Emerging nonprofit leaders often juggle daily demands—from fundraising to staffing to project management—that would tax even the most seasoned manager of a for-profit company. Yet leadership development programs that could increase their effectiveness are often out of reach, either financially or geographically. Two recently launched programs aim to help social sector leaders hone their capabilities without leaving their day jobs. Both programs adapt the MOOC (massive open online course) model to offer instruction to a far-flung student body.
Philanthropy University, a free program that targets nonprofit leaders from around the world, launched in September 2015. Amr Al-Dabbagh, CEO and chairman of Al-Dabbagh Group, a Saudi conglomerate, partnered with the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, to develop the program. Al-Dabbagh has been “looking for levers that will catalyze the greatest amount of social impact,” says Ben Mangan, executive director of the Haas School’s Center for Social Sector Leadership. (The size of Al-Dabbagh’s investment in the program remains private.) Mangan says that for him and others at the Haas School, the chance to help create Philanthropy U “instantly made sense.”
Within one month of its launch, Philanthropy U had attracted more than 200,000 students from 150 countries. Many logged in to classes from sub-Saharan Africa and other regions a long way from Berkeley. The program’s seven courses range from “Essentials of Nonprofit Strategy” to “Fundraising: How to Connect With Donors.” Students who complete all seven courses earn a certificate in social sector leadership from the Haas School.
Classes at Philanthropy U are taught via fast-paced video segments and feature instructors such as Jessica Jackley, cofounder of online microfinance platform Kiva; Paul Brest, former president of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and a faculty director of the Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society, publisher of Stanford Social Innovation Review; and Al-Dabbagh, who offers a course on leadership. Al-Dabbagh, after teaching that course for the first time, noted the high quality of people who took it. The students, he says, were “passionate, driven, and dedicated leaders who are looking to contribute to a better world through their organizations.”
On the other side of San Francisco Bay, meanwhile, a program called Leaderosity opened its virtual doors in October. The Presidio Institute, a initiative based at the Presidio in San Francisco, launched the program in partnership with the American Express Foundation. Unlike Philanthropy U, which operates as a nonprofit, Leaderosity is a social enterprise that charges tuition. (And unlike Philanthropy U, which aims to attract a global student body, Leaderosity is currently open only to US-based applicants.) Its target audience includes “mid-career executives who focus on solving social challenges, be it from a nonprofit, business, government, philanthropic, or academic perspective,” says David B. Smith, managing director of the Presidio Institute.
Leaderosity grew out of a 2011 White House summit on nonprofit leadership. Three philanthropic institutions—the American Express Foundation, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and the Kresge Foundation—funded the research and development that resulted in the creation of Leaderosity. Within a month of its launch, more than 500 students had enrolled in the program.
Smith expects Leaderosity’s enrollment to grow to 1,800 by the end of 2016 and to 25,000 by 2020. He also predicts that Leaderosity’s fee-for-service model will make the program self-sustaining by late 2016.
To fill out its curriculum, Leaderosity is working with the Nonprofit Leadership Alliance, which developed one of the program’s initial courses. Over time, the alliance will create a series of courses, and students who complete the series will earn a certified nonprofit credential. Rob Gordon, product manager for Leaderosity, says the program aims not only to deliver traditional course content but also to “build a like-minded community” that will continue even after students finish their coursework.
Both Philanthropy U and Leaderosity deliver content on a learning management system developed by NovoEd, a for-profit education technology company based in San Francisco. They also use teaching strategies tested in other MOOCs. Each uses an online platform that enables instructors to assign team projects and students to learn in small groups. Asynchronous scheduling lets them pursue coursework whenever they choose.
Leaders at both online learning programs suggest that their offerings are filling a critical need within the social sector. “Nonprofits, with the best of intentions, steer donor dollars to [their frontline] programs but struggle to develop their own staff,” says Dave McMurtry, CEO of Stars Ltd., an umbrella group for Al-Dabbagh’s missiondriven organizations. “We can fill a gap for small, medium, and even large nonprofits that don’t have the personnel development budgets that for-profits have.”
Gordon, referring to the course content that Leaderosity has developed, emphasizes his program’s focus on the essentials of nonprofit leadership. “How do you build teams, solve problems, and achieve impact? Those are our big buckets,” he says.
Read more stories by Suzie Boss.