Muscular Dystrophy Association Reviews

Pros

families, flexiable schedule, and the sponsors you get to work with

Cons

regional office being next door.

Advice to Senior Management

be innovative. they love creativity, and making events even better

Pros

Great Cause to be associated with

Cons

Overworked ---- Underpaid. Expectations are unrealistic. More of a workhorse enviroment. Use you then throw you away. NO training and development of employees. Throw you to the wolves training methods

Advice to Senior Management

Listen

Pros

You are able to feel good about the end result of what you are working hard to do, and put a face to what you are doing. Interaction with families and volunteers is great, and your direct coworkers are generally pretty great. There are often fun events to get involved with and you get to have a presence in the community.

Cons

Highly political- once favorites are made, there is no changing them. Upper management has fierce demands, yet no advice, training or feedback to help employees develop those skills. Copious amounts of paperwork, micro managing, petty management, HR nightmare, no growth/development opportunities, low pay for a demanding job. Very antiquated and outdated views on business, marketing, development and sponsor interaction.

Advice to Senior Management

Encourage employees to grow and develop on a professional and personal level. Aim to attract and retain employees- not just turn and burn them. Offer praise and kudos where applicable. Do not play favorites so obviously- especially when allowing said favorites to not pull their weight.

Pros

Making a difference to a great cause...Strong training...Great interaction with clients....See the best in people...Amazing job growth

Cons

Long hours...dealing with death and dying....difficult to balance work and life with the demanding schedule....forced relocations for management.

Advice to Senior Management

Don't force relocations. You lose great people that way.

Pros

You get to work with some great families, companies, and organizations. Lowe's, IAFF, Kappa Alpha, NALC, and other organizations are fantastic.

Cons

Management was awful. No training and no praise on a job well done.

Pros

Alot of holidays and short work week.

Cons

Alot of driving and very little praise.

Advice to Senior Management

Train your staff on people skills

Pros

Family interaction
Loyalty to mission
Help people change their lives
Summer Camp
Meet new people everyday
Work with great people

Cons

Economy makes finding new sponsors difficult
Company not always recognized for all the great things we do for our families
Not enough national headquarters in our area to recruit for sponsorships

Advice to Senior Management

The leadership has had many changes but overall the heart of the company has remained the same. Management is developing extended training for Executive Directors.

Pros

Families and sponsors. They are why you go to work everyday and if you are not in it for them, it is not the job for you.

Cons

Training and development of employees. Appreciation as well. It will suck you dry, and you want to help because of what you are doing but becomes extremely overwhelming, very fast. If you are young, no young family, it is perfect.

Advice to Senior Management

Just realize the we are a team, and we WANT to do a good job. Not hitting numbers is not fun for us, so try to develop and encourage results to do better next time. Employees are invested in the cause for so long before they get burned out, so teach and develop employees to balance personal life and work life.

Pros

For someone's second or third job, you will learn a lot, but you need to be able to learn on the fly. You won't receive much training.

Cons

Training is minimal and the atmosphere is often unprofessional.

Advice to Senior Management

I agree with others who stated that management needs to focus on training, hiring skilled fundraisers and foster an encouraging atmosphere.

Pros

If you want a variety of work and you have strong time management skills then MDA can provide a great growth opportunity. I also have the opportunity to meet the families I help and I am proud of the research we are doing.

Cons

It is a results oriented culture and the recession has been tough on staff. It's not a 9-5 job and it requires strong skills and a strong work ethic. That's not for everyone.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep talking to district staff to know what is really happening in the field. Be straight with people during the interview process so that they can decide if MDA is the right place for them.