Nonprofit Management
Designed for individuals who have or wish to assume leadership positions in nonprofit organizations, the Nonprofit Management concentration serves as an excellent graduate option if you aspire to serve in the nonprofit sector, a government agency that deals extensively with nonprofits, or the philanthropy field.
In the nonprofit concentration, you'll gain the skills, knowledge, and contacts most relevant for a professional career in the nonprofit sector. The core requirements for the MPA degree provide a strong management and policy base. The concentration addresses the distinctive features and practices of nonprofit organizations and emphasizes management techniques helpful to nonprofit leaders.
The School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA) also offers a 15-credit-hour nonprofit management certificate designed to serve individuals who would like exposure to the nonprofit sector and management issues but who do not wish to pursue a degree. The certificate program is offered in a traditional format as well as an online version.
Outstanding Assets
The MPA in Nonprofit Management offers these outstanding assets:
- A large number of nationally recognized faculty who are involved in closely related research and service areas such as community development, environmental management, international affairs, civic leadership, arts management, arbitration, fundraising, compensation, motivation, liability, city management, and organizational development.
- School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA) faculty who have earned international reputations for their research, teaching, and consultation with world, national, state, and local leaders.
- High-profile players from the public and private sectors who enrich SPEA’s programs through colloquia and appointments as adjunct faculty.
- Affiliation with the Center on Philanthropy. The Center, established in 1987, is the nation's most comprehensive academic resource dedicated to education, research, and public service in philanthropy.
- Ability to pursue a professional certificate through The Fund Raising School, a premier institution offering workshops for fund development practitioners. SPEA's fund development course is accepted by The Fund Raising School as satisfying one of the certificate requirements.
- Through faculty contacts, exposure to a national and international network of both individuals and associations in the nonprofit sector, an ideal source for internship, job contacts, and professional affiliation.
- There's a distinctive opportunity to develop strengths in specialized fields by completing a double concentration in nonprofit management and such other areas as environmental policy and natural resource management, comparative and international affairs, policy analysis, and financial administration.
Curriculum for the Nonprofit Management Concentration
Like all students in the Master of Public Affairs program, students in the Nonprofit Management concentration begin building their skills in the 18-hour MPA core. The core courses are:
- Public Management (V502)
- Statistical Analysis for Effective Decision Making (V506)
- Public Management Economics (V517)
- Law and Public Affairs (V540)
- Public Finance and Budgeting (V560)
- Capstone in Public and Environmental Affairs (V600)
The concentration includes two required courses which introduce students to the fundamentals of nonprofit management:
- The Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector (V521)
- Management in the Nonprofit Sector (V525)
SPEA also offers a wide range of elective courses to meet individual objectives. This broad range of possibilities enables you to focus your concentration on those aspects that you wish to pursue and to develop career-enhancing capabilities. With the approval of a Nonprofit Management advisor, students may select from many elective options, including the following:
- Human Resource Management in Nonprofit Organizations (V522)
- Civil Society and Public Policy (V523)
- Civil Society in Comparative Perspective (V524)
- Financial Management for Nonprofit Organizations (V526)
- Fund Development for Nonprofits (V558)
- Strategic Management of Public and Nonprofit Organizations (V602)
- Legal Aspects of Philanthropy (EDUC C595)
- Special Topics: History of Philanthropy in the West (offered in Indianapolis) (HIST H509)
- Seminar in U.S. History: History of American Philanthropy (HIST H750)
- Public Relations in Nonprofits (JOUR J531)
- Seminar in the Nonprofit Corporation (LAW L794)
- Ethics of Philanthropy (REL R770)
- International Economic Strategies and Trade Policy (V577)
- Seminar in Urban Economic Development (V622)
- Museum Management (AADM Y525)
- Public Management Information Systems (V516)
- Benefit-Cost Analysis of Public and Environmental Policies (V541)
- Public Program Evaluation (V562)
- Managing Interpersonal Relations (V569)
For complete details of the Nonprofit Management curriculum, please see the Graduate Bulletin.
Faculty Expertise
SPEA faculty are involved in meaningful research in numerous aspects of nonprofit management and publish in the leading scholarly journals. In addition to their academic accomplishments, our faculty bring a rich set of nonprofit management tools based on real-world, hands-on experiences. They frequently serve as consultants to a broad range of nonprofit management activities on the local, state, and national levels.
Dual Concentrations
Dual concentrations with Nonprofit Management and other concentrations offered by SPEA – such as Economic Development or Environmental Policy and Natural Resource Management – offer unique advantages for those wanting to make a difference in particular areas of public affairs. Our faculty work to accommodate these specialized professional interests in the design of student programs.