Certificate in Nonprofit Management Series
The Best in Nonprofit Professional Development is now in Bucks County.
Bucks is partnering with The Nonprofit Center
Bucks County residents interested in serving nonprofit organizations as staff or board members now have access to The Certificate in Nonprofit Management Series, an unequaled opportunity to expand your nonprofit expertise in all key management areas. This program offers convenient access to 10 of the most essential classes for current and future nonprofit leaders. The Nonprofit Center has the largest offering of programs for nonprofit organizations seeking to become stronger and more sustainable.
Wrking with nonprofits of virtually every size and mission, it provides professional development, leadership advancement for board and staff, consulting services, on-site group education, jobs website, executive transition services, interim executives, peer support, and an information and referral network. Founded in 1981, The Nonprofit Center has educated more than 30,000 staff and board and completed more than 2,000 capacity-building consulting projects.
- To earn a Certificate in Nonprofit Management, you must take all 10 classes.
- You also have the option of taking any number of the classes in the series individually to build specific skills.
- Completion of all 10 of these non-credit classes that comprise the Certificate in Nonprofit Management Series is a resume-building achievement of value to any current or future nonprofit leader.
- You have 3 years to complete the certificate.
- Individual class fees are $215. Classes are held online through Zoom.
- All classes are eligible for CEUs, CFRE, CSWs, and CPEs
Courses include:
• Understanding Finance for Nonprofits
• The Joy of the Sector
• Building the Board Your Organization Needs
• Mission Critical Marketing
• Understanding and Growing Leadership Capacity
• Discover the Power of Program Evaluation
• Fundamentals of Human Resources
• Communication to Build Relationships, Engagement & Understanding
• Fundamentals of Successful Fundraising
Fundamentals of Successful Fundraising WSMCE 9008 C02 & C03
2/8/2027 7:00 - 9:00pm
Regardless of your role, this class will help you to understand how to build a fundraising program that generates support for the mission while aligning with your organization’s values. Participants will learn about the giving trends that are influencing approaches to raising money, explore the varied motivations of today’s donors, and understand how to convey their organization’s impact in ways that inspire donors to give. This class covers the fundamentals that everyone involved with nonprofits should know in order to position an organization for fundraising success.
Fundamentals of Successful Fundraising WSMCE 9008 C04
Regardless of your role, this class will help you to understand how to build a fundraising program that generates support for the mission while aligning with your organization’s values. Participants will learn about the giving trends that are influencing approaches to raising money, explore the varied motivations of today’s donors, and understand how to convey their organization’s impact in ways that inspire donors to give. This class covers the fundamentals that everyone involved with nonprofits should know in order to position an organization for fundraising success.
The Joy of the Sector WSMCE 9001 CO2 & C03
Welcome to the nonprofit sector! Our sector shapes the fabric of every community, transforms regions, and connects movements on a national and international level. Through this course, paid professionals and volunteers who are new to the sector (or entertaining a move) will be introduced to the core functions of mission-based organizations. Participants will start to discover where their affinities might lie and, potentially, where they can lend their talents to enrich people and communities.
The Joy of the Sector WSMCE 9001 C04
Welcome to the nonprofit sector! Our sector shapes the fabric of every community, transforms regions, and connects movements on a national and international level. Through this course, paid professionals and volunteers who are new to the sector (or entertaining a move) will be introduced to the core functions of mission-based organizations. Participants will start to discover where their affinities might lie and, potentially, where they can lend their talents to enrich people and communities.
Understanding Finance for Nonprofits WSMCE 9002 C03 & C04
3/1/2027 7:00 - 9:00pm
Financial data allows you to truly understand your organization, tell your story, and make fully informed decisions to move your mission forward. Without understanding how nonprofit finance works, you cannot assess your business practices, evaluate your decisions, nor be informed by their results. This class will give you a broad understanding of business finance and equip you with simple, practical tools so you know where to look and can understand what the data is telling you about your organization.
Who Should Attend: Executive directors, newer finance staff, non-finance program directors and managers, board members, and others involved in financial interpreting and decision-making
Understanding Finance for Nonprofits WSMCE 9002 C05
Financial data allows you to truly understand your organization, tell your story, and make fully informed decisions to move your mission forward. Without understanding how nonprofit finance works, you cannot assess your business practices, evaluate your decisions, nor be informed by their results. This class will give you a broad understanding of business finance and equip you with simple, practical tools so you know where to look and can understand what the data is telling you about your organization.
Who Should Attend: Executive directors, newer finance staff, non-finance program directors and managers, board members, and others involved in financial interpreting and decision-making
Understanding and Growing Leadership Capacity WSMCE 9003 C02 & C03
2/10/2027 7:00 - 9:00pm
Understanding and Growing Leadership Capacity
Effective leadership doesn’t happen by chance or accident; it comes from thoughtfulness, intention, effort, and more. It is a journey, not a destination. Nor is it manifested in one form or in one personal style – it’s present in many.
Leadership starts with the personal. Everyone loves to talk about their own or someone else’s “leadership style”, but the reality is if you have just one way to demonstrate leadership you will never be an effective leader. Effective leaders have a toolbox filled with styles and strategies for success. This class will take you through a series of reflective exercises to help you understand what leadership is—and what it is not—and where you see yourself as a leader—or not.
Leadership is also a culture, and an abundant resource! This class will provide a tour of different approaches to leadership to help you identify the tools your organization needs to empower leadership, at every level.
Effective Strategic Planning for Today's Nonprofits WSMCE 9004 C02 & C03
3/15/2027 7:00 - 9:00pm
How does a nonprofit plan effectively during changing and uncertain times? In this class, you will learn modern approaches to strategic planning that will strengthen your nonprofit’s ability to pursue its mission in rapidly changing conditions. We’ll explore techniques for assessing your environment, gaining clarity on changing community needs, and developing strategies that can be adapted to meet new opportunities or challenges over time. This class will show you how to build a plan that will drive strategic thinking across your organization, helping your plan to stand up to unexpected changes both inside and outside your organization.
Register for Effective Strategic Planning for Today’s Nonprofits
Effective Strategic Planning for Today's Nonprofits WSMCE 9004 C04
How does a nonprofit plan effectively during changing and uncertain times? In this class, you will learn modern approaches to strategic planning that will strengthen your nonprofit’s ability to pursue its mission in rapidly changing conditions. We’ll explore techniques for assessing your environment, gaining clarity on changing community needs, and developing strategies that can be adapted to meet new opportunities or challenges over time. This class will show you how to build a plan that will drive strategic thinking across your organization, helping your plan to stand up to unexpected changes both inside and outside your organization.
Register for Effective Strategic Planning for Today’s Nonprofits
Fundamentals of Human Resources WSMCE 9005 C02 & C03
1/25/2027 7:00 - 9:00pm
Too few nonprofits have a dedicated human resource professional on staff. Yet, the minute you have a staff member, or are even thinking of hiring your first staff member, it is imperative that someone in the organization understands the essential human resource responsibilities, regulations and laws.
Because workplace laws guide and control much of what we must do with employees, this class covers the major workplace laws and the legal principles that govern the employment relationship. It will explore the importance of good policies and procedures in creating an effective working environment and provide an introduction to some of the most common and challenging HR responsibilities: the performance management cycle; development and management of compensation strategies; and effective guidelines for hiring the right people.
Mission Critical Marketing WSMCE 9006 C03 & C04
3/3/2027 7:00 - 9:00pm
Nonprofit marketing is central to raising awareness for your cause, funds to support your mission, and to recruit and retain volunteers and talent. Each touchpoint with your stakeholders is an opportunity to improve outcomes and increase supporter engagement. This class will help you understand the necessary elements of building a mission critical marketing program, prioritize and attract the right audiences, and develop results-oriented objectives so that you can focus on delivering on your mission.
Building the Board Your Organization Needs WSMCE 9007 C02 & C03
If a board can make or break a nonprofit, what makes or breaks a nonprofit board? There are countless tales of triumph and terror on the topic of nonprofit boards and board members especially as the environment for nonprofits changes. With surprisingly few legal guidelines to follow, boards can look, feel, and function very differently from one another, even when they have the same assumed purpose. This class aims to explore what your nonprofit board’s role must be, what your board’s goals could be, and what it means for board members to be effective, both collectively and individually. Whether you are a long-serving, aspiring, new, or simply curious board member, this course will give you a contextual view of nonprofit boards, governance, and a fresh look through an equity lens at the balance of power between boards, executive leadership, and the people and communities they impact.
Building the Board Your Organization Needs WSMCE 9007 C04
If a board can make or break a nonprofit, what makes or breaks a nonprofit board? There are countless tales of triumph and terror on the topic of nonprofit boards and board members especially as the environment for nonprofits changes. With surprisingly few legal guidelines to follow, boards can look, feel, and function very differently from one another, even when they have the same assumed purpose. This class aims to explore what your nonprofit board’s role must be, what your board’s goals could be, and what it means for board members to be effective, both collectively and individually. Whether you are a long-serving, aspiring, new, or simply curious board member, this course will give you a contextual view of nonprofit boards, governance, and a fresh look through an equity lens at the balance of power between boards, executive leadership, and the people and communities they impact.
The Power of Connection WSMCE 9009 C02 & C03
3/17/2027 7:00 - 9:00pm
Communication is one of the most essential skills for individuals at every level of an organization, from entry-level through senior management. As we learn to communicate more effectively, we strengthen working relationships and can create and maintain a more open and productive work environment.
To enhance engagement, foster understanding, and build constructive relationships with co-workers, donors, volunteers, board members, and supervisors/supervisees, you need to expand your understanding of communication and also learn how you can put this knowledge into practice.
In this class, you’ll learn about different communication styles and how you can communicate and work more effectively with others, including those who have different approaches to communication, are from a different generation, or are resistant to change/new ideas. We’ll also provide a framework for how to engage in difficult conversations to address challenges and pursue opportunities to improve your outcomes.
Discovering the Power of Program Evaluation WSMCE 9010 C03 & C04
1/27/2027 7:00 - 9:00pm
Effectively evaluating organizational programming is critical to improve your work, deepen equity and share your impact. During this class we will move beyond using instincts, anecdotal information and educated guesses to documenting whether your programs are meeting their intended goals and directing your resources most effectively for your mission. This class will cover the value of intentional program evaluation, methods for collecting, analyzing and using data, and offer a step-by-step model for evaluation design. We will also look at ways to answer questions around program impact such as: ‘Is this program meeting its intended outcomes?’ ‘Is our program truly connecting and working for the clients we seek to serve?’ ‘How might we shift the program to have greater impact?’ and ‘How do we take steps to sunset programs no longer serving our clients?’ At the end of this class, you will leave with tools, approaches, techniques and ideas that you and your team can implement to learn how effective your programs are and to share those results with clients, stakeholders, and donors.
Discovering the Power of Program Evaluation WSMCE 9010 C05
Effectively evaluating organizational programming is critical to improve your work, deepen equity and share your impact. During this class we will move beyond using instincts, anecdotal information and educated guesses to documenting whether your programs are meeting their intended goals and directing your resources most effectively for your mission. This class will cover the value of intentional program evaluation, methods for collecting, analyzing and using data, and offer a step-by-step model for evaluation design. We will also look at ways to answer questions around program impact such as: ‘Is this program meeting its intended outcomes?’ ‘Is our program truly connecting and working for the clients we seek to serve?’ ‘How might we shift the program to have greater impact?’ and ‘How do we take steps to sunset programs no longer serving our clients?’ At the end of this class, you will leave with tools, approaches, techniques and ideas that you and your team can implement to learn how effective your programs are and to share those results with clients, stakeholders, and donors.