Through her efforts with the organization and the help of Fordham staff and students, the FCLC Operation Smile club raised $2,500 in their first semester as an active club from January to May 2010.

Operation Smile is a nonprofit organization that helps underprivileged children have the surgeries necessary to fix their various facial deformities.

Boggia will visit Bangladesh next month on behalf of Operation Smile to witness and document the surgeries that will benefit the lives of children in that region.

Because of such accomplishments, Boggia plans to be a part of Operation Smile for her years following Fordham.

“Post graduation I plan on going to law school, but I would highly consider working for Operation Smile if they offered me a paid position,” she said.

“Because they deal with so many international issues, I might even be able to be a lawyer for them. Regardless, I definitely plan on being a part of their organization for the rest of my life.”

At a time when most corporations are fastening hiring freezes, nonprofit organizations, such as Operation Smile, have proven to be on a hiring incline, according to a recent New York Times article.

The article notes that when the economic crisis hit back in 2008, even nonprofit organizations faced job cutbacks. However, nonprofit job postings have recently reached “pre-crisis levels,” said Ami Dar, executive director of Idealist.org, an online clearinghouse for nonprofits.

Who are nonprofit organizations eager to hire at a time of otherwise economic turmoil? Nonprofits are still seeking the tried and true skills in programming, fund-raising, customer service and administration, but also people with strong mobile technology and application skills are in demand, according to The New York Times.

Students with degrees in communication and media studies, computer science or visual arts are ideal prospects for the job roles that nonprofits are trying to fill because of the technological aptitude required.

Jilliane Lewis, FCLC ’11 and an international student from Jamaica, has actually added working for a nonprofit organization to her ambitious list of tasks to complete upon graduation.

“Aside from the current recession, I have an interest in the economic development of underprivileged societies; therefore, working for nonprofits is definitely something I will do in the future,” she said.

Students like Amany Noureldin, FCLC ’13, and Anne Wimmer, FCLC ’11, never thought about working for nonprofit organizations until the recession hit, but are now considering it as an alternative to finding their ideal jobs when they graduate.

“It wouldn’t necessarily be my first option, but it’s not something I would cross off my list because I don’t want to sit home and not have a job after all my hard work in college,” Noureldin said. “I would be especially interested if I could land a graphic design job at a nonprofit organization because that is my major.”

“I haven’t begun my job search just yet because I’ve been avoiding it due to the state of our current economy,” Wimmer said. “It’s terrifying because I always thought I’d have a job lined up after college, but now that it’s not the case I wouldn’t be opposed to looking for jobs at nonprofit agencies.”

On average, nonprofit jobs pay 20 percent to 30 percent less than current entry-level for-profit jobs, according to a survey conducted by the Nonprofit Technology Network.

The survey continued, “At first glance, it seems easy just to say that nonprofits pay a lot less than their for-profit counterparts—but there’s one important thing to keep in mind: size of the organization/company really impacts how much they pay staff.”

Scott Shanahan, FCLC ’11, said, “When my grad school plans flopped, I was turned on to nonprofit jobs.  I’ve definitely incorporated nonprofits in my job searches now, and am willing to work for one even if that means accepting a lower salary than I expected temporarily.”

According to New York Nonprofit Press, Fordham recently launched the Fordham Center for Nonprofit Leaders, which is reportedly the first training center in the country to be jointly sponsored by a university’s graduate schools of business and social service.

To aid participating graduate students in their nonprofit job search, the center offers each participant a mentor to guide them in his or her endeavors, and furnishes permanent support to participants through Center staff for as long as needed.