by Heather Carpenter. In this blog I write about nonprofit leadership, nonprofit careers, the nonprofit workforce, nonprofit technology, and nonprofit management education.
Someone recently asked me to blog about the process of selecting a dissertation topic.
Selecting a dissertation topic is like choosing a PhD program. You want to select a topic that is the right fit for you. Your topic should be:
Interesting to you
Manageable (something that you can actually complete)
Relevant to your field
My first dissertation topic idea focused on the Leadership Certificate Program that I was developing for John F. Kennedy University in the Bay Area. Due to budgetary reasons, this certificate program did not come to fruition so I had to come up with another topic idea.
The topic that I ended up selecting for my dissertation was the best fit for me because it related to the research studies that I had completed while working in the Caster Family Center for Nonprofit and Philanthropic Research.
In the first semester of my PhD program I completed a literature review, titled: "How to measure the community impact of nonprofit graduate students' service-learning projects." The literature review set the stage for an extensive qualitative research study that I completed during the 2nd year of my PhD program. I interviewed 19 nonprofit organizations to determine the impact and use of master's students' applied projects. After I completed the local study, I wanted to study impact and use of experiential education within nonprofit organizations at a national level.
I originally planned to complete a much more extensive study of experiential education and its impact on the nonprofit community (isn't this always the case with dissertations?!?) but my dissertation committee helped me get back into reality. I honed my dissertation topic into a study that was much more manageable and something that I could complete!
This week I'll be blogging the 2010 Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA) annual conference. I'll be attending a variety of sessions and reporting on the latest research studies and emergent theories in the nonprofit/philanthropic sector. (Twitter coverage of the conference can be found here)
ARNOVA's adhoc social media committee (John Ronquillo (chair), Lindsey McDougle, Debra Beck, Taylor Peyton Roberts, and I) have been working hard this year trying promote social media within ARNOVA. We are opening the door....very slowly, since there is a strong culture of hesitation and concern about using social media.
Our social media (e.g., facebook, twitter, and linkedin) objectives are to:
Build awareness of ARNOVA.
Promote ARNOVA membership and the work of individual sections within ARNOVA. (For example, have you seen the Community and Grassroots section'swebsite?)
Highlight new research articles, briefs, and books by ARNOVA members
Market new ARNOVA initiatives (for example, the newest initiative is ARNOVA press).
The adhoc social media committee will be hosting a colloquy on Thursday morning at 8:15am (Magnolia C) to discuss the latest research on nonprofits' use of social media. We'll also be discussing what we have accomplished thus far by using social media within ARNOVA, and what we hope to accomplish in the future.
We believe that social media will help create a sustainable future for the association and we'd be interested in hearing your thoughts. How did you learn about ARNOVA? Was it through social media? Would you liked to get more involved in ARNOVA?
Since this bibliography was released, nonprofit organizations have continued to struggle to understand and appreciate human resource management and succession planning practices. Organizations like, Commongood Careers and Nonprofit HR Solutions are now providing human resource and talent management support to many nonprofits across the United States. In addition, new studies have been published about the nonprofit workforce. Here's a brief overview of these studies:
Books about the Nonprofit Workforce and Nonprofit Careers
The voice of nonprofit talent: improving recruitment and retention by responding to the needs of nonprofit employees and jobseekers, Commongood Careers, 2008
During the Independent Sector Conference the NGen fellows reported that we (the next generation of nonprofit leaders) have trouble identifying under 40 leaders that are creating social change in the sector. The fellows encouraged us to rethink how we view leaders and leadership.
There are many different ways of viewing leadership and how people create social change.My favorite way of viewing leadership is as a collective process.Leadership is not about one person in an organization making singular decisions; it is about multiple staff members coming together to collectively move the agenda of the organization forward. Yeah, the CEO might be the face of our organizations, but as next geners, we are making things happen behind the scenes, we are making our CEO’s look good.
Additionally, collective means that leadership is happening among many different groups of organizations. Funders are starting to fund these groups of organizations (case in point the Social Innovation Fund from the Corporation for National and Community Service).Even so, this view of societal change needs to be taken a step forward and recognize that leadership flows throughout people, organizations, and communities.
So let’s rethink how we view leadership and how social change is occurring in our sector.I’m really excited that the Next Gen Leadership award went to Darell Hammond, CEO of KaBOOM! because he understands collective leadership and his organization is truly creating societal change.
This past week I had the pleasure of participating in the Independent Sector annual conference in Atlanta, Georgia. The Independent Sector is the leadership forum for charities, foundations, and corporate giving programs committed to advancing the common good in America and around the world.
As I mentioned in my previous blog post, I organized the social media team for the NGen portion of the conference. Blog posts from these sessions can be found on the Independent Sector blog.
On the last day of the conference during the NGen debriefing session, Rusty Stahl executive director of Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy and Trish Tchume, Director of Civic Engagement for the Building Movement project had us write down three items that we wanted to take away from the conference.
Here are the three takeaways that I wrote down:
1. Inspiration: I was truly inspired by the speakers throughout the conference and hearing their visions for the nonprofit/philanthropic sector. My inspiration is reflected in the three blog posts that I wrote for the Independent Sector during the conference.
2. Focus: Patrick Corvington, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service said something during his keynote speech that really stuck with me. He said, "We need to balance our passion with pragmatism." Many younger people in the nonprofit sector are very passionate about their work but are not realistic or focused in how they enact their passions. Patrick's statement made me realize the importance of focusing and narrowing one's passion so that it can be realistically achieved. Let me give you a personal example.
As many of you know I am super passionate about the ENTIRE nonprofit sector. This passion has opened many doors for me but it has also caused me to take on way too many projects beyond my time capacity. Patrick's inspirational speech helped me to think of ways that I can focus and refine my passion into specific areas within the nonprofit sector (that can be accomplished).
3. Action: From now on all the NEW work that I volunteer for, or take on will be related to refined passion/vision for the nonprofit sector and will focus on three distinct areas.
Nonprofit Workforce: Everyone would view working in a nonprofit organization as a viable career option.
Nonprofit Operations & Capacity Building: Executive directors, staff, board members, and volunteers within nonprofit organizations would freely access the amazing capacity-building/operational tools and resources available to them across the sector.
Nonprofit Education: Nonprofit master's degrees would focus on student AND organizational learning outcomes.
My blog posts are appearing on the Independent Sector blog this week since I'm organizing the volunteer twitter/blogging squad for the Independent Sector annual conference.
I also enjoying reading about all sorts of nonprofit topics online and off. In fact, I frequently get overwhelmed because I want to read it all -- literally. A few months ago (right around the time I defended my dissertation proposal) I came to the realization that I cannot read all the e-newsletters that come into my inbox, and I certainly can't read all the fabulous new nonprofit blogs that are popping up on the web. I scaled down on the number of eNewsletters I subscribe to and the number of blogs that I read to the list below.
I add blogs to my google reader on a regular basis. I find out about new blog posts and new nonprofit bloggers through twitter.
Now with regards to books. My bookshelf is overflowing with nonprofit books and I don't have time to list them all here. I will provide several of the books that I use in the classes and seminars that I teach:
I often get frustrated that I have to go to nonprofit publishing websites like Jossey-Bass and Sage to learn about the new books that are coming out. My wish is for two things.
There would be a wiki that lists ALL nonprofit and philanthropic books/ ratings/subject areas
Faculty members would be open to sharing (with the general public) what nonprofit textbooks that they use in their classes.
When I started blogging in 2006 (wow, that seems so long ago) few people were blogging in the nonprofit sector. I REALLY lucked out because my blog gained popularity fast. Now there are hundreds of nonprofit blogs (maybe thousands) all vying for people’s attention on the web. It is overwhelming to see the vast amount of nonprofit blog content on the web!
Rosetta Thurman one of the BEST bloggers in the nonprofit sector just completed a 30 days of blogging challenge for young nonprofit professionals and has a how to blogging toolkit on her website. She and her millennial colleagues also launched the Nonprofit Millennial Blogger Alliance.
A few years ago I said to the people that I met, yes, start a blog it’s great for increasing your reputation in the sector!! Now, I advise people against starting their own individual blog.Reason being, unless you are willing to devote A LOT of time to promoting your blog by linking to other people’s blogs and commenting on other blogs, then I would advise against starting your own nonprofit blog.
I think starting a blog with a group of people or writing a guest blog post for an established blog (like this one) is a better solution. It now takes a lot longer to build up your reputation as a blogger (since many people are doing it).A group blog also provides more credibility and also allows people to read different perspectives on the same topic—that is one of the reasons the Tactical Philanthropy blog is so popular.It’s not all Sean Stannard-Stockton’s writing, it’s a blog community.Additionally, guest blogging gives you opportunity to reach a lot of readers quickly.Otherwise, if you start a blog and write a really great post, few people will actually see the post (again, unless you are REALLY good at promoting that post).
Do any of my established nonprofit blogger friends want to weigh in on this topic?Do you agree or disagree?Would you still advise people to start their own nonprofit blog?
Explore these questions with other under-age 40 nonprofit leaders during the NGen program at the Independent Sector Annual Conference this October 19-20. NGen: Moving Nonprofit Leaders from Next to Now provides you and your peers an exceptional opportunity to enhance your professional networks, develop new approaches to leadership, and contribute to generating a more promising future for the nonprofit community.
Each year, the IS conference is the premier gathering for leaders of America’s charities, foundations, and corporate giving programs. At the 2010 conference, which takes place October 20-22 in Atlanta, NGen will again bring together talented nonprofit professionals under the age of 40 for a series of targeted pre-conference workshops and networking opportunities designed specifically for people like you.
• Visit the IS website to view the NGen schedule and learn more about the benefits of participation for you and your organization.
• Register for one and a half days of pre-conference NGen programming for only $100, or add NGen to your full IS conference registration for only $50 more. Act now and save -- the “summer special” discount for the full conference expires today (September 10th)!
• Follow us on twitter @ISNGen or become a “fan” of NGen: Moving Nonprofit Leaders from Next to Now on Facebook to join the conversation now.
We need rising stars like you to be part of the nearly 800 leaders coming together in Atlanta this fall, so register today!
Nonprofit Day 2010 was the BEST nonprofit conference that I have EVER attended – and I have attended many nonprofit conferences!! I am not just saying this--there was truly something magical about this conference. The awesome theme, networking opportunities, and talented speakers made this event top my charts.
The theme of Nonprofit Day was storytelling. This theme allowed for attendees to briefly pause the busyness of running their nonprofit organizations and learn how to tell REAL stories about the people that we serve, the lives that we touch, and the communities that we impact.
Stories can be shared in many different formats through video, audio, verbal, and text. In fact, a nonprofit organization Storytellers for Good created videos for select nonprofits during the conference and StoryCorps audio recorded nonprofit stories during the event! We definitely need more positive videos (stories) about nonprofits and the amazing work that we do.
Emotions emerged and flowed through the space as a result of the conference theme. There were many instances in which the tears were flowing down the faces of many attendees because of the compelling stories that were shared by the speakers.
There were also many breaks throughout the conference and extended periods of networking. This allowed for conference attendees to spend as much or as little time as they wanted to networking, visiting exhibitors, or catching up on their work. I thoroughly enjoyed the networking time and reconnected with people I hadn't seen for years and people I had only "met" digitally.
The last piece that made this conference so phenomenalwas the speakers. In the sessions that I attended there was much audience participation! We networked and engaged in partner activities.
After the conference ended there were two happy hour events. One, an official part of the conference, was hosted by Eventbrite and the other was hosted by YNPN SFBA.
When I was a nonprofit manager I utilized a professional coach on a regular basis. My coach listened to me, asked me prompting questions, and then provided me suggestions for how to handle situations in new ways.
In Judith Wilson's session this afternoon, she explained the importance of informal coaching. (Workshop presentation and materials here). This means that people like you and I can coach our co-workers, subordinates, and supervisors. She explained that informal coaching is a form of supervision and involves active listening.
I have to say I really struggle with active listening. I am so passionate I often have to remind myself to shut up and listen!...I mean really listen and ask follow up questions. So this session was VERY helpful to me.
Too many times supervision involves reminding employees of tasks and following up with them with the question, why didn't you do that task? There is often a major disconnect between supervisors and employees. This method turns the focus away from the task and onto the solution and next steps. Employees feel empowered with they are part of the solution!
This informal coaching method starts by asking the question to your employee, co-worker, friend: What challenge or opportunity do you need to work on right now?
Then....listen....really listen.
Next...ask several follow up questions like...what new things would you try? (rather than what did you try to solve the problem) Judith said that asking what they already tried doesn't help people, it only brings them back to square one.
Next...ask the question....what are you going to do next?
Judith said that you can still provide suggestions but in the form of stories and ideas--not on how they should do things differently. **Also, don't take over the conversation**
I like this pro-active version of supervision where the employee comes up with the solution and next steps. Additionally, in this way employees are not micromanaged.
We got to try this method with a partner and it really works.
I personally think that all forms of supervision should be coaching.
Jeanne Bell CEO of CompassPoint moderated a morning plenary session titled "Reimagining Service." (Audio recording will be available after 8/31). This session was all about how effective volunteer & human resource management improves nonprofit capacity and organizational effectiveness.
Recent research by the TCC group through the Core Capacity Assessment Tool reiterates the importance of effective human resource management practices within nonprofit organizations. This research shows that organizations with more volunteers and larger budgets manage volunteers more effectively. It also shows that once organizations hit the $1mil budget mark they struggle with scalability and capacity to manage volunteers. The organizations that do succeed through the scalability transition create strong and well developed human resources practices.
Bobbi Silten CFO of Gap reiterated this fact when she spoke about an amazing new initiative titled Reminaging Service, which is:
A self-organized community of individuals from nonprofits, government, and the private sector. We are inspired by the renewed call to service, and believe that volunteerism can help solve some of society's most pressing problems. In order to maximize the potential of service, we seek to convert good intentions into greater impact.
This community promotes service enterprises: "nonprofits or for profits that fundamentally leverage volunteers and their skills to successfully deliver on the social mission of the organization." Since nonprofits generally leverage ten to twenty times more volunteers than staff, Bobbi expressed the importance of strategically recruiting and managing volunteers. She said, "volunteering only matters if it addresses issues related to you and your community." She also said, "don't let supply dictate your volunteer program, you wouldn't hire every potential employee that comes into the door." The solution: Bobbi expressed scalability --start small with a one time volunteer event and work your way up to multiple events. Be proactive versus reactive towards volunteers.
Peter York also emphasized focusing on both the program (skilled and unskilled) and operational staff and...most importantly invest in human resources. "We need board members to understand the importance of human resources." If you don't have the capacity to serve more people, stop serving people until you can invest in more operational staff to scale up.
Great session!! I highly recommend you listen to the audio recording when it becomes available here.
Storytelling is the focus of this year's Nonprofit Day. Before I get into the notes from the keynote this morning, I want to tell a story about CompassPoint.
Before I moved to San Diego (from the San Francisco Bay Area) I took full advantage of all the amazing professional development resources and trainings that CompassPoint provides.While I was working as a nonprofit manager for Low-Income Families’ Empowerment through Education (LIFETIME) in Oakland, I attended the Fundraising Academy for Communities of Color and learned from some talented fundraisers in the sector: Kim Klein, Robert Weiner, and Madeline Stanionis.I also attended several professional development workshops on creating a nonprofit website, being an accidental techie, and conducting nonprofit bookkeeping and accounting. In addition, I purchased and vigorously read Sue Bennett’s Accidental Techie Book and Jeanne Bell’s Financial Leadership for Nonprofit Executives book.And, I attended numerous Nonprofit Day Conferences.
CompassPoint is continually evolving and sharing best practices that reach nonprofits, nonprofit leaders, and social change agents where we are at.
I was awe and inspired by Peter Bratt, this mornings keynote speaker who discussed the importance of storytelling in our lives and in our nonprofit work. I didn’t realize how much the stories we learn and we share are embedded in how we perceive the cultures within our society.He said “Unlearn some stories that have been imposed over us and reclaim new ones share them with your community. Share ourselves in a new light!! ” As a storyteller and movie producer (see La Mission -- wow!) He also opened up the floor for the audience to be able to share their own stories about the nonprofit community. I personally feel that storytelling is a form of nonprofit marketing. When we improve storytelling in our organizations, we improve our marketing efforts and how the community views our organization.
Now that I shared my story about CompassPoint and notes from this mornings keynote, what is your nonprofit story and how will storytelling help your organization?
As a point of clarification I am volunteering for CompassPoint and not getting paid by them to say these nice things about them. :) I just really like the services that they provide and how relevant these professional development opportunities are to the current needs of the nonprofit community.
On Tuesday, August 31st I'll be live blogging CompassPoint's Nonprofit Day 2010 in San Francisco. I am super excited to attend this conference and spend time with my nonprofit peeps in the San Francisco Bay Area!!
I'll be blogging and tweeting (@Heather Carpente) the conference alongside some of my long-time friends and colleagues in the sector including:
If you cannot attend the event or want to read about all the sessions, check out the Nonprofit Day 2010 Live page. This page includes a Nonprofit Day blog roll and a compilation of tweets from the event (#npd10).
I believe there is a lot of confusion about nonprofit-focused master's degree programs and I hope that this blog post will set the record straight. There are many different types of master's degree programs that can be considered "nonprofit-focused" or "nonprofit education". These types include:
Master's of Nonprofit Administration
Master's of Public Administration
Master's of Social Work
Master’s of Business Administration
Master's of Public Policy
Master’s of Human Services
Master's of Arts in Philanthropic Studies
If you are interested in becoming an Executive Director of a nonprofit, then you should consider pursuing a stand-alone Master's of Nonprofit Administration (aka MNO/MNS/MNM/MS in NP). These master's degree programs offer core and elective courses in managing a nonprofit organization. These courses include: Nonprofit Management, Board Governance, Fundraising, Nonprofit Finance and Accounting, Capital Campaign and Development, Strategic Planning, Human Resources, etc.
If you are interested in studying the intersection between government and nonprofits, then you should consider pursuing a Master's of Public Administration (a.k.a MPSA, MPIA) with a Specialization in Nonprofit Management. These master's degree programs offer core courses in managing a governmental organization and offer elective courses in managing a nonprofit organization. Also some of these programs focus on NGO's (international nonprofit organizations).
If you are interested in becoming a nonprofit board member (or nonprofit manager) and studying earned revenue within nonprofits, then you should consider pursuing a Master's of Business Administration with a Specialization in Nonprofit Management. These master's degree programs offer core courses in managing a business and offer elective courses in managing a nonprofit organization.
If you are interested in directly working with clients and constituents on a daily basis and managing the programmatic side a nonprofit organizations, then you should consider pursuing a Master's of Social Work with a Specialization in Nonprofit Management. These master's degree programs offer core courses in social welfare and social change and offer elective courses in managing a nonprofit organization.
If you are interested in changing social policy related to nonprofit organizations, then you should consider pursuing a Master's of Public Policy (a.k.a. MA in PP, MPPA) with a Specialization in Nonprofit Management. These master's degree programs offer core courses in creating and changing public policy and offer elective courses in managing a nonprofit organization.
If you are interested in directly running human service organizations, then you should consider pursuing a Master's of Science in Human Services. These master's degree program offer core and elective courses in managing human and social services organizations.
Finally, if you are interested in studying philanthropic giving within nonprofit organizations, then you should consider pursuing a Masters of Arts in Philanthropic Studies. This master's degree program offers core and elective courses in philanthropic giving within nonprofit organizations and the sector.
Please note, these descriptions above are generalizations. You should ALWAYS visit a master's degree program website to see the specific courses offered within the program.
If you want to attend the BEST nonprofit-focused master's degree in the country you may not find it listed on the U.S. News and World Report website. They rank graduate schools -- not master's degree programs. They do rank top public affairs schools with nonprofit specializations and top business schools with nonprofit specializations but these rankings completely ignore stand-alone nonprofit master's degree programs or the other types of master's degrees I listed above.
Additionally, there are some nonprofit-focused master's degree programs that span 2-3 three different colleges/schools within a university.
Since I am studying master's degree programs associated with the Nonprofit Academic Center's Council (NACC) for my dissertation, I created a table of these 50+ master's degree programs.
University
Location
NACC Member Center
Master’s degree associated with NACC Center
Arizona State University
Phoenix, AZ
ASU Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation
Masters of Nonprofit Studies
Baruch College, City University of New York
New York, NY
Center for Nonprofit Strategy and Management
Masters Public Administration (MPA) Specialization in Nonprofit Administration
Bay Path College
Longmeadow, MA
The Graduate School and Nonprofit Management and Philanthropy Program
MS in Nonprofit Management and Philanthropy
Boston College
Boston, MA
Center on Wealth and Philanthropy
Masters of Social Work
Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland, OH
Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations
Masters of Nonprofit Organizations & Executive Option
City University London
London, UK
Centre for Charity Effectiveness - Cass School of Business
PgDip/MSc in Voluntary Sector Management (post graduate diploma)
Cleveland State University
Cleveland, OH
Center for Nonprofit Policy & Practice
Master of Nonprofit Administration and Leadership
DePaul University
Chicago, IL
School of Public Service
Master of Nonprofit Management
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA
Nonprofit Management Studies
Masters of Public Administration (MPA) Concentration in Nonprofit Management
Georgetown University
Washington, D.C.
Center for Public and Nonprofit Leadership - Georgetown Public Policy Institute
Masters in Public Policy/Policy Management (Nonprofit Policy and Leadership Track)
Georgia State University
Atlanta, GA
Nonprofit Studies Program - Andrew Young School of Public Policy Studies
Masters of Public Administration (MPA)-Nonprofit Administration/MPP-Nonprofit Policy
Grand Valley State University
Allendale, MI
Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership
Masters of Public Administration (MPA) with a concentration in Nonprofit Management and Leadership
Harvard University
Boston, MA
Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations
Indiana University
Indianapolis, IN & Bloomington, IN
The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University
MA in Philanthropic Studies/MPA Nonprofit Management
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore. MD
Center for Civil Society Studies
Masters of Arts in Public Policy
Louisiana State University – Shreveport
Shreveport, LA
Institute for Human Services and Public Policy - College of Liberal Arts
Masters of Science in Human Services Administration
Mount Royal College
Calgary, AB Canada
Institute for Nonprofit Studies
No Masters Degree- Bachelors in Applied Nonprofit Studies
Master of Business (Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies)
Regis University
Denver, Co
Global Nonprofit Leadership Development
Master of Nonprofit Management
Seattle University
Seattle, WA
Center for Nonprofit and Social Enterprise Management
Executive Master of Nonprofit Leadership
Seton Hall University
New Orange, NJ
Center for Public Service
Masters in Public Administration Concentration in Nonprofit Organization Management
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX
Program in Nonprofit Management - Bush School of Government and Public Service
Master of Public Service and Administration with Elective Concentration in Nonprofit Management
The New School
New York, NY
Graduate Management Programs - Nonprofit Management Program
Master of Science Degree in Nonprofit Management
The University of New South Wales
Sydney, AU
Centre for Social Impact
Graduate Certificate in Social Impact (No master’s degree)
University at Albany-SUNY
Albany, NY
Center for Women in Government & Civil Society - Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy
Master of Public Administration Concentration in Nonprofit Management
University of California-Berkeley
Berkeley, CA
Center for Nonprofit and Public Leadership
MBA (Nonprofit Specialty)
University of California-Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA
Center for Civil Society
Masters in Public Policy
University of Delaware
Newark, DE
Center for Community Research & Service
M.A. in Urban Affairs and Public Policy concentration in Community Development and Nonprofit Leadership
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI
Nonprofit and Public Management Center, School of Social Work
MPP with focus in Public and Nonprofit Management, MPA (same as MPP but accelerated program), MSW with practice method in management of human service organizations, MBA with electives in social enterprise
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN
The Public and Nonprofit Leadership Center, Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs
Master of Public Policy (MPP) with a concentration in public nonprofit leadership and management. Masters of Public Affairs with nonprofit courses
University of Missouri-Kansas City
Kansas City, MO
Midwest Center for Nonprofit Leadership - Henry W. Bloch School of Business and Public Administration
Master of Public Administration (M.P.A.) degree with a concentration in nonprofit management
University of Missouri-St. Louis
St. Louis, MO
Nonprofit Management and Leadership Program
The Master of Public Policy Administration (MPPA)
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
Center for Community Partnerships - Penn Program for Public Service
Leadership for Social Change Masters Program
University of San Diego
San Diego, CA
Institute for Nonprofit Education and Research
MA in Nonprofit Leadership and Management
University of San Francisco
San Francisco, CA
Nonprofit Management Program
Master of Nonprofit Administration
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA
Center on Philanthropy and Public Policy
Master of Public Administration/Master of Public Policy Specialization in Philanthropy and Nonprofits
University of St. Thomas
Minneapolis, MN
Center for Nonprofit Management
MBA with Elective Track (Specialization) in Nonprofit
Master of Public Affairs Specialization in Nonprofit and Philanthropic Studies
University of Washington
Seattle, WA
Nancy Bell Evans Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy
Master of Public Administration with a concentration in Nonprofit Management and Philanthropy
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Milwaukee, WI
Helen Bader Institute for Nonprofit Management
Master of Science in Nonprofit Management and Leadership
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA
Institute for Policy and Governance
Master's of Public and International Affairs (MPIA) with a public and nonprofit management concentration (govt. and capacity building)/Masters of Public Administration (MPA)/Masters of Urban and Regional Planning (MURP)
York University
Toronto, ON
Nonprofit Management & Leadership Program - Schulich School of Business
MBA in Nonprofit Management and Leadership
Please note, this list is just a sample of the 160+ nonprofit-focused master's degree programs offered across the US and the world. For a complete listing, please visit Roseanne Mirabella's website.
