final blog

Now that you have learned all about nonprofit organizations, the inside and the out, reflect on the following questions:

How do you envision working with nonprofits in the future? What role do you want them to play in your career/personal life?

I definitely see myself will be working a non profit board in future. but that probably will happen sometime later in my career. I am not sure what kind of companies I will be working with after I get my degree from finance and actuarial science. but no matter the companies that i ll be working with has direction relationship with non-profit or not, involvement in social sector will become an important part outside of my job. the reason i want to join a board at the later part of my career is that i want to build my experience, networking, management skills and financial base so that I have something to contribute to my organization. I have thought about setting up a hunger relief organization in China with the money I accumulate from my career. because hunger is still a very serious and wide spread social issue in china, there is an urgent need to bridge the huge wealth gap.

What have you learned this quarter that matches or supports your goals from the future? What appeals most to you? What did you learn that surprised you?

This class is absolutely is every helpful learning experience through which i learned a lot about non profit organization. I gained a more comprehensive and more rational perspective for NPOs. as i mentioned earlier, i want to establish NPO to help feeding people living in poor areas in China. In terms of how it supports my goals, I think this class has taught me a lot in terms of what do i need in order to build a NPO, and I got to see different topics NPOs focus on and different patterns through which they work. More important I worked with the board members for NSI and attended their board meeting, it provides me with the first time in person experience with NPO and get to know how a board work on a daily basis.

this class is like a wonderful journey full of new findings and surprises. like i mentioned in the first blogger I was surprised by the fact that the definition of a NPO is actually so broad. solving hunger and sending kids to school is not the only way to benefit the society and there are a whole lot of other areas need our attention. the other thing surprised me is that the similarity between a npo and a corporate business. thinking like a business has become necessary in order to remain impact in the modern world. also I am surprised by the passion i found in these various guest speakers. their deep belief in their cause and commitment to the organization is the drive that wake them up every morning, is also the reason that the world is actually changing for the better.

Final Blog

Many people mentioned seeing themselves as future board of nonprofits and I do as well, however I can also see myself working more on the service side, as the director of a nonprofit. I am not certain exactly what I want to do as a career but I know it will be something in the service sector. I will probably work as a social worker for a few years and then go on to get my masters and work as a counselor or the director of a nonprofit. I would also like to participate as a board member of other nonprofit organizations.

The Board Immersion Program has been a great experience. I have learned so much about nonprofits that I know will benefit me in the future. My entire understanding of nonprofits was reformed after reading Forces for Good and hearing various speaking that came into class. I thought it was beneficial to learn about how nonprofits work in particular, the most successful nonprofits, before we started work at our assigned nonprofits.

The aspect of nonprofits that appeals to me the most is the underlying foundation based on helping others. Nonprofits vary in whom they help but all contribute to society in one way or another. I agree with Molly in that another appealing aspect of nonprofits is the passion of the employees and board members. As we learned in class the nonprofit world can be frustrating and exhausting so it is extremely important for employees and members to have passion for the work. It is amazing how many people are helped through the work of nonprofits. Board Immersion Program made me aware of the hard work and dedication it takes to run a nonprofit and the many passionate people who are involved in these organizations.

Final Blog

I see my future with non-profits on the board side of things. After getting my accounting degree and working in the field, I see myself being on at least one board. Since my future career path is unsure, I believe that is definitely subject to change. I would love to somehow incorporate non-profit work into my job at some point, but I am still unsure how I can make that happen exactly. Whether my job has nothing to do with my involvement in non-profit or whether they intertwine, I know that it will be something that is always present and that is reaffirmed at the Board Immersion Program.

I have learned that there is a lot involved with working on a board when it comes to politics, group dynamic, and networking. I think these are all things that makes sense looking back, but I had no idea how prevalent they were before going through the program. I think what I learned by hearing the good and the bad on these topics is invaluable when entering the non-profit world in the future. Having a leg up and knowing these things before getting involved, and maybe not getting involved where it looks too sticky, are something that I am very grateful to have learned.

I think what appeals to me the most is the passion that I see in the people involved in non-profit. I feel that it is something that I have always wanted in my life and to finally be a part of that now and, hopefully, more involved in the future is something that I am very excited about. Working towards something that I believe in passionately will always be the most appealing thing in my life.

Maegan's Final Blog Post

Because I am uncertain about my future career path, I am not sure what role nonprofits will play in my future. However, after participating in the Board Immersion Program, I now know that working in the nonprofit world encompasses more than just food pantries and community gardens. Before Amy Wade showed us the video about the scope of the nonprofit industry, I did not think of universities, churches, or think tanks as nonprofits. As of today, my long-term career aspirations are to be a professor or a researcher at a think tank, so I will likely be working in the nonprofit world.


BIP has opened my eyes to the governance and administrative aspects of nonprofits and has taught me that people with all kinds of skills, occupations, and interests have something to offer, whether it be a background in finance helping to balance the books or someone who has benefited from the organization's services that can offer insight into programming. Even knowing this, I am still not sure if a role on a nonprofit board is for me. Right now, I think that volunteering and helping with programming is more down my ally. Even though I know that without dedicated and responsible board members there would be no nonprofit, the hands-on aspects and consistent interactions with clients is more appealing to me. It is possible that my perspective will change through working with Kaleidoscope on my project throughout the year.  


Hearing about the successes of nonprofits from our guest speakers as well as through the readings has reinforced my commitment to service and faith in the nonprofit world. I am sure that nonprofits will remain an important part of my life whether it be through direct service, employment, membership on a board, or simply through monetary donations.

Andrew's Last Post

When I heard about the Board Immersion opportunity I was pretty skeptical about what it could offer me from both a professional and personal standpoint. I am a pretty outgoing guy but it was still pretty hard to break from my engineering mold in north campus. I am so glad I trusted my instincts and joined the cohort because I would definitely say that it has made me a more dimensional person than I would have been otherwise.

Even since my early childhood, my dreams for my future have always revolved around a for-profit world. Whether it was making it big, making planes fly, or whatever the case was at the time, I was pretty dead set on getting my engineering degree and building a career. Today, I am still on track to my engineering degree but I have discovered that I want non-profits and their mission to be an integral part of my personal and professional life past college. Before BIP, I thought volunteering met manual labor or spending entire days on retreats but I never dreamed of leveraging my skills gained in the professional world for a non-profit purpose. I think that boards provide an amazing opportunity for people who lead demanding professional lives to give back to their communities and I hope to get involved with one wherever my future career and passions take me. I know that BIP has given me a new perspective amongst all my engineering classes and I hope that my involvement in the non-profit sector will do the same for my professional career. I have seen many people get burnt out during their careers and hope that my involvement with non-profit organizations will balance my energies. Throughout this process Brook (from Kaleidoscope) has proven to me, in my mind, that one can lead both a successful career and a successful life giving back to good causes.

The thing that has surprised me the most about non-profits has been the level of seriousness and governance that I did not expect. I guess my initial assumption was that non-profit boards were comprised of a group of individuals who met in church basements over coffee and discussed social issues. I had no idea how similar they are to what most would consider “corporate America” or the for-profit sector. They manage finances, execute on visions/missions, and assume risk just like any company would in the Fortune 500. I am truly glad that BIP gave me direct insight so that my perspective could be accurately molded.

Last Blog Post!

As of now, my future role with non-profits is uncertain. I know that I want to continue volunteering at non-profits that I care about. I also would love to participate on a non-profit board. As I have begun to attend board meetings at Neighborhood Services, Inc, I have really enjoyed the different aspects of the meeting and I can really see participating on my own board as part of my future. I want to be able to participate on a board for a cause I truly care about because I will be more willing to donate my time and talents towards something I care about. I’m not sure if I can see myself working at a non-profit as my full time job but if I get sick of corporate America, working at a non-profit could definitely be a possibility. I love volunteering but I’m still unsure if a full time job at a non-profit is the right job for me.

I would say the thing I learned during class that surprised me the most was how donations are allocated throughout the non-profit. I found it interesting that if a donation isn’t specified for a certain program that the non-profit provides that the donation can be used for operating costs such as staff salaries. I always wondered how staff were paid who worked at non-profits and I don’t necessarily agree that donations are used to pay for staff salaries.

I learned a lot of information about non-profits in regards to how money is raised, how programming works, how the board interacts with staff at the non-profit and how the board works. I found the board and staff interaction very interesting. After listening to all our guest speakers, I noticed they all exhibited determination and passion for their job at the non-profit and for the mission the non-profit works for. I believe these two qualities are necessary to work within the non-profit sector. Most of our speakers also talked about organization and utilizing your resources, two characteristics I believe I possess. It was reassuring to see that I have similar characteristics to those who work in non-profits and has made me think twice about a possible career in non-profits.

Final Post!

I envision working with non-profits on a volunteer and leadership path in the future. Because of my degree path, I’m interested in introducing business concepts to the non-profit environment. I’d love to build a career around non-profit work, but not necessarily with the same non-profit in the role of an executive director. Consulting non-profits or helping non-profits form effective networks or pool resources (like grant-writers) would be my dream position.

Over the quarter, I’ve been able to see how some of my past experiences have prepared me to work in non-profits. I am really excited to see how being an assured decision maker can be a key asset in the non-profit world as well as the importance of networking. The diversity and the broad skill sets required appeal to me most. I’ve always been interested in having a generalist position - one where I can work with a variety of people on a variety of tasks. I don’t really want to know what each day holds. It has been great to hear that from each of the executive directors or board members about their work with the non-profits.

I learned a lot about the issues of governance this quarter. It was a surprise to know there are so many regulations on non-profits, both from the government and from businesses. I wasn’t aware there was so much someone had to be knowledgeable of before having a leadership role in a non-profit. Prior to this experience, I thought the business skills were the most important skills a leader could bring to a non-profit. Now I recognize that networking skills, diplomacy skills, critical thinking and creativity are all skills to be valued equally for an effective leader.