Sure, I agree that “can’t afford” is doing a lot of work there, and most people considering nonprofit roles are coming from positions of relative privilege (especially globally). I should have clarified that I’m benchmarking large nonprofits, large philanthropies, and for-profits versus other nonprofits.
What I meant is more about opportunity costs and life constraints rather than subsistence: someone with student loans, family to support, or who’s trying to afford living in/near a high-cost city might find the financial gap genuinely prohibitive, even if they’re still well-off in absolute terms. Also, smaller nonprofits typically offer minimal or nonexistent benefits: limited healthcare, no retirement matching, sparse parental leave, while also having high education requirements and geographic constraints (often expensive cities).
Sure, I agree that “can’t afford” is doing a lot of work there, and most people considering nonprofit roles are coming from positions of relative privilege (especially globally). I should have clarified that I’m benchmarking large nonprofits, large philanthropies, and for-profits versus other nonprofits.
What I meant is more about opportunity costs and life constraints rather than subsistence: someone with student loans, family to support, or who’s trying to afford living in/near a high-cost city might find the financial gap genuinely prohibitive, even if they’re still well-off in absolute terms. Also, smaller nonprofits typically offer minimal or nonexistent benefits: limited healthcare, no retirement matching, sparse parental leave, while also having high education requirements and geographic constraints (often expensive cities).