Continuing & Professional Education
Certificate Overview | Course Offerings | Subject Matter Experts | Cost
Certificate Overview
The Center for Nonprofits & Philanthropy (CNP) launched the Certificate in Fundraising Leadership (CFL), a non-credit bearing Continuing & Professional Education opportunity because securing resources is a critical element of strategic management for nonprofit executives. In order to carry out the organization’s mission, nonprofit leaders must have adequate resources to fund staff and programs. The work of fundraising – sharing your organization’s relevancy, inviting people to join you in your work – is an important leadership function for all nonprofit organizations. Yet, the majority of nonprofit leaders come from service provision or other backgrounds, so professional fundraising is unfamiliar to them. This certificate has been developed by faculty and senior fundraising professionals to help nonprofit leaders understand how to:
- Create and nurture a culture of philanthropy in their organizations,
- Lead the fundraising function internally with the fundraising team, finance, and managing campaigns
- Engage their boards and other constituents in this important function for the organization,
- Become comfortable, and effective, in soliciting funding
- Provide the technology, tools, and systems to operate fundraising efficiently and to have accurate reporting
The ideal candidate for this certificate is anyone with fundraising responsibility for their nonprofit organization – President/CEOs, Executive Directors, Chief Development Officers, Board Members who want to learn the development function.
Continuing Education Instructor
Course Offerings:
Understanding Fundraising
Securing resources is critical to successful nonprofit management; yet, many leaders have not been exposed to professional fundraising. This course is designed to introduce participants to the fundamentals that will help them build a culture of philanthropy throughout their organizations. Participants will learn about trends in giving, various fundraising functions, fundraising ethics, and they will become more comfortable identifying revenue streams and leading the fundraising function.
Leadership Roles in Fundraising
Fundraising is very much a team sport; quite frankly, you can’t be successful if you go it alone. In this course we will explore the roles and tools that are necessary for success to create a sustainable, mature development operation, including finance, research, administration and more.
Making the Ask
For many people, “Making the Ask” brings fear and tension, but it doesn’t have to do so. In this course we will explore how to implement a simple ask formula and, perhaps even more important, we will explore what pieces must be in place before asking for support and how to answer objections after the ask has been presented.
Engaging Your Board and Others in Fundraising
Creating a culture of philanthropy within your organization begins with your board. This course is designed to provide staff and leadership with tools to become successful fundraisers and be purposeful in how they support diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion in their engagement.
Building the Culture and Systems for Fundraising Success
Fundraising is an art and a science. The science of fundraising comes with the understanding of information and how that information provides the metrics by which to guide your fundraising efforts. The art of fundraising exists within the relationships created and the subtle and not so subtle communications between your donors. Both are equally important. In this course you will explore the importance of prospect research, donor relations and the donor infrastructure necessary to make a successful donor-centered ask.
Subject Matter Experts:
Cost:
- $2250 – Certificate in Fundraising Leadership; commitment to all five courses up front
- Contact our staff for more information.
