Learn from leading practitioners and gain hands-on experiences in the public, professional and social sectors.

Nonprofit Management Required Courses

Visit the Drexel Course Catalog to learn more about degree requirements.

ACCT 608 — Government and Not-for-Profit Accounting — 3.0 Credits

The course focuses on the role of accounting information as a means of communicating a mission, accomplishments, and fulfillment of fiduciary responsibility that are unique to not-for-profit and government organizations. The emphasis is on financial leadership and decision-making based on comparative data analytics and financial data analysis. Students will study the creation, use, presentation, and analysis of budgets as well as financial reporting unique to these sectors with an emphasis on best practices for data visualization as a means of communication and decision making.

NPM 501 — Foundations in Fundraising and Ethics — 3.0 Credits

This is another graduate-level introductory course providing a broad understanding of the different elements of nonprofit organizations from the fundraising perspective and it will provide the basis from which students will then learn, in greater detail, about stewardship, donor cultivation, capital campaigns. It also provides students with a base knowledge to prepare them for their subsequent experiential learning.

NPM 520 — Writing for Nonprofits — 3.0 Credits — 3.0 Credits

Writing is crucial to the success of all nonprofit organizations. In this introductory graduate-level course students will create their own nonprofit organization and will craft a number of written materials based on the organization they envision. Students will build upon these materials in subsequent courses.

NPM 550 — Stewardship and Donor Cultivation — 3.0 Credits

Stewardship is the process of developing a relationship, followed by the continued cultivation of that relationship. In this class, students will focus on the subtleties and strategies of stewarding prospects, transitioning them to donors, and the continued cultivation of donors. Students will also explore the four R’s of donor cultivation: research, romance, request, and recognition.

NPM 600 — Nonprofit Workshop I — 3.0 Credits

In this workshop-based course, students will work directly with a nonprofit organization to study, solve, or create an action plan for a particular generalized need as identified by the nonprofit. Students will build upon early foundational knowledge while developing hands-on experience in a safe setting guided by the faculty member. Through reflective work, students will learn to assess their own work and ultimately identify their own strengths and weaknesses to target areas for continued growth.

NPM 602 — Nonprofit Workshop II — 3.0 Credits

In this second workshop-based course, students will work directly with a nonprofit organization to study, solve, or create an action plan for a particular in-depth need as identified by the nonprofit. Students will continue to build upon foundational knowledge while developing hands-on experience in a safe setting guided by the faculty member. Through reflective work, students will learn to assess their own work and ultimately identify their own strengths and weaknesses to identify area for continued growth.

NPM 603 — Regional Volunteer Experience — 3.0 Credits

Most nonprofit organizations heavily rely on volunteers. To effectively manage a nonprofit organization, whether small or large, it is essential to understand the goals and intent of the volunteers. In this course, students will volunteer on a weekly basis at a nonprofit (located near their place of residence). Students will complete weekly self-assessment reports to reflect on their experience as a volunteer, while also looking at the function of the nonprofit organization.

NPM 645 — Strategic Planning for Nonprofits — 3.0 Credits

Strategic planning is essential for the effective leadership, management, and sustainability of the nonprofit organization. In this course, students will explore how nonprofit organizations identify strategies to achieve and develop their mission. Students will examine the key elements of the strategic planning process, especially those unique to nonprofit organizations: goal setting, engagement with board initiatives, mission development and/or realignment, funding limitations, and the roles of key stakeholders, such as board members, executive leadership, staff, and volunteers. Students will develop a practical model they can then apply to any nonprofit organization to conduct successful strategic planning.

NPM 670 — Managing Effective Capital Campaigns — 3.0 Credits

Capital Campaigns are the structure around which the largest donations are typically received. They differ drastically from annual funds, and thus it is imperative that students develop the necessary skills and knowledge needed to manage a capital campaign from conception through completion.

NPM 700 — Capstone I — 3.0 Credits

Students can pursue one of two paths for their capstone experience: first, they can choose to work with the nonprofit they partnered with during the Nonprofit Workshop II course and implement the plan, etc. as identified in that class; or second, students can choose and study a specific topic, trend, or issue confronting the nonprofit sector. During the Capstone I course, students will do the following: Option 1: Further develop the implementation plan, establish how s/he will be evaluated for the implementation, develop a reading list to assist in the implementation, and begin the implementation. Option 2: Choose a topic, conduct research, develop a bibliography, and create an outline for a final paper (to be completed in the Capstone II course).

NPM 701 — Capstone II — 3.0 Credits

This is the second in of a two-part capstone experience in which students demonstrate, in one of two ways, what they have learned in the program. They can choose to apply their skills in an experiential setting or conduct research and report on a specific relevant topic within the nonprofit sector. Both demonstrate the breadth of the student’s knowledge.

Nonprofit Management Course Electives

Select 4 elective courses from the list below:

AADM 660 — Advancing Cultural Policy

This course looks at how culture is understood and supported in the United States and abroad. Students will explore elements of cultural policy including private versus public support, issues of audience and cultural heritage, censorship and repression, globalization and the hybridization of culture. We examine a broad range of art forms including collecting and presenting institutions, creative industries, and web-based art forms. Students will select and study an individual country in-depth while developing expertise in issues of cultural policy. Examine debates and policy formation around cultural identity, colonial occupations and looting, and restitution, which continue to be key cultural topics in the 2020s.

AADM 755 — Community Cultural Planning

This course explores the practice of community cultural planning, investigating the work from technical and philosophical approaches. Students will learn the stages of a community cultural planning process and various methods for implementing such a process. Throughout the course, attention will be given to: the intersections of arts, culture, and community; the responsibilities of leading or participating in a community cultural planning process; and, ways to thoughtfully and authentically engage with a community in this work.

COM 536 — Strategic Social Media Communication

Students learn research-based best practices for developing strategic social media programs and campaigns, then assess how influential brands and organizations are or are not using them for platforms, content, authentic engagement, crisis response and influencer marketing. Students will produce a campaign and content calendar for an organization of their choosing and prepare for and earn an industry-recognized, real-life social media certification through this course.

COM 541 — Foundations of Public Relations

This introductory course is designed for students who are new to public relations. It introduces students to the basic theories, strategies, tactics and skills that form the foundation of public relations practice. Students learn about public relations as a professional field, and the importance of ethical public relations as a strategic tool to interact with internal and external audiences. The course covers important strategies such as corporate social responsibility and reputation management, and provides students with basic skills related to public relations research.

COM 563 — Event Planning

This course will provide the student with the theoretical and practical fundamentals in understanding the complexities of producing special events across different industries. Students will learn to research, design, plan, coordinate and evaluate special events, including virtual events attended remotely.

COM 575 — Grant Writing

Students develop the skills needed to write an effective grant proposal. Topics include idea development, analyzing a team's capabilities to complete a project, developing a clear plan of attack, locating funding sources, honing research skills, and effectively using graphic elements in proposal design.

COM 576 — Nonprofit Communication

The nonprofit sector is vital to today’s complex society, uniquely supporting education, social services, advocacy and activism, political engagement, medical services, and much more. Studying this dynamic sector and its organizations through a communication perspective can help us gain deeper insights for more effective nonprofit work. This course introduces students to the strategic ways nonprofits communicate with a broad range of audiences and stakeholders, as well as the ways researchers have examined these practices. Through a combination of scholarly readings, case studies, interviews, and volunteer work for nonprofit organizations, students will study and practice effective nonprofit communication strategies and skills across many nonprofit contexts.

COM 578 — Focus Groups

This qualitative research methods course will discuss the use of focus groups to collect data for social science inquiry from both an academic and a consumer research perspective. We will take an in-depth look at how to plan, implement, and analyze data collected through a focus group process, including: purposes and uses of focus group interviews, human subjects research considerations, participant recruitment, sampling, question design, facilitation techniques, recording options, transcription, analysis, and reporting of data.

NPM 610 — Fostering Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace

Diversity in the workplace has moved beyond calculating a broad range of employee demographics. Employers, especially nonprofits, are focusing on including and elevating diverse voices and diverse perspectives and building teams that represent the populations they serve and for-profits to create and deliver more innovative services and products and gain a competitive edge. Evidence demonstrates diverse teams are more creative and productive. But, inclusion cannot happen in a vacuum. Leadership must foster and support diversity and inclusion and create an environment where all employees are empowered to be productive and innovative.

NPM 615 — Program Evaluation

The course is designed to have students apply qualitative and quantitative methods to frame and implement an evaluation capable of being implemented in a broad range of nonprofit (and for-profit) organizational settings, including those found in education, health care, government and private sector organizations. Students will study the purposes and models of program evaluation, roles of the evaluator and stakeholders, and address ethical issues associated with an evaluation. To gain practical experience with “continuous program improvement,” students will conduct an evaluation of an existing program.

NPM 680 — Leading Nonprofit Organizations

Students will explore the different roles within the senior leadership team of nonprofit organizations to determine how those roles intersect to achieve the mission. Students will delve into leadership skills such as communication, motivating others, managing conflict, building partnerships and financial acumen to understand the necessity of those skills in developing a strategic vision, managing an effective team, and growing the organization to meet the needs of the community. The notion of servant leadership, ethics, and mission will be threaded throughout the course. Students will consider their own leadership skills to determine what skills they need to develop/enhance to be an effective nonprofit leader. This course is ideal for students already working in a nonprofit seeking a more senior role.

PLCY 507 — Nonprofit Organizations

This course focuses on distinctive features of managing and governing nonprofit organizations and draws on current theories, concepts, and real world examples to explore particular management challenges. Course includes a mix of lecture, discussion, case applications, and presentations by practitioners from the local nonprofit community.