logo
    • Magazine
    • Membership
    • Donate
  • Racial Justice
  • Economic Justice
    • Collections
  • Climate Justice
  • Health Justice
  • Leadership
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Subscribe
  • Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Complimentary Webinars
    • Premium On-Demand Webinars
  • Membership
  • Submissions

Burned by Big Grantee Failure, Robin Hood Foundation to Help Corporate Finance Professionals Enter NP Sector

Ruth McCambridge
July 9, 2015
Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print

 

July 8, 2015; Bloomberg Business

NPQ has written often about the Robin Hood Foundation, most recently about its relationship with hedge fund wealth. But this story takes another tack. Apparently, some grantees of the Robin Hood Foundation have been having difficulty filling the role of CFO, so the foundation has chosen to address that problem by trying to entice and train for-profit finance professionals to make the shift to full-time senior—presumably CFO—positions at nonprofit organizations.

The program, called LeaderLink, is reportedly a response to the increased complexities in the role that have been brought with increased government and reporting requirements, organizational complexity, and public scrutiny. All we can say is, “No wonder.” As some may recall, Robin Hood was a high-profile donor to FEGS, which went belly up in a pretty showy way earlier this year. In 2014, it gave the group nearly a million dollars to develop “a new, integrated care model to improve health outcomes and reduce poverty among adults and children with mental illness living in New York City.” That could sting.

Sign up for our free newsletters

Subscribe to NPQ's newsletters to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

“The last few years, the high-profile financial problems of some high-profile nonprofits have highlighted the need for a competent financial person in these positions,” said Deborah Miller Sakellarios, a senior management consultant with the foundation.

The expected salaries for the positions they expect to fill range from $125,000 to $175,000 a year and max out at $250,000. That may be out of our league for most of us, but for something on the scale of a FEGS, with its formerly large annual budget of $250 million. Applicants will be required to take a pilot five-session course, including a unit on nonprofit accounting and they will then be matched with a mentor and job search.

We’d love to hear what our colleagues in NYC think about this as a response.—Ruth McCambridge

Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ruth McCambridge

Ruth is Editor Emerita of the Nonprofit Quarterly. Her background includes forty-five years of experience in nonprofits, primarily in organizations that mix grassroots community work with policy change. Beginning in the mid-1980s, Ruth spent a decade at the Boston Foundation, developing and implementing capacity building programs and advocating for grantmaking attention to constituent involvement.

More about: Financial ManagementNonprofit NewsPhilanthropy

Become a member

Support independent journalism and knowledge creation for civil society. Become a member of Nonprofit Quarterly.

Members receive unlimited access to our archived and upcoming digital content. NPQ is the leading journal in the nonprofit sector written by social change experts. Gain access to our exclusive library of online courses led by thought leaders and educators providing contextualized information to help nonprofit practitioners make sense of changing conditions and improve infra-structure in their organizations.

Join Today
logo logo logo logo logo
See comments

NPQ_Winter_2022Subscribe Today
You might also like
Why Social Change Films Matter
Cyndi Suarez and Saphia Suarez
Philanthropy Must Move from Charity to Solidarity
Son Chau
Eliminating Biphobia Through Breath, Brotherhood, and the Arts
H. “Herukhuti” Sharif Williams
Using a Data-Driven Strategy to Advance Racial Equity in Grantmaking
Heather Lenz, Ariel Jordan and Catherine Smith
Protecting Nonprofits That Protect Us During Crises—and Beyond
Aisha Benson and Jen Talansky
Reimagining Philanthropy to Build a Culture of Repair
Aria Florant and Venneikia Williams

Popular Webinars

Remaking the Economy

Black Food Sovereignty, Community Stories

Register Now

Combating Disinformation and Misinformation in 21st-Century Social Movements

Register Now

Remaking the Economy

Closing the Racial Wealth Gap

Register Now
You might also like
Why Social Change Films Matter
Cyndi Suarez and Saphia Suarez
Philanthropy Must Move from Charity to Solidarity
Son Chau
Eliminating Biphobia Through Breath, Brotherhood, and the...
H. “Herukhuti” Sharif Williams

Like what you see?

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

See our newsletters

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

Independent & in your mailbox.

Subscribe today and get a full year of NPQ for just $59.

subscribe
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Copyright
  • Careers

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

 

Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.