employer cover photo
employer logo
employer logo

Keep America Beautiful

Is this your company?

Right off the top: lacking leadership, stewardship, and fiscal responsibility. - Anonymous employee Keep America Beautiful Employee Review

3.0
17 Apr 2019
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Work-life balance, pay, benefits, proximity to train and vibrant downtown Stamford, PTO/holidays, and great colleagues (with the exception of most management-level leader types).

Cons

This is an iconic organization that has been around for over 60 years. The current team at the top is seriously lacking in experience and leadership abilities. The middle management (but really, just the worker bees) are incredible people doing the best that they can with very little management or stewardship from the top. I'm afraid this organization will not be around for another 60 years. The present president (who I think has been in the role for less than two years) keeps "experimenting" with staff, programs, sponsors, and the chapters currently in the fold, without any forward thinking or focus on what they need and expect from an iconic organization. Spitballing program ideas and lofty goals for growth without regard for simple abilities to support the current organization and chapters around the country is not smart. I don't think the president is long for the organization. Staff CRAVES leadership, want to do good work, are seeking opportunities to learn, desire support from their bosses and we're just not getting it. Too much turnover in key roles (president, finance director, head rainmaker) make it a risky proposition for someone seeking a role where they can change the world. This is not an environmental organization, so if you're looking for an opportunity to do good, be careful. Much of the corporate support is from companies seeking to get their brands shone in a better light. I've had good opportunities during my short time here, but others have not and it shows in company and staff morale. Many had to apply for their positions again in a recent company shakeup/reorganization and what was once a stable company continues on unstable ground. I think those that hung on to their positions seek to move elsewhere too, but have been at the company too long to find outside roles for themselves in corporate America (or even other nonprofits). I want to gain professional successes of my own and will stay for a while longer, but only to get more experience and then I’ll move on.

avatar
Keep America Beautiful Response
7y
We’re sorry to hear about anyone having a negative experience working with us. We strive to make Keep America Beautiful a supportive, nurturing, and engaging place for all our employees. We appreciate these issues being brought to our attention, which came as a surprise given the vast majority of positive feedback from KAB employees. In our 2018 employee satisfaction survey, 72% of KAB staff indicated they (A) “Have confidence in the leadership of KAB” and that (B) “KAB is well-managed by senior leadership.” 95% of staff indicated (A) “The leadership team is approachable” and (B) “The leaders at KAB are open to input from employees.” In 2015, Keep America Beautiful updated its “Vision, Mission, and Values” statement for first time in more than 15 years with input from affiliates, state leaders, staff, and board members. In 2018, we completed an organizational restructure to better accomplish our mission to inspire and educate people to take action every day to improve and beautify their community. Keep America Beautiful is fiscally sound and financially solvent. Fundraising revenue has grown in recent years and the organization maintains well-invested reserve funds. Like other non-profit organizations, our financial information is public and can be found at guidestar.org. As an iconic organization that has been successfully making an impact for more than 65 years, we are in a phase of trying new and updated programs, fundraising techniques, and marketing tools to attain renewed relevance. These changes are exciting and, like any other developments in business, come with challenges. We’re sorry that you did not have a positive experience as a member of our team during this time. We regard all KAB employees as tremendous assets to our mission. Please feel free to be in touch should you like to discuss these concerns further. We continue to value any and all feedback that can help us succeed in our mission to make America a clean, green, and beautiful place to live.

Explore other reviews about Keep America Beautiful

5.0
9 Apr 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great team great mission really excited about the future here.

Cons

Can't think of any. It's been great.

3.0
25 Jun 2018
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

-Positive, interesting mission -Small team of passionate people -Summer Fridays and flexible hours -Opportunity to travel nationwide throughout the KAB affiliate network -Volunteer opportunities -Decent benefits package (healthcare, FSA, 403b match, PTO) -Office location

Cons

-Recent restructure has resulted in confusion of roles, loss of key staff with institutional and subject matter knowledge and low employee morale. -Lack of focus/direction from the organization's leadership; the organization tends to chase sponsor dollars without fully thinking through whether or not the funded work is going to advance the mission, or can be carried out by the staff on hand. -Programs need to be updated to remain marketable. -Ever-changing brand strategy, verbiage, marketing materials and focus is confusing to staff, affiliates and the outside world. -Heavy workload, at times unmanageable or requiring staff to work on projects outside of their job descriptions. More people managing programs (or fewer programs in general) would be helpful. -Limited opportunity for career advancement or professional development. -Limited fundraising strategy; reliance on what the organization did in past years to meet revenue goals vs. staying apprised of new trends in philanthropy and evolving to stay relevant. -There is a recent focus on international growth which is concerning, considering the organization's limited bandwidth and lack of presence in major U.S. markets.

2
See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All