Alumni of Nonprofit-Management Programs Pick Most Important Courses in New Survey

TOOLS AND TRAINING

Alumni of nonprofit-management education programs find courses on fund raising and governance most valuable, according to a new survey released by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, in Battle Creek, Mich.

The study builds upon findings of a Kellogg-sponsored study last year of nonprofit-management students. The new report surveyed 160 respondents to the 2001 survey who have completed or nearly completed their certificate or master’s programs in nonprofit management at six universities that are part of a five-year Kellogg Foundation effort called “Building Bridges Between Practice and Knowledge in Nonprofit Management Education.” Although not all respondents had completed their studies, all were referred to as “alumni” in the report. Both this year’s survey and last year’s were conducted by Applied Research, in East Lansing, Mich.

The 2001 survey focused on the motivations of nonprofit-management students, and gathered data on their sex, ethnicity, age, and employment status. The current survey finds respondents assessing their course work’s importance, its relevance to day-to-day nonprofit service, and the overall value of their nonprofit-management education.

The alumni who responded to the survey ranked fund raising and development as the most important topics covered in a nonprofit-management curriculum, with governance ranking second, budgeting and accounting third, strategic-planning courses fourth, and courses about the legal structure of nonprofit organizations ranking fifth. Those rankings closely follow findings in last year’s Kellogg study of students, although those respondents ranked strategic-planning courses as most important, followed by fund raising, budgeting and accounting, governance, and ethics and values in philanthropy. (Ethics dropped to sixth place among alumni respondents.)

Technical courses, such as those concerned with information systems for nonprofit groups, economic and market issues, and quantitative analysis, ranked lowest among the 21 course topics, with the bottom ranking held by courses that focus on international organizations and their issues.

Nearly half the respondents to the new survey wanted to see more emphasis on fund raising and governance in nonprofit-management curriculum. Nearly half also wanted to see more instruction on proposal writing.

The survey found that the alumni were overwhelmingly pleased with their educational opportunity: Fifty-two percent of the alumni surveyed reported that they were satisfied with their nonprofit-management programs, while another 24 indicated that they were very satisfied with their programs. The survey found that nearly half of all alumni reported using skills they learned in nonprofit-management education programs in their current jobs every day, and about one-quarter of respondents report using those skills once or twice a week.

Eight of 10 respondents to the survey are female, and 85 percent of the total participants are white. They represent a variety of age groups, with 36 percent age 29 or younger, 32 percent in their 30s, and 32 percent age 40 or older. Eighty-four percent reported being employed full-time before entering their academic program. Sixty-four percent of respondents reported that they are now employed at nonprofit organizations.

The survey participants attended nonprofit-management programs at Case Western Reserve University, George Mason University, Indiana University at Indianapolis, Portland State University, the State University of New York at Albany, and Western Michigan University.

Both the current survey, “Building Bridges Initiative Cluster Evaluation: Nonprofit Management Alumni Survey Report,” and the 2001 “Survey of Nonprofit Management Students” are available online.

Are you a nonprofit-management-education alumni or student? Tell us which courses you found most useful in the Share Your Brainstorms online forum.