Nonprofit Management Certificate Program

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Strengthen your nonprofit organization and improve its effectiveness.

Program Overview: 

Nonprofit organizations and agencies continue to grow, and the need for skilled management is in high demand. This online certificate program introduces learners to key management issues for nonprofit organizations and provides practical techniques for setting strategic direction, budgeting, fundraising, marketing, leadership and volunteer development and management. 

The program is comprised of 12 modules, each requiring approximately 3 to 5 hours of study. All lessons are self-paced and include an assortment of interactive exercises, readings, case studies and self-assessments that will help you practice effective decision-making in a nonprofit setting. Video commentary from experienced nonprofit leaders provides qualitative context, and the Ask the Expert feature connects you to a network of experts ready to answer any content-related questions you have.  

Modules Include:

  • Introduction to Nonprofit Management:  Gain an understanding of the nonprofit sector and the issues and major areas of responsibility that leaders face in this exciting and growing field.
  • Budgeting in a Nonprofit Organization:  Learn the relationship between strategic budgeting and tactical budgeting, as well as how organizations are using different budgeting techniques to handle operating challenges.
  • Fundraising for Nonprofit Organizations:  Fundraising is one of the central activities of a nonprofit organization. This module offers an introduction to fundraising, with an emphasis on fundamental issues.
  • How to Read a Nonprofit Financial Statement:  Develop your ability to interpret financial accounting statements, and understand how they differ from for-profit financial reporting.
  • Leadership in a Nonprofit Organization:  How does leadership in a nonprofit environment differ from the private sector? What is visionary leadership? What role should ethics play? This module considers the foundations of leadership and examines how to be a successful and effective leader.
  • Nonprofit Board and Volunteer Development:  Volunteers are the lifeblood of most nonprofit organizations. This module examines how nonprofits can develop and maintain a strong volunteer base and reviews different models for organizing a nonprofit board.
  • Principles of Marketing for Nonprofit Organizations:  As in the for-profit world, nonprofit marketing includes advertising, promotion, public relations, and customer relationship management. Learn how nonprofits use marketing to publicize their mission and to gather contributions of time and money.
  • Strategy for Nonprofit Organizations:  Even though nonprofit organizations are not concerned with profit maximization, they too can benefit from following a strategy. This module will help you to explain the basics of strategy in a nonprofit context, learn how budgets interrelate with strategic planning and recognize the need for contingency planning.
  • Capital Campaigns:  This module covers the key terminology and practices surrounding running a successful capital campaign, as well as how to avoid common pitfalls.
  • Introduction to Grant Writing:  A guide to the basics of grant writing, an increasingly crucial method for raising money to fund projects and programs.
  • Social Media for Nonprofits:  This module explores the major social media platforms as vehicles for nonprofits to reach their members, volunteers and donors.
  • Leading the Courtney Museum Simulation:  As the final lesson, participants complete a simulation exercise designed to synthesize course content and examine critical real-world leadership issues confronted by nonprofit managers.
Who Should Enroll: 
  • Individuals interested in working in the nonprofit field
  • Nonprofit staff seeking to broaden their skills and improve their organization’s effectiveness
  • Individuals interested in pursuing careers in government agencies that require extensive interaction with nonprofits in the US or other countries
  • Nonprofit volunteer leaders and those pursuing leadership roles
Learning Outcomes: 
  • Understand the fundamentals of accounting and finance for nonprofit organizations, such as budgeting, reporting, strategic planning and financial statement analysis.
  • Master the fundamentals of a variety of fundraising techniques and the importance of donor relations.
  • Learn the six stages of grant writing, review grant writing best practices and explore tools and techniques used to write the proposal.
  • Understand and apply strategies for recruiting, managing, developing and retaining volunteers and board members.
  • Identify the trends that may impact nonprofit organizations now and in the future.
Additional Information: 

This course is offered in partnership with MindEdge Learning.

A course demo is available upon request.

Continuing Education Hours: 
Continuing Education Units: 6.0 CEUs
Discounts: 

All nonprofit staff receive a 10% discount on the Fundraising Certificate Program. Simply send an email to your Enrollment and Success Coordinator to request the code and apply it to the shopping cart upon checkout.

Program ID: 
NPM-7002

For withdrawal, transfer and refund information, see Policy Code C.

At A Glance

Duration: 
Students have 12 months from the date of registration to complete the program.
Modality: 
Online Self-paced
Tuition: 
$1,595
Payment Options: 

Find additional information about payment options.