NPL 673 Nonprofit Management & Leadership

Term: Summer, 2015

Instructor: Tony Filipovitch, 507-388-2264 (home)

Office Hours: I check my e-mail daily (usually several times during the day), and have an answering machine on my home phone. There is no reason to flounder around, unsure of what “he wants” or confused about what you are doing; and even if everything is going fine with the coursework, there is more to learning than completing the assignments. I encourage you to visit me, in person (know any good coffee houses?) or at a distance by phone or e-mail, many times during the course.

Text:

David O Renz & Associates.. 2010. The Jossey-Bass Handbook of Nonprofit Leadership and Management, 3^rd Edition. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Course Overview:

This is a graduate survey course of the nonprofit sector, covering history & philosophy of the sector, ethics, board & staff relations, operations and fundraising, fiscal management, and human resource development.

Learning Outcomes:

Students will demonstrate competency in knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to function in the following areas:

Historical/Philosophical Foundations of the Nonprofit Sector
Public Policy Issues in the Nonprofit Sector
Organization Design of Nonprofit Organizations
Managing Operations
Gathering Resources
Fiscal Management
People Management

For details, click here

Requirements:

In order to effectively address the competency areas, this course will combine (online) classroom and field projects. Students are expected to actively participate and contribute positively to the learning process.

1. Readings:

Students are required to read and understand the chapter(s) assigned at the beginning of each topic. There will not be any tests or quizzes over the material in the readings; rather, you will demonstrate how well you have understood the readings through your weekly essays.

2. Weekly Essay & Class Discussion:

Since we do not meet as a class, the closest thing we have to this is the Discussion tab on D2L. I will pose a question to start out the discussion, and each student must

· Report on a professional journal article related to the discussion question,

· Respond reflectively to the discussion question, and

· Respond to at least one posting by a classmate to the discussion question.

For more information, click here.

3. Service Learning:

Each student will identify a nonprofit organization with which to volunteer over the course of the semester. For more information, click here

4. Exercises

Throughout the course, I will assign exercises, sometimes to each of you individually, sometimes to all of you as a group, to give you the opportunity to practice the skills that you are learning about. Each exercise will contain its own instructions and deadlines.

Course Calendar

Due Date	Topic	Exercises & Reading
5/19	Introduction, MN Atty. General’s Nonprofit Organization Resources, and “So You Want to Work for a Nonprofit?” (behind “Contents” tab in D2L)	Post Introduction to discussion board; Begin Getting to Know Them project.
5/21	1. Historical Perspectives, “A Model of Christian Charity,” “Creative Capitalism,” Survival Mode & MN Nonprofit Economy;	Ch. 1; Discussion; “Getting to Know Them” project due.
Public Policy Issues
5/28	2. Legal Framework of nonprofits, IRS Lifecycle of a Public Charity, MN Guide to Charities’ Law, MCN “How to Start a Nonprofit”, “Nonprofit Property Tax” (in D2L Content)	Ch. 2 & 13; Discussion; Build Your Own
6/4	3. Lobbying & MCN Advocacy; Internationalization of nonprofits; Ethical decision-making, MCF Principles for Grantmakers, and MCN Principles and Practices; “Doing Well” (in D2L Course Content)	Chapter 7; Discussion; Getting to Know Them 2
Organizational Design
6/11	4. Board Leadership & Development, Staff functions & duties, Good Management Principles, What Should I Know, MCN Board Governance Basics, & Carver’s Policy Governance Model	Ch. 5 & 6; Discussion
6/18	5. Strategic Planning, Mergers, “Jolt for Charities”, “Social Entrepreneurs,” & “Next-Gen Donors” (in D2L Content)	Ch. 8, 9 & 14; Discussion; Who Speaks? case study (in D2L Contents)
Managing Operations
6/25	6. Marketing for Nonprofit Managers	Ch. 11 &12; Discussion
7/2	7. Needs Assessment, Evaluating the Effectiveness of Nonprofit Organizations, Outcome Assessment and Program Evaluation, and “Social ROI” (in Course Content on D2L)	Ch. 4, 15 &16; Discussion; Save the Theater case study (in D2L)
Gathering Resources & Fiscal Operations
7/9	8. Managing the Challenges of Government Contracts & “Dark Side to Government Support” (in D2L); Designing & Managing the Fundraising Program; & Enterprise Strategies for Generating Revenue, “Managing in For-Profits’ Shadow” (in D2L) & “Louvre, Inc.”	Ch. 10, 20, 19, & 21; Discussion
7/16	9. Financial Accounting & Financial Management & Calculating Ratio Analyses; Management Accounting, Risk Management & Investment Decisions	Ch. 17 &18; 22 & 23 Discussion; Financial Accounting exercise
Managing People
7/22	10. Total Rewards Programs in Nonprofit Organizations; Principles of Training for Volunteers and Employees; . Designing and Managing Volunteer Programs; Social Services' Compensation	Ch. 24, 25 & 26; Discussion; Managing Volunteers
7/24	Service learning report & course evaluation due

Course Expectations:

Are You Ready for an Online Course?

Online learning is different from face-to-face. The mix of skills is different, and sometimes students who do well in face-to-face classes do not do well online. Click here for more information.

Attendance & Class Participation:

It is your responsibility to post your responses in a timely fashion, interact with your mentors, and engage in online class activities. I expect all the work to be posted by 6PM on the due date. If there is an emergency which requires you to be away from your computer, please contact me immediately. Loss of computer connection or network services are not an excuse for not getting work submitted on time (if you lose your connection, go to another location to do your work—a public library, the ACC, a friend’s computer, etc.) You can get help with technical problems from the MSUM computer help desk at help@mnsu.edu or go the 3^rd floor of the Library. You are paying for this class—make sure to get your “money’s worth.” Most importantly, this is an excellent foundation of knowledge for future activities, and it is a chance for you to learn, teach, and grow with others.

Grading:

There are 100 points for the course, divided as follows:

1) Weekly essays & discussion (10@5 pts.) 50

3) Exercises/Case Studies (7@6 pts.) 42

3) Final paper—report on service learning 8

The final grade may be based on a curve, but students can expect at least an A if they achieve 90%, a B with 80%, etc.

Other Matters:

All assignments are due on the assigned date. Partial credit may be given for assignments that are less than one week late, unless other arrangements have been made in advance.

Written reports are expected to be free of grammatical, spelling, and content errors. They should be submitted in typewritten, standard formats (APA, MLA, URSI Style Sheets). You must familiarize yourself with the University’s Academic Honesty Policy. I encourage you to draw on the ideas of others—but you must also identify when you do so (you gain “brownie points” for citing the work of others!). Plagiarism is a serious breach of academic behavior and will result in an F for the course.

I will help you in whatever manner humanly possible. However, once the semester is over, there is not a great deal I can do. If there is something that you don’t understand, are having problems with, or need help on, please get in touch with me as early as possible.

Every attempt will be made to accommodate qualified students with disabilities. If you area student with a documented disability, please contact us as early in the semester as possible to discuss the necessary accommodations, and/or contact the Disability Services Office at 507-389-2825 (V) or 1-800-627-3529 (MRS/TTY).

Finally, by the first class please post a message to the “Introductions” discussion board on D2L. Please introduce yourself in the posting, let us know what your goals are in this course, and any special experiences/skills/interests you will be bringing to the group.

Bibliography

There are a number of interesting and useful books and articles that might help you dig deeper into the issues raised in this course. The link above takes you to a list of some of my favorites.

MSU