Who should register for the Certificate in Nonprofit Management? Who is taking our classes?




Who should register for the Certificate in Nonprofit Management?

•  New and aspiring nonprofit managers who want to develop the fundamental skills to effectively manage a nonprofit organization. Recent trends in the nonprofit workforce point toward an average job commitment of 5 years for nonprofit executive directors. This is leading to an emerging issue of "succession planning" - ensuring that the nonprofit can continue to provide its services and maintain important external relationships after an executive director leaves. Do not let this happen to your organization! Register for the CNM courses today to prepare yourself to lead your organization tomorrow.

•  Experienced nonprofit managers who want to become more effective by refining their skills. Recent Federal legislation has imposed stricter guidelines on accountability, making the need to demonstrate program impact and effectiveness more urgent. Through the CNM program, experienced nonprofit managers can learn how to work more effectively with their boards, develop stronger strategic plans, increase current fundraising methods, plan for and prevent staff turnover and better understand organizational budgets. Additionally, the CNM program courses are participatory: fellow classmates share ideas and lessons learned from years of experience in the field and courses are facilitated by experts from varying nonprofit sectors.

•  Members of nonprofit boards of directors and other interested individuals who want to better understand nonprofit organizations. People are often elected to boards of directors because of their concern for the issue or the community the organization serves, but this does not mean that these officers know the ins and outs of running a nonprofit organization. Officers on the board are the legal and financial backbone of these organizations, often times without knowing what their responsibilities really entail. According to a recent national study, more than half of executive directors surveyed felt their board of directors lacked the skills and experience to properly support them in their job. Double your impact on the organization you dedicate so much volunteer time to by becoming more knowledgeable in the subject areas that will improve the efficiency and productivity of the organization, making its impact on the community it serves that much greater.

•  Career Changers who are entering the nonprofit sector. Many, if not most, nonprofit organizations are not run in the same manner as for-profit corporations. Therefore, moving into the nonprofit field is not always as easy as it seems. Having one's work directed by a government or foundation grant, rather than sales' income and profits, and serving families and residents, rather than customers, requires more than the desire to make a positive change in the world. Nonprofits have to deal with budget cuts and staff turnover or burnout differently than the private sector. Nonprofit budgets are infinitely more complex than their for-profit counterparts due to multiple sources of income that are tightly regulated and allocated. But it's not all bleak! Career changers want to start working in the nonprofit sector because they want to help people, animals, the environment, the community, etc., and this work is incredibly rewarding. Earn your Certificate in Nonprofit Management, make the most out of your career change and make a big impact on the area you want to serve!

Who is taking our classes?

The CNM program is truly international. In addition to residing in nearly every state in the U.S. , CNM students live and work in: Belgium, Bermuda, Canada, China, Czech Republic, France, Ghana, Honduras, India, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mexico, Moldova, Morocco, New Zealand, Nigeria, Philippines, Senegal, Switzerland, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and Venezuela.

Have you ever attended a workshop or training where you felt you could not relate to other participants' experiences and thus felt that the workshop was a waste of time or money? In each of the CNM courses, you will find colleagues among your 25 classmates who share your experiences - whether it is geographical, size or focus of the organization or years of experience in the nonprofit sector.

For example, here is a list of CNM students' occupations: