Nonprofit Leadership

Comprehensive, intensive course covering theory and practice in areas such as laws governing nonprofit organizations; program planning, monitoring and evaluation; creative entrepreneurship; arts and cultural leadership; community organizing and coalition building; and the evolution of social movements, social justice, and social change. The course also explores practices to support the well-being and growth of leaders and followers, the creation of a learning organizational culture, and the foundation of a leadership lens for equity, diversity and inclusion.

Managers in nonprofit organizations face the challenge of working with both paid and unpaid stakeholders to shape organizational futures. This course examines workplace equity, hiring and employment practices; contracts, compensation and benefits, and performance appraisal. It emphasizes the roles, responsibilities, and powers of boards of directors. Students will cultivate approaches to developing, supervising, motivating, and recognizing volunteers and staff. The course also addresses effective organizational communication; staff-volunteer relations; and stress, conflict, and crisis management.

Introduces students to grant proposals, reporting, and other forms of narrative writing. Topics include effective research and producing the elements of a strong grant proposal. The course also provides opportunities to practice other elements of writing essential to success in nonprofit settings: press releases, appeals, social media content, blogs, newsletters, and other forms of thought leadership and storytelling.

Covers essential practices, including legal compliance and ethical standards, for fundraising and financial management of non-profit organizations. Students will learn the major categories of fundraising, internal controls, and accountability to stakeholders. Students will analyze the fiscal health of organizations, create financial and fundraising policies and plans, generate budgets, navigate grant cycles, write grants and individual appeals, and gain a solid foundation in donor research, cultivation and stewardship. They will become familiar with a variety of software platforms for fundraising and financial management.

Provides an overview of marketing principles and practices through many forms of media, including print, television, Internet, and social media, focusing on branding, and brand awareness, thought leadership, and sharing original content to tell an organization’s story in a way that motivates engagement and positive action. To learn these skills, the course will utilize guest lectures, research, projects, and case studies.

Topics in Nonprofit Leadership.

The Capstone experience brings together a cohort of students in their final term for individualized yet shared learning processes. Each person will engage in a practicum experience at a nonprofit with a mentor from the community, while meeting regularly in an accompanying seminar setting with a faculty member and their peers, where they can process, analyze, and integrate their learning experiences together with the cohort and pursue a thesis-level project. The project will benefit their host organization, while preparing the graduate for their future. Students currently working for a nonprofit are encouraged, but not required, to base the capstone in that nonprofit.