Some recent events in my life have made me want to contribute more to causes I b

Question

Some recent events in my life have made me want to contribute more to causes I believe in rather than just working for a profit-driven company. I have been thinking that if I could find a non-profit organization that I like and believe in then I might feel more fulfilled working for them. I have a decent amount of web development experience and currently work as a Java / Spring web developer.

I realize the compensation wouldn't have the same "ceiling" potential as for-profit but am wondering if its possible to get at least something close to a market rate for work as I am planning to start a family sometime soon and still need a legitimate income. If anyone has any knowledge or experience about this sort of thing would be happy to hear from you.

EDIT: Without getting in to too much personal detail, I have a relative who recently passed away who suffered from a mental illness so while it doesn't have to be an organization specifically dedicated to this, I am hoping to work for something along these lines at least where there is more of a social cause rather than just working on an open-source project whose only cause is the advancement of technology.

Explanation / Answer

I've been pitched a few nonprofit jobs in the past, so I can confirm that these jobs do exist, though I haven't personally taken any of them.

Since I live in Seattle, the Gates Foundation is one of the larger nonprofits, and they hire a substantial number of developers. Thanks mostly to their history, they use mostly a Microsoft stack. But they work on projects related to reducing the incidence of debilitating diseases around the world, and on education-focused projects in the US. So they might be a good fit for your motivation.

I don't remember with absolute certainty if they were a nonprofit or not, but a recruiter once or twice contacted me on behalf of some sort of religious organization.

These two jobs were close to, but not exactly as high as industry salary ranges. Additionally, I've been contacted by recruiters looking for help at smaller nonprofits that were offering roughly half of what I'm accustomed to earning. In another phase of my life, I would be motivated to take on such projects, though that doesn't work very well for my family's current needs.

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse S
• Subjects

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.