"What you do definitely impacts the world, but who you are while you are doing it does too."

I am going to remember this short but mighty statement when I'm counseling my seniors as they apply to college and try to figure out a major to declare. I think I've had a hard time with this kind of guidance - mostly because I have my own unresolved issues about the debt I racked up in college that I haven't even started paying off yet and my decision to eventually follow my passion (and being rewarded w/peanut pay but still not being quite satisfied because of the struggle to live). You framed all of the ambivilence in a new, refreshing way, and your suggestions are really prudent. Thanks!

 Notions of Identity

I worked in a nonprofit for a couple of years (and still work in sort of a non-profity setting) and I had a strong personal backlash to suggestions from my employer to volunteer time, money or energy on anything beyond my general scope of work.

Sometimes I was sad to be so strict about my ability to give more of myself to a cause I believed in (and still believe in), but I felt it was really important to draw a lineto keep my sanity and savings account.

I think non-profit employers really owe it to their staff to not hit them up for donations or ask them to volunteer for activities that are job-related. The sacrifice of taking a pay cut should be enough; I sort of feel like there are ethical issues since the staff at a non-profit are probably your most ardent supporters and a relatively captive audience to employer requests. There's a lot of judgement that can happen.

I've virtually worked all of my life in non-profits.  While I know I hail from a different time, my non-profit salaries were more than my working class parents made in their jobs.  I managed to rear two children on non-profit salaries.

It doesn't how much you make, if you are not a good steward of your money, you can be broke.  I can't tell you the number of people I know who make very good money, but who still insist on living beyond their means.

I don't think that one should work outside of one's values, no matter which career path one chooses.  When you are young and unencumbered, you generally have more flexibility and freedom to respond to career-enhancing opportunities.

As for the comment immediately above this one, I have always found that people who are masterful at their work, have to put in time beyond the hours they get paid for - this is true in for-profit and non-profit companies.  I always gave donations (albeit small) to the non-profits for whom I worked because I believed in their mission and making a donation showed that I felt the work was important.

I know there are some proposals afloat to forgive a portion of a students' school debt in exchange for working in certain non-profit sectors.  I think this is a good idea.

And, don't forget, there are some large non-profits that pay quite well and everyone who works at a for-profit company is not going to end up being highly paid.

To Candelaria,

I agree on some points and you do point out that non-profits can really range in their size and salaries. 

For me, I believe I was masterful in my work. And as any manager would - there were periods where I worked long hours. But line staff and hourly staff who are asked to volunteer and donate seems very sketchy to me. When hourly staff are making donations from their paychecks but not contributing to their own (matchable) 401ks, this is problematic to me.

I would LOVE to have my school debt paid through volunteering. I think that's a little different though since the incentive is tangible. Like Americorps, but with the ability to maintain a liveable salary. 

Lara, secondlastwish and Candelaria, thanks for all of your comments.

Lara - I'm glad the piece was helpful.

secondlastwish - I actually was saying that folks who work for for-profit ventures could volunteer their free time, and nonprofit folks need to learn how to take care of themselves as well as other people, and not always give, give, give, especially if it is for free.

Candelaria - I agree that people can have very full lives on nonprofit salaries, and I too believe that people should do work that aligns with their values; on the other hand, sometimes investments like college, or circumstances like illness create a lot of debt that is difficult to pay off with a nonprofit salary, and sometimes people have to make compromises about doing work that they truly believe in, and work that pays the rent. 

I guess I wrote the piece to say why divide big paycheck and service?  Nonprofits and business both have good qualities and challenges. When the good qualities of both are integrated into the work place, maybe we'll have a better world.