Nonprofit Management Certificate Course:
Course Evaluation (Spring 2006)

The seventeenth cycle of the 2006 Nonprofit Management Certificate Course was offered on 16 consecutive Thursdays from February 2 through May 25, 2006. Seventeen nonprofit agency managers were enrolled and 14 successfully completed the course earning a Certificate of accomplishment. Course requirements include attendance and participation, outside readings, completion of all assignments and a presentation on some aspect of the materials they learned.

The 2006 participants are employed as executive or associate directors (29%), program directors (64%), and volunteers/board members (7%). They represent agencies or organizations working in the following areas: health and human services (36%), youth development (14%), economic development/advancement (14%), advocacy (14%), education (14% and housing development (8%). Agency size, measured by number of full-time paid staff, ranged from 0 (one organization was staffed entirely by volunteers) to 44. Agency budgets varied from $56,000 to over $2 million.

The purpose of the Nonprofit Management Certificate Course is for managers and volunteers to develop a firm understanding of the concepts and principles of professional management, provide managers and volunteers with problem-solving tools and techniques, and offer opportunities for managers and volunteers to apply practical skills in their fields.

The Nonprofit Management Certificate Course consists of a comprehensive program with fourteen full days of instruction that cover important and fundamental principles of nonprofit agency management. The course includes full-day Orientation and Closing sessions and nine topical areas covering various aspects of management. Subject areas include:

• Organizational Assessment and Planning
• Financial Oversight
• Project Analysis and Decision Making
• Using Technology
• Leadership in Nonprofit Organizations
• Advocacy
• Human Resources Management
• Program Evaluation
• Marketing and Fund Raising

The Nonprofit Management Certificate Course was evaluated using several techniques: documentation and storage of all curriculum and program planning materials, attendance and monitoring of all training sessions by Center for Community Research and Service staff and research assistants, anonymous written participant evaluations of each topic and instructor, each trainer receive a copy of their evaluation, and periodic discussions with participants as to how they use the materials.

The Nonprofit Management Certificate Course evaluation instrument includes eight questions designed to solicit views on the following variables:

• Presentation skills and subject matter knowledge of instructor
• Clarity and relevance of material presented
• Usefulness of discussion, handouts, assignments and exercises
• Amount of lecture and participation
• Likelihood that the information and/or techniques will be used on the job
• Suggestions to improve future offerings

Overall, the topics offered in the Nonprofit Management Certificate Course were rated as highly valuable, relevant, and useful to participants . Participants noted that the scheduling of instruction over four months provided them with opportunities to interact with other managers on a regular and informal basis and to discuss similar problems and experiences.

Presentation Skills and Subject Matter Knowledge of Instructor(s)

The presentation skills and subject matter knowledge of instructors were rated by participants using a scale where A is the highest rating (and equal to five points) and F is the lowest rating (and equal to one point). The average scores for instructors across all topics for presentation skills and subject matter knowledge were high, 4.60 and 4.77 respectively. The instructor for Fund Raising received the highest rating for presentation skills with a score of 4.92 followed by the Leadership instructors with a score of 4.90. The instructors rating highest in the area of Subject Matter Knowledge were those for Leadership (4.94) and Employment Law (4.92).

Clarity and Relevance of Material Presented

Using the same scale, clarity of materials in all topics was rated 4.53 out of five possible points, and relevance of topics received an average score of 4.67. The clarity of materials in the Leadership module was rated highest, with an average of 4.94 followed by the Board Governance section with a score of 4.88. For Relevance of Topics the Leadership training scored 4.94 followed by Program Evaluation and Fund Raising each with a score of 4.83.  

Usefulness of Discussion, Handouts, Assignments, and Exercises

The rating for Usefulness of Classroom Discussion across all topics was rated 4.55 by participants, with the Fund Raising session scoring 4.91 and Leadership averaging 4.90. The usefulness of the assigned reading received an average rating of 4.41. The Leadership presentation was ranked at 4.77. The usefulness of handouts received an average rating of 4.43 with Leadership and Marketing scoring 4.93 and 4.92 respectively. The participants rated the usefulness of classroom exercises as 4.15, with Leadership and Fund Raising rising to the top with ratings of 4.87 and 4.83.  

Amount of Lecture and Participation

Overall, the respondents rated the amount of lecture 4.42 and participation 4.40, out of five. The Leadership module rated the best in the balance of the amount of lecture (4.94) and the amount of class participation (4.90).  

Amount of Time and Detail of Presentations

Students rated presentations as containing “about the right amount of time and/or detail “(equal to 5 points), “somewhat more time and/or detail than needed” (equal to four points), “somewhat less time and/or detail than needed” (equal to three points), much too much time and/or detail” (equal to two points), and “much too little time and/or detail” (equal to one point). The class found that overall the presentations were somewhat more time (4.29) and/or detail (4.54) than needed.  

Likelihood that Information and/or Techniques will be used in Participants' Jobs

Participants indicated the amount of information/techniques that they would use in their job as “all or almost all” (equal to five points), “most” (equal to four points), “about half” (equal to three points), “some” (equal to two points), and “little or none” (equal to one point). Overall, the group indicated that they would use between “most” and “almost all” of the information and/or techniques presented in the modules, with an average score of 4.20. The two highest rated topics on this measurement were Leadership (4.60) and Fund Raising (4.33).

Changes to Improve Future Offerings

Overall, the participants indicated that we should continue the course as is giving it an average score of 2.74 out of a possible 3. The participants indicated that they would have liked to have more time allotted to the following topics: board governance, project analysis and decision making, leadership, technology, employee selection, employment law, performance appraisals fundraising and marketing.

 

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