-Director. Position Summary: The Family Philanthropy Fellow’s main responsibility will be as lead coordinator for the 2011 Creating Change Through Family Philanthropy (CCTFP) Retreat. The CCTFP Retreat is for young people who participate in their families’ philanthropy and are committed to progressive social change. Info on last year’s retreat can be found here. Responsibilities include: • Supporting retreat planning committee • Coordinating logistics for participants, presenters and on-site • Updating and maintaining retreat website • Managing creation of retreat materials • Tracking and managing retreat registration • Advising on strategy for RG Family Philanthropy Program • Data entry into Salesforce database for Family Philanthropy Program Qualifications: • An interest in family philanthropy, social justice, and organizing • Strong communication and organization skills • A willingness to perform administrative tasks with enthusiasm and attention to detail • An understanding of the importance of confidentiality Helpful skills: • Retreat or Conference Planning Experience • Familiarity with Salesforce, Microsoft Office Suite, Google Docs, Facebook, Twitter Dates and Hours: October, 2010 - End of May, 2011. 7-14 hrs/week.

Please send a resume, cover letter and available work hours mike@resourcegeneration.org by September 24th.

You are the average of your 5 closest colleagues

I once got a fortune cookie that said “you are the average of your 5 friends.” Shut your eyes and think for minute about your five closest friends. I’m guessing you have the wild college roommate who is now gallivanting across Europe and the other end of the spectrum is your Martha Stewart-like friend who homeschools her kids and bakes cookies for the troops. You are right in the middle.

I think this rule holds true for your professional colleagues as well. Who are the five people that you trust most professionally and are your sounding board for career moves? These include mentors and the person that you like to hang out with at work.  Keep it to just five and if you are having a hard time coming up with the five, it’s time to start focusing on building your professional network.

Thinking of your five closest colleagues, ask yourself the following questions:

Do you have people that you regularly spend time with that are doing the job that you would like to do in 3-5 years? 10-20 years?

Do those 5 people support your dreams and aspirations?

Do you have people in that list that you are mentoring?

Would you be comfortable asking everyone on this list to act as a reference for you?

Do you see any holes on this list?

What proactive steps could you take to fill those holes?

Meetings-The Final Ring of Hell

There is no more painful calculation than looking around a conference room, during a boring, nonproductive meeting and figuring out how much it is costing in staff time for everyone to be there. Personal estimates have run from $190 for a small meeting that only lasted one painful hour to an all day retreat where nothing was accomplished and it cost $5,100 in staff time.

If you are leading a committee, here are some strategies to make the time more productive:

Have a clear agenda- Standing meetings with no purpose are the reason why so many people think meetings are a waste of time. Set a clear agenda before the meeting and give people time to add their own agenda items. The agenda should also include the goal of the meeting, so everyone is clear on what needs to be accomplished.

Make the time clear- Have clear start and ending times and stick to it. Don’t wait 20 minutes for everyone to show up. If you get started on time people that are often late will start to come on time because they know that you respect their time, so they’ll respect yours.

Determine who has to be there- Some meetings may only need to have some of the team members there. It is better to proactively think about who needs to be at each meeting and make the invitations contingent on absolute necessity.

Decide if the meeting really needs to happen- If the core purpose of a meeting is check in’s about a project, save everybody the wasted time and have a document that summarizes where everyone is rather than making them sit through a painful meeting where only a minute or two is relevant to their part of the project.

Good meetings are the result of good leadership. Take the initiative and make it the meeting timely, useful, and relevant for all participants. They’ll appreciate their time being used wisely and you’ll get what you need from your committee.

Get Paid What you are Worth

In an interview with the Zora & Alice blog, Thalia Theodore Washington, the Executive Director of DonorsChoose.org talks about her experience negotiating her salary. “My second job was in a non-profit in LA. I’ll tell the end of the story first, which is that I didn’t negotiate and I should have. I was young, it was my first office job, and I had no idea what I was worth.

I still to this day kick myself for not negotiating . And the reason is that you’re always building off of your last salary. You don’t have a $30,000 salary and then your next job’s $100,000. There are stages.

The fear I had and the fear that women have is that negotiating makes you seem greedy, not classy; it’s a knock against your integrity. Yet, now that I have had the chance to hire people, I would argue that there’s something to be said for advocating for yourself. Probably everyone has a job where an offer was made and you just said yes. But smart people don’t always just say yes.”

Here are some ways to negotiate a higher starting salary:

 Look at salary surveys- These surveys can give you an idea of what local positions, in similar size organizations are paying. Many organizations use these salary surveys to set their salary scales with in the organization. Your local nonprofit association may produce a salary survey or you can look at Idealist’s listing of surveys at http://www.idealist.org/en/career/salarysurveys.html. Use these numbers when you are considering positions at a variety of organizations (e.g. larger organizations often offer a higher salary) and to give you an idea of what to expect during salary negotiations.

 Check out the 990- The last tip told you that salary often is depended on an organization’s operating budget and the place to find that number is on the 990. The 990 is a document required by the IRS for tax-exempt organizations. This form will give you an idea of how large the organization’s budget is and will also tell you how much the top paid staff at the organization are paid (if their salary is over $50,000 a year). Even if the position that you are interested in is not listed on the 990, you can determine what their salary scale looks like compared to similar sized organizations by looking at what they pay their top staff.

Be truthful but don’t overshare- Don’t ever lie about your salary history. The HR department will check your salary history and being a liar isn’t going to help your career. Instead of listing salary history on an application, list your desired salary range for the current position.

Just say hmmmm- Most people immediately accept the first offer from an employer. Even a reflective “okay” when they say the first salary number can immediately end negotiation. Pausing for a second and saying “hmmm” or “that’s a little lower than I expected” gives room for negotiation. The hiring manager almost always have flexibility and starts with a low-ball number to have room to negotiate.

What are your tips to negotiate a higher starting salary?