If you feel called to make a difference, humanitarian work is among the best places to do it. Nonprofit organizations devote are committed to aiding people in need, from healthcare and disaster relief to advocacy groups. However, you may be wondering what degree to pursue to work in this important sector. Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota offers a Master of Arts in Philanthropy and Development degree that can help prepare aspiring humanitarians for their careers. Here, we discuss the best degrees for humanitarian careers, including our master’s degree program.
What Is a Humanitarian Career?
When you imagine humanitarian work, what do you picture? To many, humanitarian work looks like first responders, disaster relief workers, and other volunteers delivering food and aid to people in crisis. This image is heavily popularized by media coverage. In truth, however, it’s only part of the bigger picture. There are many different career paths that contribute to making a positive impact. Some examples of humanitarian leader careers include:
- Fundraising or development professional: A professional fundraiser specializes in designing effective marketing and fundraising strategies to secure the income their organization needs to operate.
- Donor relations director: Nonprofit organizations rely on contributions to support their work.Maintaining positive relationships with those donors often requires a focused professional.
- Business operations director: This role controls how funds are spent on things like training, travel, relief supplies, employee pay, and other resources to benefit the mission.
- Communications officer: A communications officer focuses on sharing an organization’s mission with members and the public through newsletters, interviews, and marketing.
- Organization/Executivedirector: This role focuses on the organization as a whole. It handles employee and volunteer management, program logistics to coordinate humanitarian efforts for maximum effect, and oversight of budget and operations.
All these roles are essential to the day-to-day operations of a nonprofit organization. Without their hard work, effective and efficient humanitarian work would not be possible.
Skills for Humanitarian Careers
Humanitarian leadership requires a range of both hard and soft skills, including skilled leadership. For every team of front-line responders, there’s a leader working behind the scenes to keep their efforts coordinated. These professionals make direct aid possible by handling a variety of behind the scenes responsibilities, such as administration, management and logistics, community outreach, fundraising, and more. Some other essential skills for humanitarian workers include:
- Communication: Humanitarian workers must be able to share information with others. This includes both clear verbal communications and great listening skills.
- Accounting: Nonprofit finances are often complex. Workers must be able to balance accounts to keep track of where money comes from and how the money is spent.
- Ethics: Trust in the nonprofit is critical to garnering support for the nonprofit. Ethical leadership and practices are key to building trust with all stakeholders, donors, volunteers and service recipients..
- Organization: With many details to manage, humanitarian leaders must be able to stay organized and ensure nothing vital is missed or forgotten.
Humanitarian work is highly rewarding. It’s emotionally fulfilling to raise funds for a cause you truly care about or organize relief efforts, knowing that your everyday work makes a difference. Humanitarian careers like fundraisers also enjoy a faster-than-average job growth and a competitive salary. There are also many different positions within the humanitarian sector, making their skills transferable to various jobs.
Degrees for Humanitarian Work
For individuals looking for a career in humanitarian work, an advanced degree is essential. These professionals are in high demand to head nonprofit organizations. The right master’s program will train you in the skills you need to succeed. Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota offers a Master’s in Philanthropy and Development, which is designed for development professionals in the nonprofit sector. Its innovative curriculum provides a mastery of modern philanthropy tools, from capital and major gift campaigns to organizational management. It also covers topics such as donor psychology, strategic planning, ethical governance, and more.
Part ofur program is offered online to fit into your schedule. This is combined with two immersive residencies at our Winona campus, where you can build deep connections with other passionate individuals in your field. Graduates join a vast network of the nation’s top fundraising experts, ready to make a difference.
At Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, our degrees are offered with a commitment to Lasallian Catholic principles. This sets us apart from other colleges and helps prepare humanitarian leaders who are ethical, skilled leaders.
Kickstart Your Humanitarian Career at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota
Are you looking for degrees for humanitarian work? Look no further than Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota. We are a private, Lasallian Catholic university offering high-quality online bachelor’s and master’s programs to adult students seeking new opportunities. Request information to learn more about our philanthropy master’s degree program or to apply for admission.
