Nonprofit Sector

The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts excellent opportunities for jobs in advocacy, grant-making, and civic organizations as a result of the increasing number of older adults who will need social and community services. There will also be job growth in the nonprofit sector due to retirements and turnover due to low wages. Public awareness of social and political issues, plus the persistence of traditional social problems should maintain demand for nonprofit workers. In addition, the number of nonprofits has been rising steadily and each new group creates new job opportunities. To prevent employee burnout, many nonprofits will continue to hire new staff to handle new initiatives and programs. In addition, more nonprofits are using social media—LinkedIn and Facebook, in particular—as recruitment tools. The nonprofit fields that anticipate the greatest increase in job opportunities are health, environment and animals, and social and community service organizations.

Nonprofit organizations faced many challenges in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Business lockdowns and social distancing requirements caused the cancellation of fundraising events, conferences, workshops, and other activities and events. At the same time, the demand surged for services from nonprofits to assist communities during the pandemic. Nonprofit organizations were in high need because the economic slowdown caused by the pandemic triggered a rise in unemployment, food insecurity, loss of income for many people, an increase in mental health problems associated with pandemic stress, among numerous other issues. Many nonprofit organizations adapted to the pandemic precautions by digitizing their services, holding fundraising events and meetings remotely. Post pandemic, the nonprofit sector has recovered and is steadily growing, with many organizations continuing to offer virtual as well as in-person meetings, events, and educational programs. According to The National Council of Nonprofits highlighted the top trends that charitable nonprofits will be facing in the coming years, with the top three continuing to be limited resources, increasing demands on nonprofits (due to increased needs in communities), and the increasing awareness that each nonprofit and board member must be an "active, vocal advocate for her/his nonprofit's mission to affect policies in the community, and at the national level."

New online tools, social networks, and technological developments will also continue to change how nonprofits work in the coming years, according to a Chronicle of Philanthropy article. For instance, many people are using online fundraising tools on crowdfunding platforms such as Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and GoFundMe to raise money for their nonprofit projects and organizations. Job seekers who can demonstrate knowledge of these types of "crowdfunding" networks and who can show how they've used them successfully will be in demand. More nonprofits will also aim to improve their Web sites and make sure they work, due to the fact that a growing percentage of the population goes online mainly through their smartphone. In fact, donations can now be made via text through smartphones. Nonprofit organizations will also be adding more Web analytics to their sites, to track and analyze data better, and improve their fundraising efforts.

Also of note is that a growing number of nonprofits are using artificial intelligence (AI) in their business operations and fundraising. According to a 2024 survey of fundraising professionals by the company OneCause, a provider of fundraising technology, nearly half of the organizations that responded are using or plan to use AI for donor management, and 71 percent use or plan to use AI for fundraising, event planning, and copywriting. The growth of AI adoption in the nonprofit sector will be limited, however, by knowledge gaps and limited resources.