Kathleen Reardon
CEO
New Hampshire Center for Nonprofits
As CEO of the New Hampshire Center for Nonprofits, Kathleen Reardon oversees leadership development programs for non-profits and spearheads advocacy efforts, such as securing $60 million in emergency funds for the state’s nonprofit sector during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“New Hampshire was the first state in the nation to have a fund specifically dedicated for nonprofits,” Reardon says.
The center, which serves more than 700 member organizations, also fosters collaboration between nonprofits, including the annual NH Gives fundraising event, which raised a record $3.7 million in 2023 for more than 600 nonprofits. (This year’s NH Gives — at nhgives.org — takes place June 11-12.)
NH Gives was Reardon’s first major initiative after she became the center’s chief executive in 2016. Since then, the program has raised more than $15 million for more than 1,000 Granite State nonprofits.
The center also aims to promote nonprofits as a career path.
“In our strategic plan, one of the things that we’re really trying to lift up is the value of careers in the nonprofit sector,” Reardon says.
What was your career journey like?
Reardon earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Holy Cross and a master’s in liberal studies and social sciences from Wesleyan University. She joined the center after 18 years with Citizens, where she worked on the bank’s community outreach efforts, which included its corporate giving program for local nonprofits.
Reardon’s path to becoming chief executive for the center began when she graduated from college. Her first job was working for a small nonprofit in Cambridge, Mass., which hired her as its development and special projects coordinator.
“This was back in the day when you answered ads in the newspaper. There was this teeny tiny little ad for this organization,” Reardon says. “I ended up having this opportunity to work side by side with the executive director. I helped support the board, and they went through a strategic planning process at the time.”
Since then, Reardon has worked for other nonprofits, including the Girls Scouts, and has served on the boards of many organizations, including the NH Community Loan Fund, the Capitol Center for the Arts, the Northern New England Housing Investment Fund, and the Women’s Business Center.
During her years with Citizens, she learned about the grantmaking process from the corporate side.
“I used to say to people my goal was to have successful proposals go to our committee. I tried to be very up front with people if it wasn’t anywhere near the company’s giving guidelines,” she says. “Understanding that fit is really important. I’ve carried that through as I’ve been on this side of things. Whether it’s a grant or a sponsorship or an individual donation, you look for that opportunity for alignment and mutual benefit.”
Why choose a nonprofit career?
Since the pandemic, people have been looking for meaning in their lives, which a nonprofit career can help provide, Reardon says.
“Clearly it is meaningful work, but it is also challenging work,” she says. “You have opportunities to demonstrate your leadership, and you get paid for it. People oftentimes still think of nonprofits as simply volunteer driven. And, certainly, there are a number of organizations in our state that are volunteer driven, but there are careers in the nonprofit sector as well.”
Skills gleaned in private sector jobs, such as marketing expertise, complement nonprofit work.
“There are always transferable opportunities. For example, somebody who has a sales background and understands how to build relationships could be very well aligned for a development position,” she says.
But “sales” in the nonprofit world don’t completely align with how they play out in business.
“If you’re a sales person, you might get paid by commission if you’re in the for-profit world. That is not the way that it’s structured in nonprofits,” she says. “There are some differences that you need to understand.”
How do you view the dynamic between peers and mentors?
“I was very fortunate to have a number of people in my life, some who were bosses and some who had a lot more experience than I did, that I could learn from,” Reardon says. “But I also learned from my peers.”
Reardon also learned from the grant recipients she was working with at Citizens, including some who became her role models.
“Sometimes it would be for a very specific skill, and sometimes it would be those broader career conversations,” she says.
