Sections of this topic
Nonprofit-Specific Management Skills
© Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting, LLC.
To be effective in nonprofit management, a person requires
the key areas of knowledge and skills listed in Skills
and Practices in Organizational Management. In addition, the
following categories of skills are required.
Nonprofit-Specific Skills Include
Burnout (Avoiding Burnout)
Fundraising and Grantwriting
Governance (Boards of Directors)
Nonprofit Budgeting and Accounting
Program Development and Evaluation
Public Policy
Volunteer Programs
Also see
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Fundraising and
Grantwriting
Nonprofit management must
engage in fundraising in order to meet the fiscal needs of their
organization. Generally, fundraising is not one of an executive
director’s favorite tasks. It can be an all-consuming activity,
tapping an executive director’s creative and social energy. Executive
directors are constantly challenged to strike a balance between
the time they devote to fundraising and program management. Too
little attention to one area can leave an organization bereft
of cash or quality services. See
Fundraising
and Grantwriting
Governance (Boards
of Directors)
Generally, this term refers to the nature and operations
of the board of directors. Some people use the term to also refer
to the role of chief executive as well. Nonprofit management —
particularly chief executives — must have strong skills in working
with an often highly diverse collection of board members, each
of whom is typically a volunteer to the nonprofit. These skills
in working with a board are often not taught in management schools
and, instead, must be developed over time “on the job”.
See
Boards of Directors
Nonprofit Budgeting
and Accounting
Nonprofits are unique entities created to provide a public service,
rather than generate profit. Therefore, nonprofits can enjoy special
tax-exempt status with the IRS. Nonprofits also receive grants
and other forms of donations to support their operation. These
special features unique to nonprofits require highly customized
forms of budgeting and accounting, not taught in general management
schools. See
Finances and Accounting
Program Development
and Evaluation
Nonprofits typically deliver ongoing services in the
form of organizational programs. Therefore, it’s important that
nonprofit management understand the basic principles of program
development and evaluation. See
Basic Overview of Nonprofit Program Development
and Evaluation
Public Policy
Particularly with nonprofits engaged in human services, nonprofit
management must have strong knowledge of the vast amount of rules
and regulations governing public services. Nonprofits often are
at the forefront of guiding public policy, including championing
new legislation to serve the public. Although charitable nonprofits
typically cannot lobby or advocate for legislation, they are usually
directly effected by changes in federal programs for social welfare.
Nonprofit board members and executives often must have strong
working knowledge of the various agencies that influence legislation,
and rules and regulations effecting federal funding.
Volunteer Programs
Many nonprofit organizations rely to a great extent
on the use of volunteers. Volunteers should be managed much like
any other human resource. There should be staffing planning, recruitment,
job descriptions, suitable policies and risk management measures,
some form of performance management, etc. Performance management
includes setting suitable goals, evaluating performance, providing
appropriate rewards or actions to terminate services. See
Volunteer
Programs
For the Category of Management:
To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may want to review some related topics, available from the link below. Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.
Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.
