Fundraiser Education

Ted Hart speaks with fundraising consultant Amy Eisenstein about her book, "50 Asks in 50 Weeks," on his Nonprofit Coach radio show.

Ted Hart speaks with Stephen Nill, founder of the oldest and largest online network of nonprofit professionals, CharityChannel, about online networking for nonprofit and fundraising professionals.

Johns Hopkins University has launched an online graduate certificate in nonprofit management, designed for working professionals who are looking to expand their expertise in nonprofit management with the latest skills and approaches taught by faculty at the forefront of their careers. The certificate will be offered through the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences’ Advanced Academic Programs.

Coursework for the certificate will build on the university’s existing programs and research covering nonprofits in the United States and around the world.

When a prospective student looking at business programs at faith-based universities expressed an interest in a future career with a nonprofit institution, Michael Monhollon, dean of the Kelley College of Business at Hardin-Simmons University had an idea. The student’s comment had planted the seed for a new major: nonprofit management.

Students majoring in nonprofit management will learn how to manage business concerns specific to charities, political organizations, schools, government agencies, and other businesses qualifying as nonprofits.

For the fourth consecutive year, Rice University MBA students are making a mark on Houston with their involvement in nonprofit boards as part of the Jones Graduate School of Business Board Fellows Program.

The program matches Rice MBA students with Houston community-based nonprofit organizations. Students serve as nonvoting board members for either 12- or 18-month appointments and attend board sessions and relevant committee meetings under the mentorship of a current board member.

The program is mutually beneficial for both students and the organizations involved, said Donna Platt, associate director of development for the Jones School and the program’s coordinator.

Duke's Nonprofit Management program is ramping up its offerings to those working in and with the nonprofit sector — whether they are paid staff, directors, administrators, board members or philanthropists — to help them navigate successfully in an uncertain economy. Beginning this fall, the Nonprofit Management program is pairing a new curriculum with more demanding requirements to earn a certificate.

As of Sept. 1, successful completion of the Certificate in Nonprofit Management will require that a student attend 72 hours of instruction, divided among five core areas and electives.

Today, dozens of MBA and undergraduate programs teach philanthropy as an academic subject, exposing students to both the art and science of giving. Some schools — including Stanford, Columbia Business School, and the Boston University School of Management — teach entire courses focused solely on the topic, while others weave philanthropy into the curriculum of social-enterprise courses. The topic appeals to business students because many may wish to serve eventually on the boards of nonprofits or become philanthropists themselves, professors at those schools say.

Four fundraisers have earned the highest professional certification, the Advanced Certified Fundraising Executive (ACFRE), from the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

The newest ACFRE recipients are Sharon Gleason of Washington, D.C., director of development for the Girl Scout Council of the Nation's Capital, R. Scott Fortnum of Newmarket, Ontario, chief development officer for Saint Elizabeth Foundation, James K. Phelps of Vancouver, Wash., development director at the ACLU of Oregon, and Cecilia N. Soriano of Mission Viejo, Calif., who was most recently executive director of gift planning for University of California, Riverside.

Following are reasons (beyond money) why people leave one nonprofit for another or leave the nonprofit space altogether for work in the for-profit sector. Evaluating your organization by these measures may help you make small changes that can increase tenures of valuable team members.

A Cincinnati-area nonprofit organization is assisting high school students throughout the Tri-State in not only giving to charity, but learning more about the spirit of philanthropy and social causes. Magnified Giving, a nonprofit organization based in the Cincinnati suburb of Reading, enters its fourth year of teaching students to become philanthropists through placing the decision of what charities to donate funds to upon the shoulders of students.

The program allows students and teachers in 15 area high schools to form Youth Grantmaking Councils charged with dispersing a grant of at least $1,000 to charities.