Why are charities not interested in hiring professional journalists or public-relations people?
In the last several years, I’ve mailed about 400 personalized cover letters and rsums. If I received a response at all, it was to say that I was not qualified –this despite the fact that the job’s ad plainly asked for strong communication and marketing skills. I’ve volunteered at four nonprofit organizations. What am I doing wrong? A: The nonprofit managers we contacted found your situation puzzling, indeed. “I can only speak from my own perspective, but I’m very open to hiring journalists and public-relations people,” says Bernadette M. Horgan, director of media relations for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In fact, she says, one of her current staff members is a former journalist: “I really appreciate the perspective that he brings to the job, the understanding of what journalists on the other end of the phone are up against.” Susan Hofer, communications manager at America’s Second Harvest, a hunger-relief organization in Chicago, says that her own career path is proof that charities
