Get Smart about Nonprofit Leadership and Employment Trends

Contributed by Luise Barnikel the Marketing Associate for Issue Lab, a website that makes it easy to locate, access, and engage with research by and about the nonprofit sector. Follow her on Twitter.

Getting involved in the third sector isn't hard. Maybe you already volunteer or even work for a nonprofit. But have you truly found your passion and done the homework on the landscape you're looking to change? Social issues are complex and constantly evolving, so keeping up-to-date on your field is important whether you're preparing for a career at a nonprofit or just finding the niche where you'd like to make a difference. Since you've found this site, you're already on the right path to getting informed. Now, narrow your search and dig deeper!

Really, there's no better way to learn about the third sector than from those who know best: nonprofits. That's why IssueLab places so much value on making nonprofit research easily accessible and widely shared. We're an open access publishing forum, where over 450 nonprofits upload work that's available free to anybody.

To jumpstart your search, we've pulled together a special collection on nonprofit employment that includes information on leadership development, nonprofit governance, community organizing, employment and wage data, and much more. Or, you can access the entire Nonprofits and Philanthropy category to find even more reports and analysis on topics such as volunteerism, capacity building, and grantmaking.

Here are a few research titles that appear in our collection:

• "It's Hands-On...": Cultivating Mentors and Emerging Social Justice Leaders through Shared Project Development: Documenting the Intergenerational and Community Dialogues: A Leadership for a Changing World Initiative (download it here) contributed by NYU Wagner's Research Center for Leadership in Action.
• Civic Associations That Work: The Contributions of Leadership to Organizational Effectiveness (download it here) contributed by Harvard's Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations.
• Finding Leaders for America's Nonprofts 2009 (download it here) contributed by The Bridgespan Group.

Work on IssueLab is categorized in 34 issue areas, so start learning more about your specific field. For example, find out what programs work in arts education, policy recommendations for energy and environment or find data on poverty and hunger. We encourage you to browse and search the collection, download freely and even start your own library by becoming a LabRat. It's a great way to stay in the loop and be connected to the issue your work will impact.

A blog post for Idealist and the Nonprofit Career Month initiative.