San Maximum: Working for a Non-Profit Organization

By Austin Cowan
Assistant Web Content Manager

If anyone wishes to achieve the maximum San Marcos experience then they must work at a nonprofit organization, because this city is full of them. Nonprofit organizations serve our community through multiple avenues. They do not just serve the humans in the area, but care for the animals and the surrounding environment as well.

One well known fact about nonprofit organizations is that they cannot pay their employees as well as corporations do. So when people work at nonprofits they are not there for the money but for the organization’s mission. When I worked at The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment I witnessed this first hand. I saw many full-time employees work there, while well qualified in their industries, because they are passionate about the environment and water conservation. Some employees have remained loyal to The Meadows Center for decades now. My former coworkers made a daily commitment to support anything that benefited the San Marcos River and the surrounding environment. While surrounded by these people I steadily became more passionate about conservation and restoration projects myself. I learned a lot about environmental issues in my position there as an environmental interpreter. I now have knowledge of current restoration projects in the area and a better understanding of the San Marcos River and the Edwards Aquifer than I used to. If anyone wishes to make a change in their community, do some research. Achieve a position where you will receive the training and knowledge needed to not only help a movement but lead one. Nonprofits are one wonderful way for ordinary people to make extraordinary changes.

Honestly, a lot of nonprofit jobs are pretty cool. While I was at the Meadows Center there were countless times that I felt I had the coolest college job in the area: I got paid to drive a boat around and talk to people. Now, The Meadows Center is a cool place to work, but there are nonprofits in San Marcos that are equally great to work for. Nonprofit organizations thrive in San Marcos. A few of them include the Hays County Food Bank, the animal shelter, and Rise Retreat. Nonprofit organizations are cool jobs to have because the people who work at them truly make a difference in their community. If anyone wants to be empowered then go get involved and work for a nonprofit.

Out of all the places I have worked at, The Meadows Center provided the truest friends. This is true of many nonprofits. These work friendships easily transferred into out-of-work friendships because my coworkers and I actually cared about one another and the job we were doing. This geniality made the work environment feel warm and inviting. Many of my old nonprofit coworkers still hang out with one another on a regular basis and even go on statewide trips with one another. Basically, work friends at nonprofit organizations are real friends. Real friends are hard to come by, so if you want to make some a nonprofit is where you ought to be.

Nonprofit organizations give their employees a chance to not only feel like they are making a difference but to actually make one. If anyone wishes to better their lives on a social, emotional and psychological level then working at a nonprofit organization might provide what they desire. With so many nonprofits in San Marcos (just Google them to get an idea of how many) it is impossible to get the maximum San Marcos experience without working at one. Profit from a nonprofit organization by working at one today.

Featured image by Austin Cowan.