Nonprofit Professional Resume Examples
Years of Experience
- Entry-level
- 2-3
- 5-10
- 10+
Justin Smith
(123) 456-7890 | [email protected] | 6503 Black Bear Ave, Charleston, WV 25302
Profile
Perceptive Medical Social Worker with strong recent academic and work experience. Skilled communicator who maintains calm and professionalism in crisis situations. Expert in psychosocial assessments and helping loved ones cope with an unexpected death. Draw on advanced de-escalation skills and medical knowledge. Master of Social Work.
Key Skills
- Crisis Intervention
- Patient & Family Communications
- Service Coordination
Professional Experience
Medical Social Worker, Charleston Area Medical Center, Charleston, WV | June 2021 to Present
- Help assess patients’ medical or physical conditions and client needs
- Educate patients and families about diagnoses and treatment plans
- Complete psychosocial assessments of patients’ mental or emotional state
- Counsel patients or patients’ family members experiencing crisis or distress
- Refer patients and families to appropriate community and social service resources
Education
Master of Social Work, University of West Virginia, Morgantown | 2021
Bachelor of Science in Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville | 2019
Select Courses:
- Managing Human Service Organizations
- Fiscal Management & Budgeting
- Death, Dying & Bereavement
- Practice in Mental Health
- Social Work, Health & Healthcare
Hailey Hernandez
(123) 456-7891 | [email protected] | 3616 Canary Road, Anchorage, AK 99501
Profile
Nonprofit Development Professional with 3+ years of experience. Consistently meet or exceed fundraising goals. Skilled in planning events, designing advertisements, and building relationships with web-based donors.
Professional Experience
Development Coordinator, Abused Women Aid in Crisis (AWAIC), Anchorage, AK | September 2019 to Present
- Identify new donors and negotiate funding
- Assist with grant writing
- Set event budgets and account for expected fundraising outcomes
- Design ads, flyers, posters, and social media posts to promote fundraising events
Highlights:
- Raised $2.5M through individual and corporate donations
- Served as lead writer on a $500K grant award
Education
Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing, University of Alaska, Fairbanks
Key Skills
- Budgeting
- Company Partnerships
- Data Analysis
- Donor Relations
- Event Planning
- Grant Writing
- Raiser’s Edge
Adam Trenton
(123) 456-7891 | [email protected] | 5901 Thrasher Road, Atlanta, GA 71913
Profile
Passionate Community Engagement Professional with 5+ years’ experience. Generate powerful recruitment results, securing commitments from various donors, volunteers, and corporations.
Professional Experience
Community Engagement Manager, Atlanta Humane Society, Atlanta, GA | October 2019 to Present
- Foster positive community relationships by engaging in local events, youth programs, social media threads, surveys, and community luncheon forums
- Analyze data to monitor success of different engagement strategies
Highlights:
- Drove a 25% increase in community engagement through local college partnerships
- Established staff volunteer day agreements with 32 local corporations
Volunteer Coordinator, International Rescue Committee, Atlanta, GA | July 2014 to August 2019
- Supervised and documented all volunteer contributions
- Performed outreach, networking, and other marketing as needed to recruit and educate donors, partners, and volunteers
Highlights:
- Recruited, trained, and placed ~600 volunteers
- Cultivated and maintained productive relationships with 85+ partner agencies
Education
Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Public Administration, Auburn University, Auburn, AL | 2017
Key Skills
- Community Outreach
- Database Management
- Event Planning
- Logistics
- Networking
- Social Media
Hannah Watson
(123) 456-7891 | [email protected] | 352 Aesop Street, Indianapolis, IN 46113
Profile
Award-winning Nonprofit Leader & Expert with 12+ years of experience. Skilled at growing programs, motivating staff and volunteers, and driving administrative excellence. Master of Public Administration.
Professional Experience
Youth Development Program Director, YMCA of Greater Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN | November 2020 to Present
- Oversee and evaluate 5 program managers and 15 program coordinators
- Set program budgets, administer approved sums, and ensure agreed-upon allocations are followed
- Maintain program compliance with state and local regulations
- Analyze data to forecast and prepare for future program needs
Highlight:
- Spearheaded efforts to bring in new participants, increasing youth signups by 40%
Program Manager, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana, Indianapolis, IN | May 2014 to October 2020
- Recruited and managed program coordinators, support staff, and volunteers
- Ensured program coordinators produced high-quality reports and recommendations on volunteer participation
- Oversaw and facilitated volunteer-participant matches
Highlight:
- Achieved organization’s lowest volunteer turnover rate in Indiana for 3 consecutive years
Youth Program Coordinator, YMCA of Greater Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN | August 2010 to April 2014
- Managed youth enrichment activities for the state’s largest YMCA
- Helped develop annual curriculum and training calendars
- Reviewed and edited 600+ pages of budget, curricula, and grant proposals
Highlight:
- Developed creative staff motivation strategies that were adopted by the program director
Education
Master of Public Administration, University of Indiana, Bloomington | 2017
Bachelor of Science – Sociology, Southern New Hampshire University, online | 2010
Key Skills
- Active Listening
- Program Evaluation
- Strategic Planning
- Team Leadership & Motivation
- Volunteer Recruitment
Tips for Writing a Better Nonprofit Resume
Strike the right tone to describe your nonprofit career
For nearly any piece of regular writing, it’s important to choose language that sets and maintains a clear tone or “voice.” That rule applies equally to your job search documents. Here’s a quick overview of the voice you should aim for on each one:
- Resume: formal, forthright
- Cover Letter: engaged, confident
- LinkedIn Profile: friendly, personable
To achieve a forthright voice on your resume, use simple sentences and straightforward accounts of your experience. Keep this advice in mind especially when writing your Profile section, since you may be tempted (or think you need) to use terms like “Exceptional” or “Outstanding at” when a more modest yet direct phrase like “Skilled at” is better.
Example
Nonprofit Development Professional with 3+ years of experience. Consistently meet or exceed fundraising goals. Skilled in planning events, designing advertisements, and building relationships with web-based donors.
Quantify your nonprofit experience
Help managers understand the depth of your knowledge and experience. As you write the details of each past job, ask yourself “How much?” or “How many?” For example, consider your answer to the following questions:
- How many volunteers did you recruit, train, and match to opportunities at your nonprofit?
- How much money did you raise for your organization?
- How much did you increase your program size?
Examples
- Raised $400K in 6 months by organizing 2 events and a creative social media campaign.
- Launched an ambassador program that increased community engagement by 35%
Avoid the section heading “Relevant Experience”
When you label a section “Relevant Experience,” you undermine your resume by indicating all the other sections are irrelevant. Your resume should be ALL relevant experience, with the only possible exception being your recent work history outline. You should leave out any details about you that don’t hold relevance to your target nonprofit job.
If your career includes jobs in both the corporate and nonprofit sectors, some portions of your work history may be a lot more in line with your current job search than others. If so, resist the urge to divide them into “Relevant Experience” and “Additional Experience” sections. Keep one “Professional Experience” section and only indicate the disparity by the amount of detail you give for each job. Try to give plenty of details on your most relevant nonprofit jobs and just the basics on your least relevant jobs. This resume structure maintains a clear focus on advancing your goals while still offering employers an accurate view of your recent work history.
Common Key Skills for Nonprofit Resumes
One of the best ways to improve your resume is to add keywords.
That’s because most employers now use an applicant tracking system (ATS), which scans each submitted resume for keywords relevant to the job opening at hand. When the ATS finds a resume with many relevant keywords, it flags the document for the hiring manager.
To make your resume ATS-friendly, add a keyword-rich “Skills” or “Expertise” section (as in the examples above). Here are some common keywords for nonprofit professionals:
| Key Skills and Proficiencies | |
|---|---|
| Budgeting & Cost Accounting | Cross-Functional Collaboration |
| Event Planning & Organizing | Fundraising |
| Grant Writing & Management | Project & Program Management |
| Public Speaking & Presentations | Recruiting & Staffing |
| Regulatory Compliance | Stakeholder Relations Management |
| Strategic Planning | Task Prioritization |
| Team Leadership & Motivation | Time Management |
Common Action Verbs for Nonprofit Resumes
One of the most common resume mistakes is using too few verbs. You may repeat the same generic verb (say, “Manage”) many times or rely on passive phrases like “Responsible for” or “Accountable for.” These tendencies can distract your reader and fail to show the dynamic nature of your work. The following list will help you mix up the verbs on your nonprofit resume:
| Action Verbs | |
|---|---|
| Advise | Advocate |
| Communicate | Coordinate |
| Develop | Empower |
| Facilitate | Fundraise |
| Help | Lead |
| Market | Overhaul |
| Oversee | Plan |
| Provide | Serve |
| Support | |
How to Align Your Resume With a Job Posting
For each job in your Experience section, consider adding a description of the nonprofit organization. You can place this description in brackets right next to or below the nonprofit name. It also helps to match formatting. For instance, if you’ve italicized the nonprofit name, italicize the nonprofit description too.
Nonprofit descriptions let you show any similarities between your past and desired employers. For instance, maybe you’ve worked for nonprofits of a similar size or in the same industry. Or maybe you’ve worked at nonprofits with a similar core mission or leadership philosophy. By working these details into your descriptions, you can make your resume that much more relevant to the job at hand.