Ready for a Career Change? Consider Nonprofit Work
Whether in paid roles or through volunteer efforts, many executives add meaning to their second-act career change by using their skills to help a meaningful cause.


Whether you’re bowing out, taking a step back or seeking an entirely new line of work, a second-act career change to nonprofit work is a move that’s becoming increasingly popular with executives from many different sectors. The way they see it, this kind of work allows them to transfer the talents, skills and expertise built during a corporate career to meaningful work in the nonprofit sector.
Facing a major life change often helps executives realize that they’re not ready to be done adding value. Especially for those considering retirement, a solid, satisfying life plan is as important as a long-term financial one, since research shows that negative health outcomes can often accompany a “purposeless” retirement.
Get Started With Discernment
To get started, you’ll find there’s significant value in spending time on reflection and discovery. Think about what your strengths are, what activities you find meaningful and what you want to spend time on. If you’d like to do this reflection in a more structured setting, consider working with a career-transition counselor.

Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
Anything can happen during this discernment. You might rediscover a long-buried interest in young people, the arts or animal welfare. Perhaps current events have encouraged you to support issues like affordable health care, equitable education or fair housing. Or you might feel a passion for climate change. One retiring executive recently told me, “When I retire from this job, I want to work on saving the planet for my grandkids.”
Which Role Makes Sense for You?
Once you’re clear about your passions and interests, there are many ways you can make a meaningful contribution:
- Part-time volunteering. Many organizations need people to help with marketing, operations, communications, fundraising and development. They’re looking for volunteers with significant experience, fresh commitment and lots of energy. The great thing about volunteering is that you can set the pace and level of commitment to work best with your lifestyle.
- Board membership. If you’d like to get more involved, consider raising your hand to be a nonprofit board member. Before moving forward, ask plenty of questions about board members’ time commitments and fundraising requirements, which are common on most nonprofit boards.
- Leadership role. You might be interested in an executive director (ED) position, or perhaps a role as a member of the ED’s team. Just remember that the only “downshift” it will represent will likely be in your compensation package. Leadership is always hard work, and many nonprofits are working diligently despite limited budgets and resources. If you’re hoping for more free time and flexibility in your second act, a leadership role may not be for you.
How to Find the Right Organization
Next, start searching for a nonprofit that fits with what you learned during your discovery process. Let colleagues and friends know what you’re thinking and add a question about nonprofit participation at all your networking meetings. You might be surprised at the range of interests your colleagues represent, and they can serve as good “ins” for you with nonprofit leadership.
When you’re down to a couple of candidates, ask for informational interviews with board members and leaders of your top-ranked groups. Attend events hosted by your nonprofits of interest to see what resonates with you.
As you’re looking for a place to land, you’ll need to create a narrative that will make sense for a new role. Make a list of your transferrable skills and interests so that you can convince an organization of the ways your for-profit experience will transfer to their world. Create a clear narrative that outlines the kind of work and organizations you’re interested in and update your LinkedIn profile with that information.
Even Volunteering Is Still a Job
Whatever you do, don’t minimize the time and effort this pivot can represent. Some executives enter into a board membership or a leadership role with the attitude that it will be a major downshift, only to find that the work is just as challenging as their corporate careers ever were.
Of course, the intangible rewards can be significant, as you find ways to bring all your skills to bear on a purposeful, rewarding second act.
Want to learn more? Marcia Ballinger has written a terrific book, Make the Jump: Reinvent Your Career in the Nonprofit Sector, which covers each of these topics in much greater depth.
Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger's advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and much more. Delivered daily. Enter your email in the box and click Sign Me Up.

Anne deBruin Sample, CEO and owner of Navigate Forward, is an experienced HR leader and Career Transition Expert. She has written for CEOWorld magazine and has been published in Fast Company and The Wall Street Journal. Her experience includes high-level positions at PepsiAmericas, Caribou Coffee and Whirlpool Corp.
-
Ask the Editor — Tax Questions on Inherited IRAs
Ask the Editor In this week's Ask the Editor Q&A, we answer tax questions from readers on the rules on inheriting IRAs.
-
I Asked Experts When It's Worth Splurging on Beauty and Skincare — and When You Can Save
Smart Shopping Experts agree that while you don't have to spend three figures on your products, some higher-priced items have value.
-
Retiring Early? This Strategy Cuts Your Income Tax to Zero
When retiring early, married couples can use this little-known (and legitimate) strategy to take a six-figure income every year — tax-free.
-
Ditch the Golf Shoes: Your Retirement Needs a Side Gig
A side gig in retirement can help combat boredom, loneliness and the threat of inflation eroding your savings. And the earlier you start planning, the better.
-
Roth IRA Conversions in the Summer? Why Now May Be the Sweet Spot
Converting now would enable you to spread a possible tax hit over more than one payment while reducing future taxes.
-
A Financial Expert's Three Steps to Becoming Debt-Free (Even in This Economy)
If debt has you spiraling, now is the time to take a few common-sense steps to help knock it down and get it under control.
-
I'm an Insurance Expert: This Is How Your Insurance Protects You While You're on Vacation
Here are three key things to consider about your insurance (auto, property and health) when traveling within the U.S., including coverage for rental cars, personal belongings and medical emergencies.
-
Investing Professionals Agree: Discipline Beats Drama Right Now
Big portfolio adjustments can do more harm than good. Financial experts suggest making thoughtful, strategic moves that fit your long-term goals.
-
'Doing Something' Because of Volatility Can Hurt You: Portfolio Manager Recommends Doing This Instead
Yes, it's hard, but if you tune out the siren song of high-flying sectors, resist acting on impulse and focus on your goals, you and your portfolio could be much better off.
-
Social Security's First Beneficiary Lived to Be 100: Will You?
Ida May Fuller, Social Security's first beneficiary, retired in 1939 and died in 1975. Today, we should all be planning for a retirement that's as long as Ida's.