Pros
Small organization means involvement: The staff is usually around 12. If you like being involved in multiple projects and fields, this is great organization! Substantive experience: If you're interested in business improvement districts, urban development, marketing, or planning, then you'll be happy with all the projects you work with. Location: Four blocks away from the White House, with access to four Metrorail lines, and countless lunch options! Grit: If you've always had nurturing workplaces, this is a great place to learn how to deal with micromanagement, inflexibility, and exploitation!
Cons
Non-profit salary: Despite sitting on valuable DC real estate, I was paid a salary of less than 40K. Was not expecting that at a Business Improvement District. I was not allowed to negotiate my salary upon the job being offered. Inflexible and inconsistent: I was told to be on-time because they respected the 40-hour work week, but when I asked for time off because I had worked 3 hours extra one day, I was rebuffed and told salaried means sometimes working overtime. If you're asking for any vacation time or even just a small adjustment in schedule one day, expect an uphill battle. Rules are extrememly be rigid, but are not applied consistently. Cold culture: The culture amongst workers can be friendly. But micromanagement and overt condemnation without useful feedback from executive staff can make this an unfriendly environment. Any effort to speak up for yourself is seen as whiny. My director made zero effort to understand my greivances. There is no official whistleblower policy for reporting to the board. Job security: After seeing two back-to-back firings, I was told that there would always be work for me and that I need not worry. One month later, I was told that because there wasn't enough work for me year-round, I may be let go, which is exactly how my employment was terminated. Especially with the high turn over rate (saw 13 people leave in the 1 and a half years I was there), I was always anxious about my employment status.