The retirement game: Breaking down barriers for our future

by Kate Borman
Follow me on Twitter: @k8borman

Amanda and I made the salary pact. After several vague conversations that implied our situations may be similar, we decided tiptoeing around the compensation taboo was not helping either of us. So we promised to have these conversations, together, in an honest and open environment. To talk numbers, to ask questions, to figure out what we didn’t know, and how to fix it.

We married tough conversations and fun in the comfort of Amanda’s home. This alleviated the pressure of sharing private information in a public place. We discussed salaries and benefits, but we quickly found our roadblock: Retirement.

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Out of your field: How to be successful without expertise

 

by Kate Borman
follow me on Twitter: @K8Borman

I openly acknowledge that I am the outlier at my organization.

As communications coordinator at Nonprofits Assistance Fund, I do not dream budgets nor get excited over financial statements. In school, I never took a single stats or finance class. While I have learned to read a balance sheet or a loan document over the past year, I am by no means the “go-to” person. In fact, I can tell you with most certainty that I will never be a finance guru. My roots are planted deep in the arts and humanities where my passion grows from words and design standards.

But it’s my job to tell our story: the nuts and bolts of nonprofit finance. How do I do it?

First, this post is not about surviving a job you dislike, mind you. That’s an entirely different blog post. I love my job but I also recognize a knowledge gap when I see it. How do you take the reins and do the job well regardless?

While it is easy to feel overwhelmed and out of your field, here are some tips to help you succeed: 

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Nonprofits are ready to take the plunge

Adaobi Okolue brings up some excellent points as to why the nonprofit sector may resist innovation. After attending the same workshop, I was ready to stand 100% behind her post. That is, until I attended a staff development meeting on adaptive leadership. Innovation demands new strategies and adaptive leadership (leading through challenges) to mobilize these new ideas.

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Potholes and Detours: Navigating through career construction

We’ve all had that moment in our lives where you sit down and think: This is not where you envisioned being five years ago. Perhaps you had this moment while serving tables at a local bar, or perhaps, like me, you were hit by the economic tsunami and were left a huge roadblock in your career.

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