Giving Compass' Take:

• Vu Le, writing for Nonprofit AF, shares perspective on recognizing the flaws of the nonprofit sector. However, he says professionals need to participate in the 'nonprofit game' in order to change it effectively. 

• Why is it challenging for some individuals to keep working in nonprofits?  What are some of the more significant flaws?

• Read about some of the concerns of the future nonprofit sector. 

Every once a while, an up-and-coming nonprofit professional would ask me, “What advice would you give us folks who are just starting in the sector?”

I’ve actually already written a post a few years ago with 12 pieces of advice that are still mostly relevant for young professionals, and more experienced professionals too. This week, I want to focus on one particular point, and that is the balance of working within a flawed system while working to change it. What do I mean by this? I’ve been encountering more young professionals, and also a few experienced folks, becoming jaded and cynical about “the system” or “the game” or the “Nonprofit Industrial Complex” and this manifests in conscious and unconscious behaviors to disengage from participating in it.

But this is my advice, and plea, to all the professionals starting out in their nonprofit career, and anyone else who is frustrated by the flaws of our sector: You must play the game, and you must excel at it because your ability to understand and work effectively within all these flawed systems is a critical factor in your ability to change them.

What does this look like? Many grants are incredibly inequitable and often torturous and nonsensical; you may still need to become a kick-ass grantwriter. The Western concept of time often de-prioritizes human interactions and community-building; you still need to develop the habit of being punctual. Your work can be tedious and seemingly meaningless; you still need to do it well.

However, do these things intentionally and strategically, with a lens of a testing and observing the strengths and weaknesses of the myriad components of the work. Learn the history and terminology, develop the arguments, hone your skills, and build the evidence you need to transform systems.

Read the full article about nonprofit game by Vu Le at Nonprofit AF