Philanthropists Start Requiring Management Courses to Keep Nonprofits Productive

Many philanthropists are handing out human resources advice along with the money they give to nonprofit groups, a strategy that underscores concerns by donors and even some organizations’ leaders about the management of nonprofits.

“Pretty early on, I realized that when I asked these organizations about management, the response I usually got was, ‘That’s business and we’re not a business,’ ” Peter Lewis, chairman of Progressive Insurance, said. “I told them baseball teams have managers, too, but that seemed to have little impact on their opinion.”