A Broad Approach to Leadership Development Is the Secret to Success

To the Editor:

While Pablo Eisenberg and I agree on the characteristics necessary for successful non-profit leadership, I must take exception to his view that academic centers are not the best training ground on which to develop those characteristics (“Academic Centers Don’t Develop Charity Leaders,” Opinion, March 25). Properly planned and executed, academic programs can and do produce well-rounded, well-grounded, dynamic, and visionary leaders prepared to take on the complex issues confronting today’s non-profit sector.

Successful cultivation of a new generation of charitable leadership must have its basis in the liberal arts, supplemented by research opportunities, exposure to the public-policy issues that increasingly affect the third sector, and a thriving interaction with practitioners at all levels. The best programs bring together practitioners and scholars to insure a balance of interdisciplinary study, scholarly reflection, ethics, management training, first-hand experience, and exposure to high-level non-profit leaders.

Students at the Indiana University Center on Philanthropy, for example, study the history of philanthropy, economics, ethics and values, law, religion, and cross-cultural dimensions of philanthropy. Philanthropy and philanthropic studies are a campus-wide priority, with 50 faculty members teaching philanthropic issues in more than 20 disciplines and 85 courses.

In addition to this solid foundation, students at the center engage in scholarly research through grant programs and fellowships. Most also serve in multiple internships with a wide variety of non-profit organizations where they often play an integral role in the organization’s strategic and operational activities. … This comprehensive approach to philanthropic leadership development is also a key factor in the success of other academic centers.

Beyond nurturing the birth of new leaders, academic centers also play a significant role in revitalizing and expanding the knowledge, understanding, and commitment of current practitioners who will be the next generation of senior non-profit leadership. Such programs include Indiana University’s Fund Raising School, as well as its Executive Leadership Institute and Vanderbilt University’s Executive Management Institute, both of which are conducted for the National Society of Fund Raising Executives. These courses engage senior-level professionals in serious discussions of the rationale for the third sector and of the latest public-policy and ethical issues, and help them refine their strategic planning, management, and outreach skills.

… The Nonprofit Academic Centers Council has endorsed the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration’s principles, standards, and set of courses that must be met by any institution offering accreditation in non-profit management. These guidelines insure a level of experience, professionalism, and core knowledge and guard against institutions that would dilute the integrity of the profession by granting equal certification to those who have merely sampled a handful of technical courses. …

As long as high-quality standards and ethics are upheld, scholars and practitioners alike should support and amplify, rather than condemn, the growth of academic centers engaged in research, teaching, and public service related to philanthropy. To say otherwise is akin to recommending that only a few universities should have business schools.

Limiting the number of academic programs would limit access to them and virtually insure that whole areas of the country would be left without opportunities for non-profit management and leadership training. …

The most compelling academic centers provide an environment in which novices, students of philanthropy, seasoned practitioners, top practicing non-profit leaders, scholars, and public-policy leaders come together to share, explore, reflect, and learn from one another, in both academic and real-world situations. It is up to us as educators, non-profit professionals, and national and community leaders to implement this standard for our profession.

Eugene R. Tempel
Executive Director
Indiana University Center on Philanthropy
Indianapolis