A day in the life of a nonprofit worker

There are so many amazing and interesting people that are working in the nonprofit sector, so I have decided to add a new feature to this blog "A day in the life of a nonprofit worker." This weekly post will feature a new nonprofit worker each week that will answer the same six questions. When interviewing participants for this new feature, I was often asked how I would answer these six questions, so to start this feature off, here are my answers:

1. What is your name, organization and job title (can be anonymous)
Kristen Denzer, Owner and Principal at The Advancement Company and blogger at NonprofitSOS.

2. What is the first thing you do when you get in the office?
Office...what office? :) I work from home and usually start my day by checking out Twitter to see what's going on and catch up on the latest news, and responding to emails.

3. How do you spend your lunch break?
Hmm.... I enjoy reading blogs, Working Girl and Intersected are two non-work related, fun ones. I sometimes will catch a show on Hulu, or work on stuff for another company I co-own - Deckci Decor.

4. Which part of your work do you enjoy most?
I really enjoy helping nonprofits in anyway I can. It is really satisfying when I secure a large grant that ensures a program's continuation, or do an evaluation that reveals something surprising or new for program staff. I also enjoy meeting all of the amazing people that work in the nonprofit sector.

5. Please finish this sentence: If someone wanted my job, they would have to…..
have a lot of time. They would need strong networks, and be willing to do anything and learn anything to get the job done. Obviously experience and education in evaluation, nonprofits, etc helps too.

6. What advice or tips do you have for other nonprofit professionals in your position?
For other bloggers - make sure to cite/link back to your sources. It is very frustrating not to be able to see the original material where a post came from. Also, get on Twitter. It is an amazing resource and tool for networking.
For other nonprofit consultants - be online. Take advantage of social networking. Check out the hundreds of awesome posts with tips for consultants and contractors. Also, always deliver more than you promise in less time that you say.


If you would like to be featured, please email your answers to these questions to - kristen@advancementcompany.com