American Cancer Society Reviews

Former Employee – worked at American Cancer Society full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Mission Focused- Great feeling working with cancer survivors and people impacted by the disease
Working with volunteers

Cons – Inexperienced Management
Low pay
Overworked-75+hours
Potential layoffs in the future

Advice to Senior Management – Listen to your staff
Help the development team (more than a loop around the Relay For Life track once a year is not enough)
Be flexible with hours (and have it be fair across the office)
Help with sponsorship opportunities
Transparency---everything always felt like a secret
Merge Relay For LIfe events--- staff spend too much time on failing events

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at American Cancer Society full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Phenomenal mission. You will be proud to work here. ACS does so much more for the fight against cancer than people know. They are the leaders in the cancer fight in terms of research, mission, education, and advocacy. 90% of the staff are wonderfully talented people and the volunteers are fantastic. The benefits are great. Compensation for a non-profit is better than average but not great (except for upper management).

Cons – Old-fashioned work structure, model. Upper leadership needs new life. Very slow to change, innovate. Outdated communication practices, etc hold talent back. The amount of approvals required to get things done is infuriating at times.

Advice to Senior Management – You've done well to recognize that the organization needs to transform, de-limit its mission, and focus. The steps to get there are taking way too long and you need to be more transparent about how decisions are made and be more innovative regarding 'who's on the bus.' The same people who've been leading for over a decade should not be the same people to lead us into the next decade.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at American Cancer Society full-time for more than a year

Pros – Great Team
Great Benefits
Popular Company
The missions of ACS

Cons – Low Salary
Not many growth opportunities, but expect more responsibilities with no raise or bonus
You will start out doing on job and can be assign anything by any other manager, even if they are not in your department.
The company is constantly changing and many people are afraid of losing their jobs.
They expect you to raise money and recruit volunteers not matters what your position is.
Even though its a non-profit...it feels very corporate

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at American Cancer Society full-time for more than a year

Pros – You get to fight cancer on a national level, which makes you feel good. The volunteers you work with are passionate and fun, and are probably the best part of the job.

Cons – Depending what office you are in, there can be little room for growth. Salary is on the low side. You are encouraged to be entrepreneurial and reinvent, but are often stymied when you try to. They throw around the word "support" a lot and don't give you what you really need. There is a lot of overlap in duties.

Advice to Senior Management – Let your income staff actually be creative and give them the chance to listen to what the community wants. Hire from within if you can. Be smart when you are supporting folks-do successful income staff really need 2 supervisors, or are there some new folks who really could use the help?

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at American Cancer Society full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Great working environment for those who are caring, loving and people oriented.

Cons – Pay could be a little better. Corporate is very political.

Advice to Senior Management – Cut out the politics. You are supposed to be a not for profit.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at American Cancer Society full-time for more than a year

Pros – Its all about Teamwork, coaching, & genuine care

Cons – The champion extreme competition between other reps and locations.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at American Cancer Society full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – The size and reach of the American Cancer Society is it's greatest asset. It has a grass roots army of dedicated volunteers who are uber passionate about the mission and believe in the organization and community managers who can drive that mission. Compensation at the National level is good but at the divisional level not as good.

Cons – It is an organization that is hindered by internal politics and jockeying for power. It over uses consultancy resources and spend too much on those resources rather than leveraging the intelligence of their own employees with years of experience. Though it claims to be customer centric its antiquated CRM system is a hindrance to improving it's relationship with customers.

Advice to Senior Management – Value your employees. There are so many at ACS that have years of experience that is being lost in the drive toward transformative change. Strive to create a culture of inclusiveness instead of driving for constant growing revenue and ignoring the needs of our customers to feel part of the worldwide movement to end Cancer.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at American Cancer Society for more than a year

Pros – Great Team to Work For.

Cons – Low Salary. The money is going to a good cause.

Former Employee – worked at American Cancer Society full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Outstanding cause/mission to find the cure!

Cons – Too much red tape no empowerment or trust for its staff to maximize opportunities and enhance revenue. Must look at helping people financially with their cancer illness burden.

Advice to Senior Management – Must learn to value it's employees and look at what is done with the money raised. Review charity navigator and guidestar. What are the top employers do the reduce turnover and improve retention? Mnagement must start listen from the ottom up and make adjustments.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at American Cancer Society full-time for more than a year

Pros – Brand recognition, donors support this organization simply for it's name.

Cons – The organization gets in the way of itself, making progress nearly impossible. Bureaucracy at it's finest, with so many policies, procedures and rules in place that one can not do their job and donor dollars are wasted. Corporate Center departments have an exaggerated view of their value and frequently give responses to flex their muscle while having a negative impact on fundraising.

Advice to Senior Management – Downsize Corporate Center departments, break down the bureaucracy that slows down efficacy. Focus on building a company culture that unites your workforce.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company