November 25, 2009 | "Whoa whoa I gotta go...back to schoooool...again",2nd Semester,Life in General,Nonprofit Explorations,Prescott College,School Daze,Spring 2010,The 4-1-1 on Me
I met with my mentor for this course on Friday, Miss K. I pretty much have to learn the nonprofit business from the ground up and this Nonprofit Explorations is basically an overview of what goes into starting a nonprofit business. The draft of the syllabus looks something like this:
Week: 1 & 2
Topic: Creating an NPO
Readings: Starting a 501c(3), IRS and Arizona Corporation Commission websites for more info
Deliverables: Write an action plan for the mechanics of getting incorporated and filing for a 501c(3)Week: 3
Topic: Mission Statement, Vision Statement & Values
Readings: A Case Study of Prescott Nonprofits and The Board Development Kit
Deliverables: Write a mission statement, vision statement and values statement. Identify why there is a need for your NPO and who are the clients.Week: 4 & 5
Topic: Case Statement
Readings: Planning Your Case Statement
Deliverables: Write a case statement for your NPO – at least 2 pagesWeek: 6 & 7
Topic: Selecting Trustees, Executive Director & Staff
Readings: Managing a Nonprofit, Ten Basic Responsibilities of Nonprofit Boards, Chief Executives Role in Developing the Nonprofit Board, and 10 Ideas for Recruiting New Leaders
Deliverables: Create a board of directors for your NPO and identify their roles and why they were selected for the board. Write job descriptions for the ED and staff.Week: 8
Topic: Volunteer Coordination
Readings: Volunteers: How to Find Them and How to Keep Them
Deliverables: Compare and contrast good volunteers vs bad volunteers. What is a strategy to “fire” a bad volunteer?Week: 9
Topic: Social Entreprenuership
Readings: TBD
Deliverables: TBDWeek: 10
Topic: Fundraising
Readings: Designing A Comprehensive Fundraising Program
Deliverables: Write an action plan for a special event or write a solicitation letter for donor fundingWeek: 11
Topic: Risks
Readings: The Nonprofit Board’s Role in Risk Management: More than Buying Insurance
Deliverables: TBDWeek: 12
Topic: Marketing and PR
Readings: Book of your choice
Deliverables: Write a marketing action plan for your NPOWeek: 13
Topic: Evaluation of Board and Staff
Readings: Evaluation of the Nonprofit Board and Models for Board Evaluation
Deliverables: Write an evaluation form for board members. Write an evaluation form for staff.
Week: 14
Topic: Strategic Planning – Overview
Readings: Strategic Planning and the Nonprofit Board, The Board’s role in Strategic Planning, and Planning Successful Board retreats: A Guide for Board members and Chief Executives
Deliverables: Write a paper describing your key learnings from these three booklets.Week: 15
Topic: Wrap-up—Putting It All Together
Deliverables: Verbal DebriefConsiderations: The mentor is required to spend 1.5 hours weekly with student-although this can be altered in terms of when face time is.
1. Weekly phone calls
2. Monthly meetings of 4 hrs
3. Combination
She also gave me a book to keep for the rest of the semester: Managing A NonProfit Organization: Staffing, Fund Raising, Choosing Trustees, Financing, Marketing, Computerizing, Planning, Succeeding by Thomas Wolf.
There are still a couple of gaps to fill in the syllabus–and I need to get clarification on the length of the papers that I have to write–but that’s why it’s called a draft. I think I’m going to like Miss K as my mentor. She made it clear that this was just a draft, and she kept asking me if there was anything I could think of that should be added. She also made the point of saying that this should be fun. If I’m finding that it’s not, then I should rethink my degree. Which makes sense, and I like the fact that she mentioned it. Some of the topics we’ll be covering are actual courses in my competence, but we’ll just be skimming the surface. I think I was afraid that I would learn too much on these topics and have nothing for the actual courses. But as the course states, it’s just going to be an overview.
It should be fun, but it will be challenging, too. The Spring Semester doesn’t start until Jan 15th and I already feel like I’m going to jump ahead again like I did during first semester. I’ll be taking three classes each semester until I graduate, so I’m really going to have to take it week by week and not get overwhelmed. It would be so easy for me to do.
Technorati Tags: Thomas Wolf
