Pros
Let me start by saying that while this company isn’t for most people, I can imagine that a certain type of person might do well here—for a time. The pros: - GiveCampus is financially healthy for a company of its size and industry - Depending on your department, you may receive decent compensation (if short of market rate) - Most of your peers will be smart, kind, and knowledgeable - The core business strategy, products, and problems to be solved are relatively simple - Fully remote and, depending on your team, flexible about working hours You might do well here if: - You crave approval from authority figures and are motivated by constantly shifting goals that remain out of reach - You just graduated from college, are looking for a chance to prove yourself, and have few hobbies or life obligations - You’re an educational fundraising professional looking for an industry life raft that pays significantly more than your K-12 institution or college - You value the presumption, if not reality, of job security (the company has avoided mass layoffs) over work/life balance or the chance to grow your professional skills through good-faith mentorship from leaders who relate to you as a human first - You’re a seasoned professional who can see dysfunction, shrug, and log out at the end of the day If you’re looking for a stepping stone to something better or identify with the last bucket, GiveCampus might be your stop along the way. The most succinct way I can sum up my experience at GiveCampus is: What a bummer. It’s so, so close to being a wonderful place to work, but the caveats are a mile wide.
Cons
So I’ve outlined why one might want to work for GiveCampus. Here are the downsides: - Leadership is single-minded to a fault. This originates from the CEO and trickles down to all corners of the business. As written above, depending on your priorities this might not be a con. However, while a ruthlessly growth-driven perspective may be attractive to some, I’ve seen a healthy desire to succeed devolve into pettiness and the routine treatment of employees as hosts to be sucked dry. Individuals and teams are made public “examples” of. People dealing with family emergencies have been expected to work through weekends. What makes this worse? - You will be told that this is all for your own benefit and you are lucky to have a job - Lack of focus. There are nine core values and five core operating principles. Many of them are in direct contradiction, e.g. “Do things that don’t scale” vs. “Take the long view.” While there is always a tension between priorities—this is to be expected—this scattershot approach shows up in an uneven product, marketing challenges, and employees being frequently blindsided about not meeting expectations. - Lack of experience. For a significant portion of the management team, this is their first or second rodeo. Stakes are artificially high because managers can’t take things in context. I’ve never seen a leadership team so palpably afraid of their boss. A closing anecdote: I and others have shared this feedback 1:1 with multiple people in positions of power and have consistently been met with, "But you're still here, so it must be OK." Well, I'm not there anymore.