Summing it All Up- Professionalizing the Non-Profit Industry

Over the last 12 weeks I have explored many different elements involved in protecting the mission of non-profit organizations. Throughout this exploration I came to realize that instead of these different small changes, moving forward I am going to work on developing a way to professionalize the industry as a whole. To me professionalizing the industry means:

•  Creating an industry that people would be happy to work in for their entire careers. Currently many non-profits focus on young professionals, individuals looking for a second career and truly passionate philanthropists. How can we expand this definition and therefore increase the knowledge and talent pool participating in the industry?
• Use a systems approach to grow the industry by collaborating with all of the different stakeholders involved. We need to be working in conjunction with non-profit employees, participants, community members, funders, local governments and local business.  
• Create a shared vocabulary and set of expectations.
• Develop strong leaders who work to grow the next generation of leaders within the industry. 
• Provide organizations and leaders with the time, funding and space to clearly outline every organization’s purpose and strategy.  
• Focus on innovation.

I think through all of these steps, as well as many that I look forward to discovering over the years, we will be able to build a professionalized non-profit industry. This industry is able to listen to and react to the needs of its community and also allows for individuals to grow professionally and support their families and communities in the process. Thanks for reading and please feel free to reach out if you are also passionate about area, want to work with be in making change or just want to throw ideas around. My email address is alisoncorey.brown@gmail.com.