I spend a decent amount of time online where nonprofit communications staff congregate, including several Facebook Groups. Naturally, people who need help or find themselves in challenging positions post a lot more often about their situations than those who work in well-resourced, inclusive, and respectful environments. You could leave those groups assuming that it’s pretty awful out there for comms staff.
But the early data from the 2020 Nonprofit Communications Trends Report shows a rosier — and I suspect more accurate — picture.
“When I speak up at work, my opinion is valued.” 83% agree or strongly agree.
“I feel respected and valued by my programmatic colleagues at my nonprofit.” 78% agree or strongly agree.
“I feel respected and valued by my development/fundraising colleagues at my nonprofit.” 82% agree or strongly agree.
“I feel respected and valued by my supervisor at my nonprofit.” 80% agree or strongly agree.
*Based on answers from 616 people who work in nonprofit communications at least 50% of their time.
We will break down these results by position (e.g. management versus staff levels) and other demographic factors in the full report if we find interesting differences. We’ll release the report in mid-January.
In the meantime, if you don’t agree with these statement about your current nonprofit communications job, start looking for a new one! You don’t have to put up with it.
