Different Types of Philanthropic Work and How They Help

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, almost one-fourth of Americans take part in volunteering each year. Many of these people enjoy giving back to their communities by doing important charity work that really makes a difference.

If you're someone who likes volunteering as often as you can, you should keep on doing it. You should also consider a career in philanthropy since it could help you make an even bigger impact than you already are.

There are many different types of philanthropic work that you can do day in and day out. More often than not, it'll involve you working for a non-profit organization that is trying to do some real good in the world.

You'll feel great about the career path you've chosen when you take on philanthropic work. you'll also find that your work will help others more than a single donation or a day of volunteering ever could.

Here are several types of philanthropic work you may want to get involved in and how each of them will help your community.

Accountant

There are over 1.5 million non-profit companies in the U.S. today. These non-profit organizations are often set up to do philanthropic work versus strictly generating profits each quarter.

But this doesn't mean non-profit companies won't have money coming in. They'll need to make money in whatever ways they can to do good in the world. This will usually involve them accepting charitable donations and allocating them accordingly.

With this in mind, every non-profit company that specializes in doing philanthropic work will need to have a financial team in place. You might want to think about getting a finance degree and becoming an accountant so that you can be part of a team like this.

As an accountant working for a non-profit company, you'll be in charge of keeping tabs on all the money an organization makes. You'll also be responsible for accounting for all the money an organization spends throughout the course of a year.

If you're someone who is great with numbers, this type of philanthropic work will be fulfilling for you. At the same time, your work will also benefit others both within your organization and outside of it.

Marketing Specialist

Non-profit organizations aren't able to set up shop and automatically start collecting donations. They typically need to work hard to spread the word about the good they're doing in order to motivate people to send donations in their direction.

For this reason, many non-profit organizations have marketing teams that are created to use the latest marketing techniques to promote their companies. If you have an interest in marketing, working as a marketing specialist for a non-profit might be a great role for you.

This will be especially true if you're able to land a job with a non-profit organization that has a cause you really believe in. You'll be able to take the passion you have for this company's mission and utilize it to inform others about how this company is helping change the world.

By doing this, you should be able to help a non-profit company bring in more donations. These donations can then be used to further the mission of a non-profit. They'll also make you feel like you're doing some of the most important philanthropic work around.

Public Relations Director

A lot of people make the mistake of lumping those who work in marketing and those who work in public relations together. Marketing and PR specialists do tackle some of the same tasks at times, but they also have very different jobs.

While marketing specialists will be tasked with helping spread the word about a non-profit company by any means necessary, PR specialists will bridge the gap between a non-profit and the general public. They'll do things like:

• Send out press releases about events that a non-profit company will be holding
• Set up interviews between a non-profit company's leadership and members of the media
• Respond to any positive or negative press that a non-profit company receives

Working as a public relations director isn't always the easiest job in the world. It'll involve spending a ton of time forming relationships with local reporters and other media members.

But life as a public relations director for a non-profit company will most definitely feel like essential philanthropic work. You'll put your neck out for the company you work for over and over again for the greater good of the non-profit and the segment of the population it helps.

Grant Writer

There are hundreds of grants given out to non-profit organizations every year. If a non-profit company is going to be successful, it'll need to work hard to qualify for at least a few grants each year.

To accomplish this goal, many non-profit companies will bring professional grant writers on board to help them. These grant writers will spend almost all their time researching grants and applying for them to put their non-profits in a position to get them.

If you love writing and like the idea of trying to track down grants that would be good for a non-profit company, working as a grant writer might be very rewarding for you. It's one of the most underrated forms of philanthropic work you can do. It'll make it possible for you to fund certain aspects of a non-profit on your own.

Community Outreach Coordinator

At the end of the day, the ultimate goal for every non-profit company is to help its community. But in order to do this, non-profits need to figure out what the best courses of action will be when it comes to helping their communities.

Some non-profit organizations will hire community outreach coordinators to assist them with this side of things. As a community outreach coordinator, you would spend the bulk of your days speaking to different people within your community. It'll give you a better sense of how your organization can help those who need it most.

Administrator

Non-profit companies might not be out to make a quick buck like for-profit companies. But that doesn't mean they don't still need strong leadership at the top to make them successful.

Every non-profit organization needs to have administrators in place who can help carry out the missions of their companies. These administrators will also need to keep one eye on the future at all times to guide non-profits in the right direction.

If you consider yourself to be a natural-born leader, working as an administrator for a non-profit could be in the cards for you one day. You can put your leadership skills to the test while working at the top of a non-profit.

You will, of course, need to gain some experience with philanthropic work before climbing the ladder within a non-profit company. But if you're fully committed to a company's cause, you can help take it to the next level from a leadership standpoint.

Just make sure you arm yourself with all the tools you'll need to assume an administrative position within a non-profit company. You'll have to be great when it comes to everything from accounting to public relations when you're in this role.

Human Resources Manager

Some people are under the impression that non-profit companies consist of just a few full-time employees and mostly volunteers. But in reality, many non-profits have quite a few full-time employees working for them.

It's why it's important for almost every non-profit company to have a human resources team in place. This HR team will serve as a bridge between the employees at a non-profit and the leadership group in place at it.

Working as a human resources manager at a non-profit will be almost exactly like working as one at any other company. But there will be one noticeable difference. You'll be assisting people who are always doing their best to help other people in their community.

By extension, this will make working as a human resources manager at a non-profit philanthropic work on your part. Without you, the employees and leadership at a non-profit company won't be able to devote so much time and energy to making the world a better place.

Choose a Career Path Involving Philanthropic Work

As you can see, there are so many different directions you can go in when you choose to pursue philanthropy as a career. You can do philanthropic work on a daily basis from almost any angle you want.

If you'd like to jumpstart a career that will allow you to help others regularly, selecting one of the many types of philanthropic work would be wise. It'll help you to start going down the right career path from now on.

Would you like to learn more about getting involved with philanthropic work? Become a member of the Honor Society to network with those within this field.