Is a Future in Foundations for you? Learn More!

According to the Foundation Center, a foundation is a “nonprofit corporation or a charitable trust making grants to unrelated organizations for charitable purposes.”

 

Foundations can vary by size, scope, and focus:

Large national/international foundations: Large national/international foundations often have a diverse portfolio of interests and advocacy work. They hire individuals who are both experts in their field and possess complementary skills, such as strong writing and analytical thinking. These types of foundations are highly competitive, but perhaps the best fit for graduating Masters and Doctoral students who have been honing field-specific expertise, as well as their writing and analytical- thinking skills, for years!  Examples: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Ford Foundation, Open Society Foundations

Mid-size regional foundations: Some foundations choose to tackle the needs of their local community, whether it be eradicating poverty, promoting educational attainment, or increasing access to the arts. This type of foundation values both content expertise, and also access to influential members of their community with whom they can collaborate on initiatives. If your area of study aligns with the foundation’s focus and you have deep ties and connections within the community, then you may be a strong candidate for a job at a regional foundation.  Examples: The New York Community Trust, Tiger Foundation

Family foundations: Family foundations vary in size, and often have a more narrow scope of funding interests that are informed by the family’s personal philanthropic priorities. These foundations commonly have a well-established long-term staff and Board of Directors. They will be interested in your knowledge and skills, but perhaps equally interested in finding a cultural fit with their organization. This means they’ll be assessing whether you can meet both the intellectual and skill-based demands of the job, and also whether your personality and demeanor are a fit with the environment they’ve created and the groups they work with.   Hiring for positions in these organizations often occurs through word-of-mouth referrals. Have a friend in the foundation world? Hit them up for some introductions! Examples: The Heckscher Foundation for Children, The Pinkerton Foundation, Robertson Foundation

 

Jobs in foundations range from administration to working with grantees, to providing consulting services:

Program Officer/ Program Associate: Employees in these roles are often the public face of the foundation. They attend meetings with potential grantees, conduct “site visits” to check in on and support the organizations and programs the foundation has funded, and collaborate with other organizations. Because program officers typically have a background, educationally or professionally, in the focus area of the organizations/ programs they’re working with, they also contribute to the foundation’s funding decisions.

Consultant/ Affiliated services: Some smaller foundations hire specialists to help them meet some of their programmatic needs. This is a great way to get your foot in the door of a foundation and demonstrate your skills. Examples might include supplementary counseling and mentoring support for some of their grantees’ clients (good possibilities for Psychology/ Educational Psychology/ Public Health/ Social Welfare/ Urban Education graduates), or program evaluation services to help assess grantees’ outcomes (good for students graduating from programs with strong quantitative components.)

 

Action items for starting your own ‘Future in Foundations’:

Continue to explore:  The Foundation Center has an NYC location where you can learn more about how foundations work, and find the right foundation fit for you. Resources there include a library and events like an all-day Open House scheduled for Wednesday, 11/13.

Get involved:  One way to get to know foundations and non-profits is to serve on the Board of Directors of one. Many organizations are seeking experts to help govern and inform programmatic and policy decisions. As someone with the expertise that comes from a graduate degree, you have a lot to offer to an organization in your field! And serving on a Board is also a great way to network and find out about professional opportunities.

Next steps:  Once you find a foundation you think might be a good fit, it’s time to look beyond its mission and learn more about it. Two things to definitely check out are the financially stability of the organization, as well as its professional culture and environment.

Have your own experiences with foundations, or tips for how to start a career in one? Share your comments below!

-Jackie Kelly