Pros
I met some wonderful people on the intern and staff team there. For the most part, people were bright and committed to social justice. If you’re only there for a few months, you will get good experience and learn a lot about the nonprofit world, any longer and I urge you to look into other options.
Cons
There were some MAJOR internal structure and leadership issues at UniversalGiving that made my experience very difficult and ultimately left me feeling totally disenchanted. There’s no middle management and very little transparency, despite claims to the contrary. Priorities shift daily— sometimes hourly. The turnover is immensely high, and that’s not including the large number of interns who work there, unpaid. Staff turnover was at nearly 50% and it didn't seem to be slowing down. Unfortunately, all of the blame is put on those who were leaving; the organization's leadership refused to take time to assess why people are unhappy. From the surface, people appear happy and the organization claims to be having a big impact on the world, but the only thing that really works is their corporate social responsibility consulting. Far too much time is spent promoting the CEO’s personal brand and completing petty tasks. Unfortunately, NGO partners were not prioritized and no budget was put towards partnership development other than media outlets that would promote the CEO’s image.