Nonprofit Management
A nonprofit organization is one that does not pay dividends, so that there are no financial benefits from investing in it. Many of these organizations are charities or trade unions, and many of their employees work as volunteers. And nonprofit management— like the management of any kind of business— involves several diverse skills.
Some people shift to nonprofit management from another area of management. Many enter the field because they believe in the cause a particular organization supports. They want to help the poor or the handicapped, encourage research for cancer, or provide some other benefit.
What nonprofit management entails
Part of nonprofit management involves employee benefits. What do the employees receive, tangible or intangible, beyond their due wages? Do they get insurance, paid vacations, or anything else of the sort? Planning or buying an employees benefit program is thus an important aspect of nonprofit management and leadership. It is always good to buy group life insurance, because it provides employees with incentives to keep working for the company. If the employees of the business total less than a thousand, it is best to use a broker to set up an insurance plan, which may also cover the families of employees. One can keep up to date on these things by subscribing to the online newsletter of Benefits Links.
The area of nonprofit management and leadership also embraces planning fundraisers. As with almost any business venture, this can be done either out in the world or online; and in fact the Internet provides innumerable resources for raising funds for not- for- profit organizations. Network for Good is a good example of such a resource; they hold “webinars” that deal with the subject in depth: Their titles include “Cause Marketing 101: 5 Tactics for Raising Money from Businesses” and “How to Employ the Dragonfly Effect to Create an Effective Social Program.”
Courses in nonprofit management and leadership
Nonprofit management degrees are offered by many institutes of higher learning. Walden University is one example; another is Mary L. Hurst University. Courses that count towards an MBA or other degree cover team building, finance, ethics, project management, communication, and the like. Many of their programs can be taken partly or entirely online. At the University of Maine, there are two nonprofit programs— one in fundraising (courses: Fundraising Fundamentals; the Annual Fund; Major Gifts; Introduction to Planned Giving), and grant writing (courses: Introduction to Grant Writing; Hands- On Grant Writing; Grant Research: Targeting Funds Online; Coordinating Grant Writing with Development). E.g. In Fundraising Fundamentals one learns about arranging special events, how to do research for an event, and the roles played by staff members and volunteers.
There are many regional nonprofit management centers throughout the country— for Dallas, Southern California, Nashville, and other places. These organizations provide training for their members, which involves holding seminars; conduct surveys on subjects such as benefits and compensation; and help not- for- profit organizations obtain the information they need for their operations in the areas discussed above. These schools, among others are great places to get your degree in nonprofit management.
