Working for a Charity.

lightlotus

I really need your opinion. Im currently looking for work and came across a great charity that had a great job. but now im in a dilemma - if im working for a charity and im being paid for my work, am I not benefiting from someones suffering?

This is the first situation where my values are conflicting with my career change. I thought ok its paid work but its a charity, now im thinking along the lines of benefitting from someones suffering. Or am i just reading too much into this?

LL

Cloud

Reading too much into it. It's the same as any other job, except your employer will be a Charity, meaning they are working directly for the benefit of suffering beings. That's a good thing. I used to work for a non-profit for a time for my job.

MindGate

Wait - someone gets paid for working at charities?!

lightlotus

MG, yes its weird! My concept of charity is voluntary work!

basically the one i have been looking at regularly advertise on tv for the direct debit donations for what £3 a month. Now that I have been looking at their website this same charity offers a finance analyst a £34k pa salary?

how does that work?

compassionate_warrior

Yeah, MG. Charities need administrators, they need professional fund-raisers, and like I said on your "jobs" thread, grant-writers. One way to start researching what Buddhist charities might be out there (if any) is to check out the dharma mags: Tricycle, Buddhadharma, etc. There may be articles or ads for Buddhist organizations and charities.

Lightlotus, this is a great way to have a job you can really believe in. Don't think of it as benefitting from others' suffering. Think of it as an opp'ty to dedicate your working life to contributing to the alleviation of suffering. You have skills the employer wants, and is willing to pay for. That's great! I hope you get the job. Write up an irresistible resume, and be confident in the interview. Best wishes.

lightlotus

Hi compassionate warror, the thing thats bothering me is that i know they are over paying for the actual job. its like too high - the job title is nice sounding but the actual job is very simple! so its a bit more well - odd.

I have been looking into finding a good place to do voluntary work and that how i stumbled across this one.

compassionate_warrior

I still think you should apply and give it your best shot. In this global economy, who turns down jobs, especially ones that fit one's values? I don't know what the requirements of the job are, but financial analyst usually pays pretty well (though 34k translated into dollars does seem a bit high...) Do you have an economics background? You can ask in the job interview if there are any other job duties besides what has already been spelled out (that seems so simple to you). It could be a stressful job if there's a lot of money coming in to keep track of. Someone in an analyst position might be required to report to the Board of Directors, and so politics could be involved (I have a friend in a similar job, she says it can be a real headache). If the charity does a good job of fundraising, the job could be more demanding than you think.

SherabDorje

MG, yes its weird! My concept of charity is voluntary work!

basically the one i have been looking at regularly advertise on tv for the direct debit donations for what £3 a month. Now that I have been looking at their website this same charity offers a finance analyst a £34k pa salary?

how does that work?

How much is 34 pounds now (I don't even have it on my US keyboard)? Roughly $68,000 US? Maybe more like $50K US? I would say (suspicious and crabby old man that I am) that if this charity is able to pay its employees too well, maybe not enough of the money is getting to those served. Especially if you've seen "lots of adverts on the telly". How much does the CEO make? Where is the money going?

compassionate_warrior

Where is the money going?

Great point! You can ask in the interview what percent of incoming funds goes to projects, and how much goes to "administrative overhead". Some charities exist mainly to create jobs for administrative staff. Maybe you could research this outfit online. They say that it's best to research your employer before the interview, so you can ask detailed, pertinent questions, and can come across as interested in and informed about the company or organization. See what you can find.

lightlotus

Sherabdorje, thats exactly my point. I know we spoke about me leaving that finance world behind as im done with being summoned by directors meet crazy deadlines! So i didnt want to really look at the job spec incase it really dragged me back in.
But i was so shocked that yes previously i was paid less and did more (i would have to present to a board) this jobs was literally producing a very elaborate spreadsheet and then passing to someone else to present to a board. Which should demand a salary around £25 to max £28k.

Im still looking into the charity and im not feeling all that great about it - im talking about a childrens poverty charity for Africa.

CW, I cant stop thinking that the money that i am earning would reducing the suffering the for kids the charity is fundraising for? I understand the whole economic situation but im not sure how comfortable i would feel with that. Im curious to know as id like to know how much of our donations actually go to the cause now and not in the the back pockets of charity managment fees!

compassionate_warrior

Im still looking into the charity and im not feeling all that great about it - im talking about a childrens poverty charity for Africa.

CW, I cant stop thinking that the money that i am earning would reducing the suffering the for kids the charity is fundraising for? I understand the whole economic situation but im not sure how comfortable i would feel with that. Im curious to know as id like to know how much of our donations actually go to the cause now and not in the the back pockets of charity managment fees!

This is a legitimate question to ask in an interview, if you can't find out via your own research. I suggest you interview for the job and give it your best effort; you can always turn it down if they offer it to you, if you feel you can't accept in good conscience. But whether you take the job, or someone else takes the job, that money is still going to go to the analyst's salary, it's not going to be redirected to the kids in Africa. And financial analyst is a big responsibility, so they apparently feel justified in offering that salary. All charities need financial analysts, and they need to be paid. The only question is: why does the position at this particular charity pay so much? Well, while you're doing research, maybe you could research other charities in your country doing international work, and see what the comparable position pays, to see if the org. you're considering is out of line with the standard pay for that type of work in the charity world.

The other way you could look at it is, that this organization offers better compensation for the stresses of the job, than the company you just left. You were probably underpaid at your previous job. That's something to consider.

Disney

MG, yes its weird! My concept of charity is voluntary work!
basically the one i have been looking at regularly advertise on tv for the direct debit donations for what £3 a month. Now that I have been looking at their website this same charity offers a finance analyst a £34k pa salary?
how does that work?

Depending on your daily living. You may donate out some portion of earning to benefit other needy or back to the organization. In fact, the fund for charity organization should come from the the government budget because they are responsible to the well beings of its citizen, citizen is the backbone of the country. Normally, this donation comes from those with benevolence heart, and planted good karma of the present and future. However, people usually did not receive loving-kindness education such as Buddhism on the right way of living happily would gradually causes themselves to suffer in long run - the refine example from the experience of the book "The monk who sold his Ferrari" - he was a super class lawyer that command wealth, fame, love etc but met with mental problem nearing nervous breakdown :nyah:

Dakini

lightlotus, let us know what you decide, and if you do an interview, how it went. Some of these personal stories that come up on the forum are better than TV! (I hate TV.)

lightlotus

*Update*

I had the interview today and it was lets say interesting to say the least, I walked to the area and thought ok, let see how this goes. The office space was ok and not as run down as i wanted it to be. Had a really cool interior decor - but then i thought of the tv advert and thought hmm...

I guess from the start I looked at the job in a really negative manner the whole salary thing being to high for the actual job anyway so as I was being given the interview the main person kept saying my name wrong and asking me to repeat it i sat there repeating my name over and over again to have them called me something totally different, rhyming BUT different. Its was a laid back one where I

Anyhow, This annoyed me to the point where I asked about the funding and they said they are privately funded and they obtain sponsorship from private companies, donations and the tv direct debits. I asked about the annual reports and if they widely distributed this too the sponsors and those who made the monthly donations. The look on one of the ladies face was quite funny looked like she saw a ghost and went pale. She said no and wondered why I asked? So said if i donated £36 a month via a direct debit or if i as a privately owned company would give say £100,000 I'd like to know the percentage going to the cause and also have access to know what amount is going to the office maintenance costs and also maybe a headcount of staff and amenities. Guess they wont be calling me back soon.

I always give money to charity like a nice chunk of money that I put I aside throughout the year and then donate this to a cause at the end of the year. This experience has made me really aware of how much of my money is going to a cause.

Its was very well decorated, nice leather sofa, coffee machine and desk with a row of 4 lovly looking MAC pc's. Very interesting interview as this was a small charity and although they are registered I dont think they operate like the bigger ones do. Will definetly make me think of who I give my annual charity donation to.

compassionate_warrior

Very interesting. Thanks for the update. It sounds like you were very professional and they.....weren't.

lightlotus

to honest made me reconsider the whole concept of good will - i think a lot of charities take advantage people's need to do goodwill and all I was thinking was that people donate and how do I know it never went to that flashy mac pc?

SherabDorje

"The look on one of the ladies face was quite funny looked like she saw a ghost and went pale."

Har har.

lightlotus

"The look on one of the ladies face was quite funny looked like she saw a ghost and went pale."

Har har.

Im not a complete b***ch and kept smiling at her as i thought walking in the office NO....not for me! Just very unprofessional on there part to not have any answers.

compassionate_warrior

I remember reading somewhere years ago that of all the charities in the US that collect on behalf of cancer research, only one is legit, and gives a good percentage of funds collected to the cause. Most only give around 10% or something, the rest goes to overhead.

to honest made me reconsider the whole concept of good will - i think a lot of charities take advantage people's need to do goodwill and all I was thinking was that people donate and how do I know it never went to that flashy mac pc?

Then when you take a look at some of the environmental charities, OMG, there's so much fraud! Very disillusioning. So it's prudent to investigate thoroughly before you donate.