A Calif. University Offers Free Management Courses to Social-Service Workers

At Opportunity Junction, Brianna Burkman raises money for the Bay Area charity’s programs, which help poor adults gain job skills and work experience so they can support themselves and their families.

Ms. Burkman has completed some job training of her own, thanks to a free online nonprofit-management program offered by Golden Gate University.

“All I had to do was invest the time. They were going to give me everything else,” says Ms. Burkman, a former high-school teacher with no formal training in how nonprofits operate. “How could I turn this down?”

A year ago, 25 people from 13 San Francisco-area nonprofit groups embarked on the 10-month noncredit program. Organizations whose work is focused on job training and career advancement were invited to send a maximum of two employees to participate.

The Golden Gate program underscores just how challenging it can be to provide nonprofit workers who most need management training with that instruction.

Organizations were eager for employees to get a rare opportunity for free, comprehensive instruction about how nonprofit organizations operate and an overview of the nonprofit sector.

Free Instruction

Yet half the program participants didn’t finish the course, citing time constraints. (The program required up to five hours of work weekly, say organizers.) With the economy slow to improve, workers at job-training groups face intense pressure scrambling to help people find employment.

Packed schedules caused some students to leave the training program, which might have made their jobs easier in the long run.

“I work at an extremely demanding organization and just was unable to complete my day job, do the reading, and respond online,” wrote one dropout in a survey the university conducted.

Despite the number of students who left, Anastasia S. Neeve, director of marketing and communications at the university, who helped conceive the program, counts the program a success.

“We understand that life gets in the way,” she says.

In a survey the university conducted, 80 percent of organizations that had a staff member drop out of the program reported they would participate again, and 100 percent of organizations said the program was of value to their group.

Career Challenges

While Ms. Neeve agrees the program’s nuts and bolts, which covered topics such as fundraising and finance issues, could benefit charities of any stripe, organizations working to help people find jobs and careers face challenges throughout the country right now, but especially in California. The state’s unemployment rate is the second highest in the country, at 10.9 percent.

“With the economy the way it is, the need for our services has doubled, and the resources for our services has dwindled,” says Megan Kenny, a program participant who oversees grant management and accreditation for mission services at Goodwill Industries of San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin Counties.

At her group, she adds, there are some opportunities for professional development, but nothing like the extensive Golden Gate program. Organizations paid $250, which was refunded if the participant completed the program.

If tuition had been charged, says Ms. Neeve, the nonprofit-management program would have cost $2,500 per student for the five courses.

Charity workers say they would like to see more programs like Golden Gate’s. “I’ve had multiple colleagues ask me if there will be another opportunity” to participate, says Ms. Kenny.

Diverse Mix of Students

To develop the mostly online program, the university hired Nancy Wiltsek, a former head of a local foundation.

She created five courses designed to give participants an overview of the nonprofit world and some specifics of how people in different departments, such as finance and fundraising, do their jobs. Ms. Wiltsek taught the overview class and recruited consultants and nonprofit executives for the other courses.

The program attracted a diverse group of students, including a board chairman and several employees just beginning their careers. At one charity, 14 people wanted to participate, and names had to be drawn out of a hat, says Ms. Wiltsek.

“Many of the people working in these organizations are stretched to the max,” she says. The program, she adds, offers groups a chance to support their employees by saying, “You deserve to expand your understanding of these issues so you can do your job better.”

The university plans to continue the program, perhaps seeking foundation support for it, says Ms. Neeve.

It is now being evaluated; Ms. Wiltsek would like to make some changes. For example, she plans to add a week to the courses to help spread out the workload, ask organizations to allow students to do some class work during their workday, and include at least one in-person meeting per course, to facilitate discussions and help students build professional networks.

Personal Reflection

Students in the Golden Gate program didn’t just learn how to hire employees and what board responsibilities include.

Stitched into each overview course were reading assignments and follow-up questions designed to prompt personal reflection on the students’ daily jobs and, more important, the bigger picture of what role they saw themselves playing in the nonprofit world.

“The personal-reflection piece challenged people to think about why you are there, what it means, and how you can do it better,” says Megan Doherty-Baker, who, during part of her time in the program, managed a workforce-development effort at Larkin Street Youth Services, which serves homeless and otherwise needy adolescents.

“It brought up a lot for me about what my vocation is and what kind of goals I have.” Ms. Doherty-Baker, who has since left Larkin Street, credits that coursework with helping her decide to pursue a graduate degree in organizational psychology.

Annie Nogg, a health-care program coordinator at Jewish Vocational Service, entered the Golden Gate program thinking it would help her job skills by presenting a “bird’s-eye view” of the nonprofit world.

While she took away practical knowledge, such as how to help her group raise money for her program, Ms. Nogg also found the discussions about personal values and characteristics compelling.

One exercise asked students to scan a list of job traits and name the ones they found most appealing.

“I felt like, based on the things I picked, I do get a lot of those here,” says Ms. Nogg, who has been at Jewish Vocational Service for four years. “It was very confirming that I am where I should be for right now.”

The courses also helped Ms. Burkman, of Opportunity Junction, learn more about each aspect of how nonprofit groups operate so she can one day achieve her career goal of leading an organization.

“It opened my eyes to all the work our executive director does to make us successful,” says Ms. Burkman. “It was great to see—and a little frightening for what my future might be.”

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