Updated October 14,2020: 

Non Profit Titles: Everything You Need to Know

Non profit titles are important to the respective organizations. Often, nonprofit titles and jobs also exist in for-profit organizations. As an example, both organizations may have necessary positions in management, accounting, or even IT.

However, there are certainly a number of jobs that are exclusive to the nonprofit sector.

Non-Profit Titles and Descriptions

Community Outreach Coordinator

Even though there are some community outreach occupations at for-profit establishments, community outreach coordinators are significant when it comes to nonprofits. A community outreach coordinator is responsible for connecting the public to the organization.

A community outreach coordinator might do this by organizing events, recruiting volunteers, and organizing other such projects.

The purpose or goal of community outreach coordinators is to get the community enthusiastic and invested in the association. He or she is ultimately in charge of promoting the mission and purpose of the nonprofit among the local community.

Development Director

A director of development is responsible for spearheading an establishment’s fundraising endeavors. This includes developing fundraising plans, securing financial support, running special events for donors, and running other projects with the purpose of helping the organization reach its annual goals.

This particular position is similar to that of a fundraising manager.

Grant Writer

The grant writer has a special job. They are responsible for finishing applications for funding. This would include the usual applications to foundations, a trust or the government. The grant writer often works alongside with the development director. They both ensure the nonprofit meets yearly financial goals.

Program Manager

Though this position exists within for-profit organizations, program managers are critical to non-profits.

A program manager is responsible for implementing a number of projects run by the nonprofit and related to the nonprofit’s purpose and mission. This entire process includes developing the project, maintaining it once it’s implemented by making sure it is well-run, and finally, ensuring that goals are met.

Several positions under the program manager are the project manager, program associate, and program assistant.

Volunteer Coordinator

A volunteer coordinator manages the moving pieces of a volunteer force. The duty of a volunteer coordinator is naturally hiring, recruiting, and placing volunteers, in addition to managing and training them.

Nonprofit Job Description Toolkit

Chief financial officer (CFO) parts—and the organizational arrangements in which CFOs function—differ knowingly across establishments. The organization’s size of a budget and the difficulty of its programs and income sources influence how the CFO position is constructed—and how over time it evolves in its role.

Nevertheless, all organizations will eventually settle on the conditions and requirements that must be met by the CFO. By placing the hiring goals ahead of time, your association can focus on applications who meet these conditions.

Keep in mind, the CFO job description you develop for your organization should be a combination of both the needs of your nonprofit and the classic CFO responsibilities. Chief Operating Office (COO) functions —and the organizational structures where COOs function—are extremely wide-ranging across organizations and even within organizations throughout time.

The COO’S responsibilities are no doubt defined by the organization’s strategic imperatives, culture, design, and history, along with the weaknesses and strengths of the executive director.

Communications Job Descriptions

For the Director of Communications, the emphasis of the role is on putting together and applying a communications strategy that consists of online activities and that establishment’s yearly conference. For a Vice President of Communications, he or she will focus on public relations and branding.

Evaluation & Measurement Job Descriptions

The best individual for this job will possess some or all of the following skills:

  • Perform complex analyses showing perceptions about the programs within the organization
  • Management and interpersonal skills
  • Recognizing data
  • Helping staff across the organization

Ultimately, a comprehensive and clear job explanation is important to draw candidates who are a good fit for the role. Without involving your leadership team regarding the responsibilities of this job, it is not likely that your candidates will meet the qualifications of an ideal candidate.

Programs Job Descriptions

Senior program management positions are not the same when it comes to the level of operational skill and general management experience required. At bigger nonprofits, for example, the Vice President will likely take on the role of an Executive Director. Both have the responsibility of fundraising, program development, team and budget management, and relationship management.

With smaller nonprofits, however, the Senior Program Manager’s roles will emphasize exclusively on program management. They do not have the responsibility of fundraising. Some smaller establishments will also have a Vice President position that includes comprehensive operational responsibilities. This includes program evaluation, human resources, and expansion across the entire organization.

Confusion Centers on a Non-Profit

Most non-profit organizations have an executive director that reports to a board of directors per its IRS application for charitable status. However, too many executive directors carry the title of president/CEO, which is not only confusing but also incorrect. Ultimately, the use of the title president/CEO in place of or alongside “executive director” should be avoided.

The company for the non-profit is a guideline, c-corp entity, non-stock. Possibly naively, non-profit organizations could be utilizing titles that are deceptive to the public. When the title of President and/or CEO is assumed by an executive director, that individual has, in by law turned into the head of the corporation. It is not always the aim of the board of directors, and it is not in line with the necessities of the IRS, nevertheless, the reality is that misperception has been presented into the everyday operation.

A lot of panels of non-profit establishments have a Chair – and numerous use the executive director. He or she is utilized as the Secretary in an ex-officio panel position. In the event of boards that use the title of Chair for the chief volunteer individual regulating the board, that person is the President of the non-profit association. They most of the time sign as such when the corporation presents its yearly statement to the state agency under which it was included and remains accountable. The chair, technically, is really the President / Chair.

The title CEO (chief executive officer) is not used much in state decrees. Yet again, the chief executive officer goes by President as the title. A company that is for-profit recently had to authorize a document. This document had to go to the agency of incorporation for a certain state. However, the signatures of the persons titled Chair/ President and CEO/COO (chief operating officer) were excluded by the state.

The requirement was for the Secretary and President (who must be two dissimilar individuals) to authorize the document to be signed. The officers of the business were disordered by the rule, but it was the correct clarification by the state agency.

Back to the non-profits, nevertheless, the utilization of CEO/President for the executive director are sometimes misleading and needs to be evaded. The topic was certainly both complex and important and would tie the establishments to an alliance in perpetuity.

Therefore, it made sense for the executive directors to recognize that it was important to brief their respective boards. Plus, receive approval before continuing to sign a memo of agreement.

Theoretically, if the board was going along with strict governance procedure, either the board president would authorize the memorandum or the board would accept a resolve specifically approving the executive director to contract the memo on behalf of the board. These kinds of resolutions are usual in well-governed institutions and make the aim of the board clear-cut.

The confusion happens when an executive director who embodies themselves as the CEO /President nevertheless, goes on to utilize the board to veil behind. Affiliates of a group need to depend on the title of the organization's spokesperson as an indicator of the authority that individual has inside the structural arrangement.

This non-profit executive director, technically speaking, has taken on the job of CEO / President as would be applicable in a for-profit. In the usual for-profit condition, the President has significantly more power (and, apparently, more responsibility under Sarbanes-Oxley and other state and federal regulatory prerequisites) and is, thus, able to act on behalf of the business and support such documents as memos of agreement.

In those for-profit circumstances, the President might or might not inform the panel of directors, even after the reality, depending on whether or not the memo is supposed to be substance or outside the normal everyday procedures of the company for which the president is both approved to perform and be responsible for those accomplishments.

To continue in keeping with supported excellence in non-profit power, morals, and responsibility, the board of directors will need to refrain from any appeal by the executive director to be termed CEO and/or president. If the title description has already been given, the board should review the condition, justify the matters, and overturn the choice that was beforehand made.

Double-checking is part of the board responsibility. This is to ensure that the chair of the board of the non-profit association is signing regulatory documents as president of the company.

The executive committee, or its board (if it has one), needs to review the titles and governance problems used by organizations that are non-profit and consist of a program element for the next conference to completely brief the board on the situations being taken and the explanations for the action.

The board will need to make clear to the executive director that they are not able to act in the expected position of CEO of the association and make it obvious the restrictions of the ability of the executive director.

Raising money Job Titles A rapid look of fund-raising job listings shows that "development" is still the most typical occupation descriptor in the occupation. And although the terms " development " and " advancement " are most of the time used interchangeably.

It can be argued that there is a small dissimilarity in meaning among both. As stated by the Association of Fundraising Professionals' just- revised Fundraising Vocabulary; "advancement" is expressed more sketchily than "development."

The word advancement is defined as "the procedure of building awareness and backing from all essential programs and bodies, as well as development, government relations, and public relations."

Advancement description is in minor dissimilarity to development, which is "the procedure by which an association escalates public understanding of its goal and obtains financial backing for its agendas." Development is more engrossed into raising funds."

We utilize the word 'philanthropy' as often as imaginable in our work out of the belief that it communicates a strong, positive message concerning the nature of our attempt.

The word 'development,' despite its recognized usage in the occupation, can still be confusing to people who do not know anything about the vernacular,". Experiences based organizational structure is always best.

A nonprofit association is able to have a CEO / President and an Executive Director if the association has this following arrangement:

  • Board with A Volunteer President
  • CEO/ President with Complete Authority for Procedures
  • Vice President Division A
  • Vice President Division B

The board, describes the CEO’s operational tasks and permits the president/CEO to supervise the organization, alongside robust board assessments yearly.

A huge deal of the accomplishment of the model breeds on foundations of organizational trust and the enthusiasm of the senior manager, CEO / President, to agree to take the full managerial responsibility concerned.

If you need any type of aid with non-profit titles, you can get the legal help you need on UpCounsel’s marketplace. UpCounsel has some of the top attorneys on their website from the top universities in the country that can be of great assistance.