The Blue Bench Reviews

Pros

-Thorough training -Supportive management -Friendly staff -Encourages diversity and inclusion

Cons

Not many opportunities for growth or raises. Compensation is just above minimum wage.

Pros

great team to work with, lots of flexibility and opportunities for growth

Cons

Constant budget cuts, job insecurity and high turn over rates

Pros

Mission is very important, atmosphere is casual

Cons

The exec director is a bully and horrible leader. She doesn’t like new ideas/ways of doing things. I was hired for my expertise but when I tried to do my job there was constant pushback. She would talk horribly about former employees. There is actually a support group of former employees who worked for her. The ED would raise her salary every year but paid the therapists below market.

Pros

Kind and supportive group, great mission, fantastic atmosphere. Leadership is great and everybody is super friendly.

Cons

Work later in the day because that’s when people are home. That’s the only negative!! Love this place.

Pros

Awesome co-workers, fun at-the-door interactions with community members, making a difference for survivors of sexual assault and being able to exercise outdoors

Cons

Late/hard hours, small compensation if you don't get bonus', not much room for growth, work rain/shine/snow/heat, lots of rejection

Pros

You get to sleep in, work outside, and work for a good cause. Hours are consistent. If brought on full time you will have 40 hours per week. Scheduling is generally flexible.

Cons

Their pay structure is very poorly explained, making above minimum wage is exceedingly difficult and dependent almost entirely on season and luck. Voicing dissatisfaction with this pay structure even in a calm, professional, and one-on-one setting with management will be met with swift defensiveness and management will begin to act as though you are hostile and aggressive. Record all one-on-one meetings with management as they came across as untrustworthy and uncooperative. They do not have your best interests at heart, due in part to exceptionally high employee turnover (average employment is 6 weeks). The job is exceptionally emotionally taxing and rather physically taxing. Expect to be belittled, ignored, disrespected and emotionally exhausted every day. Be prepared to walk between 3 and 5 miles each shift - make sure your body and shoes are in proper condition for this task. Management makes no attempts to deny this aspect of the job, but also does not go great lengths to prepare employees for it either. Attempts to personalize or improve the fundraising speech outside a very narrow set of pre-made scripts are discouraged. Keep in mind this script has almost nothing to do with success rate at acquiring donations - most collected donations are from repeat donors who will tell you they would prefer to mail in. The script is also pushy and inflexible to potential donor response. In my experience, I was often very uncomfortable with the amount of pressure I was putting on strangers around a very sensitive topic at their own doorstep. You will be instructed to ignore 'no solicitation' signs as you will be told you are 'technically not a solicitor'. This instruction resulted in me being threatened with arrest and a firearm. I had multiple interaction with law enforcement as a result of following management's instruction. When those interactions significantly cut into my potential fundraising time, and therefor my potential earnings, my metrics / quotas and compensation were not adjusted in any way. You are not provided any consistent means of restroom usage. You are expected to ask potential donors to enter their private residence (exceedingly dangerous) and use their personal restrooms (exceedingly invasive). The work is hard and you are generally disliked by most people you interact with. The pay is bad, management has no motivation to help you develop your career within the organization or in general, and sees you as a temporary, disposable resource.

Pros

Get to be a part of preventing sexual violence. Work to educate members about the great resources The Blue Bench provides to sexual assault survivors, the prevention education done in schools, and getting the hotline number out there.

Cons

Difficult to go door-to-door asking for money. Have to have a thick skin (worth it for the cause). Swing shift hours.