Summaries of Certificate Program Capstone Management Projects

This project drew upon the experience of the author and his organization to construct a guide to recruit and retain skilled and motivated employees.  The project goes step-by-step through the process of hiring and managing effective staff.  Starting with tips for reviewing resumes, it moves on to methods for interviewing potential employees, and continues with creative and new ways for motivating, including “reward points,” recognition at staff meetings, and good news bulletin boards.  The writing of this project gave the author perspective on where his organization was, and provided a clear guide for other organizations to follow. 

 

This project addresses the issue of creating or cultivating new nonprofit leaders.  The author succinctly describes the challenges faced by the sector in regards to leadership.  Not only is it hard to find true leaders, but the sector also faces the problem of “burnout” among its managers and senior staff.  The author goes on to describe a few possible solutions to the leadership deficit including the creation of Management Mastery Series, focused recruitment, and efforts to keep retention high.  This project serves as an effective overview of the crisis at hand, and a roadmap towards its solution.

 

This project deals specifically with how an organization would go about marketing itself to a diffuse community that is not easy to identify within the general public.  The author explores the relative strengths and weaknesses of communications and marketing strategies, and attempts to set down some easily presentable core values.  By laying out clearly defined goals, vehicles, and values, the author creates a project that is not only useful to his organization’s future, but a model to be followed by others. 

 

In this project, the author describes how board members often come into their position not knowing much about the nonprofit, their responsibilities, or the challenges that lie ahead.  The Nonprofit Diagnostic Scorecard attempts to redress some of these problems by giving potential board members an honest glimpse into their future with the nonprofit if they choose to come aboard.  The scorecard would give potential board members the chance to determine if the nonprofit’s mission and values overlap with their own, and if the nonprofit is well managed and sound.  This project, and the scorecard that came out of it, creatively seek a new way to increase compatibility between nonprofits and board members and in doing so, increase efficiency for all involved.

 

This project took an already existing strategic plan and turned it into a working document.  Each goal of the plan was broken down into specific tasks which were delegated to organization staff and given deadlines for completion.  The creation of this work plan helped prioritize the work that needed to be done to successfully meet the goals of the strategic plan over the next three years.

 

This project deals with the way in which the public, elected officials, and other organizations perceive the CEO of a nonprofit and how this affects the way these groups treat the organization that he or she leads.  In describing how CEO reputations create a “brand” for the organization, the author sheds light on the importance of taking the character of the outgoing CEO into account when managing succession.  The insight of this project is derived from the author’s direct experience with succession within her organization, as is readily apparent in her outlining of specific rules and guidelines for succession planning.

 

This project sought to address the problem of inefficient use of volunteers at the author’s organization.  The problem was twofold in that not only was the nonprofit not getting the most out of its volunteers, but volunteers felt they were not getting a rewarding and meaningful volunteer experience from the organization.  The objective of the project was to develop a method to maximize volunteer output, build meaningful relationships with the community, and give volunteers the experience they wanted.  The author focused on training staff to efficiently manage volunteers, clearly define volunteer positions and expectations, and recognize both staff and volunteers for a job well done.  This project served as a “how-to” for volunteer management and a guide for the organization’s future development.

"Thank you so much for this course, I have already used 
the concepts and information I learned in our program.  
I am excited and invigorated by the changes I see.  
It is amazing what good instruction can do."

"This program was the best thing I could ever attend!  
I appreciate everything!  What a blessing!"

 

"I felt like I learned a year’s worth in a week.  
Also, it was an incredibly supportive learning environment.  
The structure of program and friendliness of staff was great!!  
Thank you!!"

 

"The instructors were fantastic and I was especially 
impressed by the group projects and the creativity 
that came out of each activity.  I learned so much through 
those interactions with the other participants 
and instructors.  Thank you!" 

 

"This was well planned and executed.  
I am so appreciative of this life-changing opportunity." 

 

"It was a valuable experience for me and has already had 
an impact [and] will undoubtedly produce long-lasting 
results in the work I do here in the coming years."

 

"I think the program was FANTASTIC!  The instructors 
were extremely knowledgeable and I am looking forward 
to using them as a resource.  I think the individuals in the 
class were also fantastic…great networking."

 

"I think this was a great opportunity.  
I really enjoyed it.  It definitely exceeded 
my expectations!!"

 

"I truly appreciate how applicable all the sections 
were to real life in a non-profit.  Thank you 
for a terrific and very educational week!"

 

"I thoroughly enjoyed the course, the capstone 
project brought it all home and I believe that 
it provided a much broader scope 
for my learning.  Thank you."

 

"The faculty were superb.  
Quality of information was fantastic!"