Free Nonprofit Micro-eMBA Module #3: Role of Nonprofit Chief Executive Officer

© Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting, LLC.

This learning module is in the nonprofit organization development program. However, this module can also be used by anyone as a self-study exercise to learn more about the role of the nonprofit chief executive officer.) Much of the content of this module was adapted from the guidebook, Field Guide to Leadership and Supervision for Nonprofit Staff.

Sections of This Module Include the Following

• Introduction
• Outcomes
• Materials for Review
• Suggested Topics for Reflection and Discussion
• Activities to Build Systems and Practices
• Assessments
• Tracking Open Action Items

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INTRODUCTION

In an incorporated nonprofit organization, the chief executive officer (often called the executive director) is the singular organizational position that is primarily responsible to carry out the strategic plans and policies as established by the board of directors. The chief executive officer reports to the board of directors. This learning module provides an overview of the position of executive director, including major roles, responsibilities and functions.

The goal of this module is to provide sufficient overview to gain strong, initial perspective on the role of executive director, particularly when helping to establish the board of directors. The executive director should have at least basic understanding of all of the systems and practices conveyed across the various learning modules in this program. Therefore, this learning module does not go into great depth about each of the particular systems and practices managed by the executive director — rather, this module relies on the rest of this program to provide that depth of information.

NOTE ABOUT THE ORDER OF MODULES (AND SOME DUPLICATION WITH UPCOMING MODULE ON BUILDING BOARDS): The board of directors is legally charged to govern a nonprofit corporation. Therefore, it is often common to start training programs with an overview of the board of directors. However, in this program, this learning module about the role of the chief executive is presented before
the learning module about boards of directors.

The reason for this order of modules is as follows. Frequently nonprofits are started by someone with a strong vision for a new service to the community. That person often goes on to become the first executive director of the new nonprofit. Typically, that person also takes a very strong role (often the leading role) in the initial organization and development of the board of directors. Therefore, modules in this program are organized to help the founder (and often the first executive director) maintain clear perspective about the roles of executive director and board of directors before going on to focus attention on building the board of directors.

NOTE ABOUT BOARD COMMITTEES: If you are starting a nonprofit and using this program to do so, then you will soon be building your board. When you do, consider establishing a Board Personnel Committee to review and help guide implementation of the information in this learning module — that Committee could be very useful to help develop and support the CEO. Major activities and goals from this learning module could be incorporated in that Committee’s Committee Work Plan.

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OUTCOMES

Learners who complete this module will achieve the following outcomes:

1. Learn What a Chief Executive Officer Is
2. Understand Major Functions of CEO
3. Understand Core Knowledge and Skills for CEO Role
4. Be Prepared for Building Your Board
5. Set Basis for Strong Board-Staff Relationships
6. Avoid “Founder’s Syndrome”

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MATERIALS FOR REVIEW

• The following materials will help you address each of
  the topics and learning activities in this module.

Orientation to Chief Executive Role

• Chief Executive Role — particularly the sections:
  • What is the “Chief Executive Officer”? (review all)
  • What Do Chief Executive Officers Do? (review all)
    • General Responsibilities (review all)
    • Typical Functions/Responsibilities (review all)
    • Sample Job Description (study)
  • Core Areas of Knowledge and Skills (click on each area and scan contents)

Early, Basic Preparation for Building a Board

Mention is made to boards of directors at this point because chief executive officers of new organizations are often the people who organize and help develop the original board of directors. The board can be more fully developed in an upcoming module about boards of directors in this program.

• Overview of Board Roles and Responsibilities — particularly read each of the sections:
  • Board Roles and Responsibilities (read all)
  • Sample Job Descriptions (particularly read the role of the board chair and scan others)
  • Guidelines for Recruiting New Board Members (review closely)
  • Sample Board Application Form (review closely)
  • Ideas to Generate Participation of Board Members (review closely)

Early, Basic Preparation for Working With a Board

• Board and Staff Responsibilities (review closely)
• Sustaining High-Quality Relationship Between Board Chair and Chief Executive (review closely)
• Guidelines for Evaluating the Chief Executive (scan the guidelines)
• Sample Form to Use During Evaluation of Chief Executive (scan the form)

Optional: “Founder’s Syndrome”

Too often, chief executives who also are the founders of the organization, get the organization into trouble when the chief executive struggles to run the organization according to the mission of the organization, rather than according to the personality of the founding chief executive. Review of the following guide can give the new chief executive a solid impression of “founder’s syndrome” and how to avoid it. It’s particularly wise for the chief executive to highlight sections of the guide to share with board members in a board meeting, thus the board members can help the chief executive to avoid founder’s syndrome behavior — because founder’s syndrome is really an organizational problem, not a personal problem of the founder.
Founder’s Syndrome — How Organizations Suffer — and Can Recover

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SUGGESTED TOPICS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION

• Learners are strongly encouraged to discuss the following questions with peers, board members, management and staff, as appropriate.

Orientation to Chief Executive Role

1. What is the “definition” of a chief executive officer? (See What is the “Chief Executive Officer”?)

2. In an incorporated nonprofit, to whom does the chief executive report? (See What is the “Chief Executive Officer”?)

3. What are the five major roles of a chief executive officer? (See General Responsibilities of the Chief Executive.)

4. What are the six major functions/responsibilities of a nonprofit chief executive officer? (See Typical Functions/Responsibilities of Corporate Chief Executive Officer.)

Early, Basic Preparation for Building a Board

• Note that the founder of a nonprofit organization often recruits the first board members, and supports members to grow into their roles as board members, as well. Therefore, the founder should initially have some very basic understanding of the roles of a board. This understanding will soon be enhanced later on during further development of the board and nonprofit organization.

1. Name the five duties and ten responsibilities of boards (as listed on the materials included in your materials for review)? (Note that various experts might offer a different mix of duties and responsibilities. The important point here is to get a basic sense of the overall responsibilities of a board.) (See Board Roles and Responsibilities.)

2. To whom is the board of directors responsible? (See Board Roles and Responsibilities.)

3. What are the responsibilities of the board chair? Vice chair? Secretary? Treasurer? Board member? Be sure you understand the role of the board chair. The chief executive officer and the board chair work closely together to coordinate and support board activities. (See Sample Job Descriptions.)

4. Of the 10 guidelines for recruiting board members, how many can you remember? The chief executive officer often plays a key role in recruiting the first members of the board of a new nonprofit organization. (See Guidelines for Recruiting New Board Members.)

5. What information is requested by the board application (as listed in your materials for review)? (You might customize your own application form, of course.) (See Sample Board Application Form.)

Early, Basic Preparation for Working With a Board

1. Test your initial knowledge of the roles of board and staff by completing the table at Board Roles and Responsibilities — Test Your Knowledge. Next, compare your answers to the answers depicted in the table Board and Staff Responsibilities .

2. Name at least five actions that chief executives and board chair can take to ensure an ongoing, strong working relationship. (See Board and Staff Responsibilities and Sustaining High-Quality Relationship Between Board Chair and Chief Executive.)

3. Name at least five actions the chief executive and board members can take to ensure ongoing, strong participation of board members. (See Ideas to Generate Participation of Board Members.)

4. Describe the general procedure for evaluating the chief executive. (See Guidelines for Evaluating the Chief Executive and Sample Form to Use During Evaluation of Chief Executive.)

Optional: “Founder’s Syndrome”

• “Founder’s Syndrome” can easily occur in a new nonprofit. Leaders of new nonprofits can avoid a great deal of pain and hardship by understanding the basics of this syndrome and how to avoid it. When addressing the following questions, refer to the document Founder’s Syndrome.

1. What is “Founder’s Syndrome”?

2. What causes it?

3. How can you recognize it?

4. Name at least three actions that boards can take to address it.

5. Name at least three actions that chief executives can take to address it.

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ACTIVITIES TO BUILD SYSTEMS AND PRACTICES

• Learners are strongly encouraged to complete the following activities, and share and discuss results with peers, board members, management and staff, as appropriate.
• As you proceed through the following activities, be sure to note any incomplete actions in the Action Item Planning List.

Writing a CEO Job Description

1. Draft a job description for the position of chief executive officer of your organization. If applicable, present the draft to your board for review and authorization. (See Sample Job Description. Note that this job description should not merely be adopted as is, rather it should be modified according to the nature of and needs of your organization.)

Getting Ready to Recruit Your First Board Members

Basic Materials to Prepare

1. Draft a list of guidelines you can follow to being recruiting members for your board. (See Guidelines for Recruiting New Board Members.)

2. Draft a board application form that you can use to begin recruiting members for your board. (See Sample Board Application Form.)

3. One of the biggest turn-offs to potential board members is the appearance of a nonprofit that’s out of control, or that’s in crisis. The planning and systems you’ll glean from this online program will help your nonprofit be attractive to potential board members. For now, gather materials that will help potential board members understand your organization, for example, brochures, your mission statement, testimonials from clients, descriptions of community problems you’d like to address with your nonprofit, etc. Give them job descriptions of board members. (You’ll soon develop more useful board materials in an upcoming module in this program.)

Identify Potential Board Members — Focus on Skills in Finances, Programs and Fundraising

4. Make a list of what skills are needed by your nonprofit. Think about what skills — not just what people – are needed on your board. If you’re just getting started with your new organization, then you can use almost any help you can get — but there are certain skills that are usually very useful early on, for example, financial help, fundraising help, help designing programs, etc. Your needs will become more clear to you when you start and finish strategic planning in an upcoming module in this program. (Reference the Sample Board Recruitment Grid.)

5. Should you be a member of your board? Why or why not? What are the advantages and disadvantages? (See Should CEO Be On the Board? (scroll down).)

6. Write a list of at least five people whom you will approach to join your board. (See Sample Job Descriptions and Sample Board Application Form.)

Managing Your Early Board and Staff Relations

1. What problems might you foresee in working with a board? It can be a major challenge for strong, visionary founders to help organize and develop a group of people to whom he or she reports. Write a list of the advantages and disadvantages to you. How can you overcome the problems that you might foresee? Present your concerns in an upcoming board meeting and ask for open discussion around your concerns. Or, approach another appropriate source of help — but do address your concerns. They’re likely to only get worse if left unaddressed. (See Board and Staff Responsibilities and Sustaining High-Quality Relationship Between Board Chair and Chief Executive.)

Building the Foundation for Board’s Evaluation of Chief Executive

1. Draft a set of performance goals for the role of chief executive officer for your organization. The board of directors should evaluate the performance of the chief executive officer on a regular basis. This evaluation should be done on a regular basis and should include reference to the responsibilities listed in the job description and performance goals for the year. The performance goals should be closely aligned with goals established during strategic planning. Performance goals defined during this module should be updated as a result of the strategic planning conducted in the upcoming learning module about strategic planning. (See Guidelines for Evaluating the Chief Executive, Sample Form to Use During Evaluation of Chief Executive and Performance Management (basics concepts).)

2. Write a set of guidelines that will be followed by your nonprofit to evaluate the chief executive officer. Have the board members review the guidelines. (Later on in the learning module about boards, we will formally adopt a set of guidelines for evaluating the chief executive officer.) (See Guidelines for Evaluating the Chief Executive and Sample Form to Use During Evaluation of Chief Executive.)

Optional: Does Your Organization Have “Founder’s Syndrome”?

1. Share copies of the Founder’s Syndrome document with board members, if you already have them. Set aside 15 minutes in an upcoming meeting to share reactions and ideas about what you might do in the coming months in order to avoid the syndrome. Write down an action plan of what you will do, who will do it and by when. In the action plan, include actions the chief executive officer and the board can take.

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ASSESSMENTS

The next learning module will provide an overview of basic management and leadership skills needed to start and manage a nonprofit organization. However, you might find it useful to begin thinking about your own skills at this time. If so, consider the following assessments.
Needs Assessments for Management Training and Development

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TRACKING OPEN ACTION ITEMS

1. One of the first indicators that an organization or a person is struggling is that open action items are not tracked and reviewed. (Open action items are required actions that have not yet been completed.) Instead, people only see and react to the latest “fires” in their workplaces or their lives. Whether open action items are critical to address now or not, they should not entirely be forgotten.

Therefore, update and regularly review a list of open action items (identified while proceeding through this program) that includes listing each open action item, who is responsible to complete it, when it should be completed and any associated comments. When updating the list, consider action items as identified during discussions, learning activities and assessments in this module.

Share and regularly review this action item list with the appropriate peers, board, management and employees in your organization. You can use the following Action Item Planning List. (At that Web address, a box might open, asking you which software application to open the document.)

2. If you have questions, consider posing them in the national, free, online discussion group hr.com, which is attended by many human resource and organization development experts.

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(Learners in the nonprofit organization development program can return to the nonprofit organization development program.)

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For the Category of Leadership:

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may want to review some related topics, available from the link below. Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.

• Related Library Topics
• Recommended Books

Framework for Basic Nonprofit Program Structural Design

© Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting,
LLC.

Description

The following framework will guide you through design of the basic overall
structure for a nonprofit program. Nonprofit management can reference this structure
when planning program resources and budgets, staffing and operational procedures
to provide services to clients.

NOTE: The framework depicts a useful format, but should be duplicated into
an editable version, for example, into Microsoft Word.

Readers are encouraged to work with a planning team in their
organization to fill in this framework. After completing this
framework, readers can move information from the framework to
a more suitable document to be the final version of the plan document,
if desired.

Also consider
Related Library Topics

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[NAME OF YOUR NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION!]

STRUCTURAL DESIGN FOR

[name of program!]

[date!]

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Purpose of Program Structural Design

Program Outcomes

Program Goals

Program Strategies

Program Objectives, Responsibilities and Timelines

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Purpose of Program Structural Design

The structural design is the “skeleton” on which
the nonprofit program is designed. Nonprofit management can reference
this structure when planning program resources and budgets, staffing
and operational procedures to provide services to clients.

The “skeleton” is comprised of the program goals,
strategies and objectives, which should follow directly from the
goals, strategies and objectives produced during strategic planning.
The program goals are selected in order to accomplish certain
benefits, or outcomes, for clients.

The goals, outcomes, strategies and objectives are a major
portion of the program plan. This plan usually also includes description
of resources needed to achieve the goals and objectives, and the
funding necessary to obtain and use the resources. Required resources
usually includes human resources, which are often described in
terms of necessary skills and capabilities. The necessary funding
is often depicted in the form of a program budget.

Program strategies are usually carefully described in the form
of descriptions of methods to deliver services to clients.

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Program Goal(s)

Each program should be intended to achieve at least one
of the strategic goals, and may achieve more. List the strategic
goal(s) to be accomplished by this program. Write goals to be
“SMARTER”, that is, specific, measurable, acceptable
to those achieving the goals, realistic, timely, extending the
capabilities of those achieving the goals and rewarding to them,
as well.

Example Program Goal #1: Support at least 600 drop-outs
from Minneapolis high schools to obtain diplomas or equivalent
levels of certification

1. ______________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

2. ______________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

3. ______________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

4. ______________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

5. ______________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

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Program Outcome(s)

Program goals are intended to accomplish certain benefits,
or outcomes, for clients. List the outcomes intended from the
program. Note that outcomes are not always directly associated
with a specific goal, but may be accomplished across several goals.

• Example Outcome #1 — Drop-outs from Minneapolis high
  schools obtain high school diplomas or equivalent levels of certification
• Example Outcome #2 — Within three months after getting
  certification, participants obtain at least half-time employment
  or enroll in an accredited program to further their education

1. ______________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

2. ______________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

3. ______________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

4. ______________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

5. ______________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

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Program Strategies

Program strategies are the major methods that are intended
to be used to achieve the goals of the program. Often there are
a set of strategies for each goal. However, strategies may combine
to accomplish several goals. Program strategies often become major
methods for delivering services to clients. Strategies also determine
the resources needed by a program. List the strategies for the
program.

• Example Program Goal #1: Support at least 600 drop-outs
  from Minneapolis high schools to obtain diplomas or equivalent
  levels of certification
• Example Program Strategy 1.1 — Conduct high-school
  equivalency training programs to drop-outs from Minneapolis high
  schools
• Example Program Strategy 1.2 — Provide free transportation
  to enrollees in the program
• Example Program Strategy 1.3 — Provide subsidized
  child care to enrollees in the program

Goals Accomplished by the Strategies: # ___, ___, ___, ___,
etc.

Strategy # __.__ ______________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

Strategy # __.__ ______________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

Strategy # __.__ ______________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

Strategy # __.__ ______________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

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Program Objectives, Responsibilities and Timelines

Program objectives are smaller goals that are intended to be
achieved while achieving the overall program goals and implementing
the strategies to achieve the program goals. Similar to goals,
objectives should be written to be “SMARTER”.

• Example Program Goal #1: Support at least 600 drop-outs
  from Minneapolis high schools to obtain diplomas or equivalent
  levels of certification
• Example Program Strategy 1.1 — Conduct high-school equivalency
  training programs to drop-outs from Minneapolis high schools
• Example Program Strategy 1.2 — Provide free transportation
  to enrollees in the program
• Example Program Strategy 1.3 — Provide subsidized child
  care to enrollees in the program

Objectives for Strategy 1.1	Date of Completion	Responsibility	Status and Date
1.1.1. Complete program plan	2/1/99	Program Director
1.1.2. Hire training director	3/31/99	Program Director
1.1.3 – Develop training program	1/1/00	Program Director
1.1.4 – Contract with high schools to get referrals about drop outs	9/1/99	Program Director
>1.1.5 – Pilot and evaluate pilot program	3/1/00	Program Director
<1.1.6 – Train at least 600 drop outs	12/31/00	Program Director
1.1.7 – Test to ensure at least 600 qualify for high school diplomas	12/31/00	Program Director
1.1.8 – Finish program evaluation	2/15/01	Program Director

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Your Program Objectives, Responsibilities and Timelines

(You should copy this page as needed.)

Objectives for Strategy __ . __	Date of Completion	Responsibility	Status and Date
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |

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For the Category of Marketing:

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may
want to review some related topics, available from the link below.
Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been
selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.

Related Library Topics

Recommended Books

Free Nonprofit Micro-eMBA Module #11: Designing Your Program Evaluation Plans

© Copyright Carter
McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting, LLC.

Much of the information in this module is adapted from Field Guide to Nonprofit Program Design, Marketing
and Evaluation.) This learning module is in the nonprofit organization development program.
However, this module can also be used by anyone as a self-study
exercise to learn more about nonprofit program evaluation.

Sections of This Module Include the Following

Introduction
Outcomes
Materials for Review
Suggested Topics for Reflection and Discussion
Activities to Build Systems and Practices
Assessments
Tracking Open Action Items

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INTRODUCTION

Nonprofits deliver their services to the their communities
in the form of programs. There is a common misconception
that a program is the activities of delivering services — but
that’s not correct. A program is

• a highly integrated set of activities
• that aims to meet a verified, unmet need in the community
• by accomplishing certain outcomes
• among certain groups clients and
• by evaluating that those outcomes are being achieved among
  those clients.

Thus, the design of a program should include verifying that
there indeed is an unmet need in the community. That has to include
more than the passionate assertions of the founders of the nonprofit
— it has to include objective, verifiable evidence of the unmet
need. The design should include verifying what outcomes need to
be achieved, including what new knowledge, skills and abilities
among the clients to be served. Program evaluation should regularly
be conducted to verify that those outcomes are being achieved.

The activities of program evaluation can include a wide
variety of methods to evaluate many aspects of programs in nonprofits.
As with any evaluation activity, the type of evaluation used,
depends on what the organization wants to be able to do as a result
of the evaluation, whether it’s, for example, to improve the program’s
processes or measure results of the program. There are many types
of program evaluations. For example, a goals-based evaluation
examines if the goals of a program were achieved or not. A process
evaluation examines the strengths and weaknesses of the program’s
processes. An outcomes-evaluation examines what outcomes
were achieved and the extent to which desired outcome were achieved.

There are numerous books and other materials that provide in-depth
analysis of evaluations, their designs, methods, combination of
methods and techniques of analysis. However, personnel do not
have to be experts in these topics to carry out a useful program
evaluation. The “20-80” rule applies here, that 20%
of effort generates 80% of the needed results. It’s better to
do what might turn outs to be an average effort at evaluation
than to do no evaluation at all because of concerns of not doing
it perfectly. Far too many program evaluations become extended,
scientifically-based, data-driven efforts that generate information
that is either impractical or irrelevant — if the information
is understood at all. This learning module orients personnel to
the nature of program evaluation and how it can be carried out
in a realistic and practical fashion.

NOTE ABOUT BOARD COMMITTEES: Consider using the Board Programs
and Marketing Committee to review and help guide implementation
the information in this learning module. Major activities and
goals from this learning module could be incorporated in that
Committee’s Committee Work Plan.

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OUTCOMES

General Program Evaluation

1. Understanding Program Evaluation, Goals and Types
2. Gain Overview of Data Collection Methods
3. Understand Guidelines for Analyzing, Interpreting and Reporting
   Information
4. Recognize Pitfalls to Avoid
5. Evaluate Your Program Planning and Evaluation Practices

Outcomes-Based Evaluations

1. Get Ready for Your Outcomes Planning
2. Select Your Outcomes and Target Outcomes
3. Develop Your Logic Model
4. Identify Indicators for Each of Your Target Outcomes
5. Decide What Data You Need and How You Will Collect It
6. Gain Guidelines for Your Data Analyses
7. Draft Your Outcomes-Based Evaluation Report

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MATERIALS FOR REVIEW

• The following materials will help you address each of
  the topics and learning activities in this module.

Basic
Guide to Program Evaluation (about evaluation, in general)
— read all of each of the following sections:
– – – Program
Evaluation
– – – Where
Program Evaluation is Helpful
– – – Basic
Ingredients: Organization and Program(s)
– – – Planning
Your Program Evaluation
– – – Some
Major Types of Program Evaluation
– – – Overview
of Methods to Collect Information
– – – Selecting
Which Methods to Use
– – – Analyzing
and Interpreting Information
– – – Reporting
Evaluation Results
– – – Who
Should Carry Out the Evaluation?
– – – Contents
of an Evaluation Plan
– – – Pitfalls
to Avoid

Outcomes Evaluation — read all of each of the following sections:
– – – Reasons
for Priority on Outcomes-Based Evaluation
– – – Basic
Principles for Small Nonprofits to Remember Before Starting
– – – What
is Outcomes-Based Evaluation?
– – – Common
Myths to Get Out of the Way Before You Start Your Outcomes Planning
– – – Planning
Any Type of Evaluation Includes Answers to These Very Basic Questions
– – – Planning
Your Outcomes Evaluation — Step 1: Getting Ready
– – – Planning
Your Outcomes Evaluation — Step 2: Choosing Outcomes
– – – Planning
Your Outcomes Evaluation — Step 3: Selecting Indicators
– – – Planning
Your Outcomes Evaluation — Step 4: Planning Data/Info Collection
– – – Planning
Your Outcomes Evaluation — Step 5: Piloting/Testing
– – – Planning
Your Outcomes Evaluation — Step 6: Analyzing/Reporting Results

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SUGGESTED TOPICS FOR REFLECTION
AND DISCUSSION

• Learners are strongly encouraged to discuss the following
  questions with peers, board members, management and staff, as
  appropriate.

Program Evaluation in General

1. What is “program evaluation”? Name at least three
of its benefits — or three situations when it is helpful? (See
Program Evaluation and Where Program Evaluation is Helpful.)

2. What are the two key ingredients you need to have before
you can conduct program evaluation? (HINT: The answer may be simpler
than you think, but it’s surprising how many nonprofit do not
have both of these ingredients before they set out to conduct
program evaluation!) (See Basic Ingredients.)

3. What determines how you will conduct your program evaluation?
(HINT: Your program evaluation plans depend on what _____ you
need to collect in order to make major_____.) (See Planning Your Program Evaluation.)

4. Name at least four of the seven key considerations when
designing program evaluations. (See Planning Your Program Evaluation.)

5. What are three major types of evaluations typically done
when carrying out nonprofit program evaluations? (There are many
types of evaluations. This question asks about major types of
evaluation used in program evaluation in nonprofits.) (See Some Major Types of Program Evaluation.)

6. Name at least four of the six major methods of data collection
as listed in the information about program evaluation. (See Overview of Methods to Collect Information .)

7. Name at least five of the nine questions that should be
considered when selecting the evaluation method (when conducting
program evaluation). (See Selecting Which Methods to Use.)

8. What are the four levels of information that can be gathered
from people during a program evaluation? (See Selecting Which Methods to Use.)

9. Name at least three of the five pitfalls of program evaluation
planning. (See Pitfalls to Avoid.)

Outcomes-Based Evaluation

1. What are the major reasons that outcomes-based evaluation
is a top priority among nonprofit funders and service providers
today. (See Reasons for Priority on Implementing Outcomes-Based
Evaluation.)

2. What are program inputs? Activities? Outputs? Outcomes?
Outcome targets? Indicators? (See What is Outcomes-Based Evaluation? )

3. What is the difference between outputs and outcomes? Outputs
and indicators? Indicators and outcome targets? (See What is Outcomes-Based Evaluation? )

4. Name at least three of the six myths listed in the suggested
materials for review. (See Common Myths to Get Out of the Way Before You
Start Planning)

5. Name at least five of the typical questions answered in
almost any type of evaluation. (See Planning Any Type of Evaluation Includes Answers
to These Very Basic Questions.)

6. Name the guidelines for picking which program to evaluate.
(See Planning Your Outcomes Evaluation — Step 1:
Getting Ready.)

7. What is a logic model? (See Planning Your Outcomes Evaluation — Step 2:
Choosing Outcomes.)

8. What should you look for in short-term outcomes? Intermediate
outcomes? Long-term outcomes? (See Planning Your Outcomes Evaluation — Step 2:
Choosing Outcomes.)

9. What is a questionnaire? Interview? Case study? (See Planning Your Outcomes Evaluation — Step 4:
Planning Data/Info Collection.)

10. What are some practical considerations when selecting which
data collection method to use? (See Planning Your Outcomes Evaluation — Step 4:
Planning Data/Info Collection.)

11. What should you always do with the data that you’ve
collected before you analyze it? (See Planning Your Outcomes Evaluation — Step 6:
Analyzing/Reporting Results.)

12. What ultimately determines the level and scope of the evaluation
report? (See Planning Your Outcomes Evaluation — Step 6:
Analyzing/Reporting Results.)

13. Name at least five of the sections of a typical evaluation
report. (See Planning Your Outcomes Evaluation — Step 6:
Analyzing/Reporting Results.)

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ACTIVITIES TO BUILD SYSTEMS AND
PRACTICES

• Learners are strongly encouraged to complete the following
  activities, and share and discuss results with peers, board members,
  management and staff, as appropriate.
• As you proceed through the following activities, be sure
  to note any incomplete actions in the Action Item Planning List.

Writing Your Overall Program Evaluation Plan

Complete the following checklist about each of the program
that you would like to evaluate.

Purpose of Evaluation?
What do you want to be able to decide as a result of the evaluation?
For example:
__ Understand, verify or increase impact of products or services
on customers/clients (eg, outcomes evaluation)
__ Improve delivery mechanisms to be more efficient and less costly
(eg, process evaluation)
__ Verify that we’re doing what we think we’re doing (eg, process
evaluation)
__ Clarify program goals, processes and outcomes for management
planning
__ Public relations
__ Program comparisons, eg., to decide which should be retained
__ Fully examine and describe effective programs for duplication
elsewhere
__ Other reason(s)

Audience(s) for the Evaluation?
Who are the audiences for the information from the evaluation,
for example:
__ Clients/customers
__ Funders/Investors
__ Board members
__ Management
__ Staff/employees
__ Other(s) _______________

What Kinds of Information Are Needed?
What kinds of information are needed to make the decision you
need to make and/or enlighten your intended audiences, for example,
information to understand:
__ The process of the product or service delivery (its inputs,
activities and outputs)
__ The customers/clients who experience the product or service
__ Strengths and weaknesses of the product or service
__ Benefits to customers/clients (outcomes)
__ How the product or service failed and why, etc.
__ Other type(s) of information?

Type of Evaluation?
Based on the purpose of the evaluation and the kinds of information
needed, what types of evaluation is being planned?
__ Goal-based?
__ Process-based?
__ Outcomes-based?
__ Other(s)? ___________________________________________________

Where Should Information Be Collected From?
__ Staff/employees
__ Clients/customers
__ Program documentation
__ Funders/Investors
__ Other(s) _____________

How Can Information Be Collected in Reasonable and Realistic
Fashion?
__ Questionnaires
__ Interviews
__ Documentation
__ Observing clients/customers
__ Observing staff/employees
__ Conducting focus groups among ______

When is the Information Needed?

What Resources Are Available to Collect the Information?

Writing Your Outcomes-Based Evaluation Plan

Complete each of the steps specified in the following sections.
You will be asked to include some of your answers in the Framework for a Basic Outcomes-Based Evaluation
Plan, which will culminate in your developing your basic outcomes-based
evaluation plan. (You might want to convert the Framework to your
preferred word-processing software to make it easier to modify.)

1. Planning Your Outcomes Evaluation — Step 1:
Getting Ready

2. Planning Your Outcomes Evaluation — Step 2:
Choosing Outcomes

3. Planning Your Outcomes Evaluation — Step 3:
Selecting Indicators

4. Planning Your Outcomes Evaluation — Step 4:
Planning Data/Info Collection

5. Planning Your Outcomes Evaluation — Step 5:
Piloting/Testing

6. Planning Your Outcomes Evaluation — Step 6:
Analyzing/Reporting Results

---

ASSESSMENTS

1. Planning
Indicators (Best Practices) (includes program planning and evaluation)

---

REMINDERS FOR THOSE IN THE ON-LINE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

1. Are you exchanging feedback with others about what you’re
learning in this program?

2. Are you sticking to your study schedule for this program?

3. Are you practicing your basic skills in management and leadership,
including in problem solving and decision making, planning and
meeting management?

4. Are you communicating throughout your organization by using
your skills in internal communications?

5. Are you managing yourself? How many hours a week are you
working? Are you noticing any signs of stress? If so, what are
you doing about it?

6. One of the ways you might be able to tell if you’re stressed
out and/or losing perspective might be whether you’re tracking
details or not. Are you using the action item list referenced
above?

7. Are you reflecting on learnings from past modules and how they build on the learning
in this module? For example, are you seeing your organization from a systems view,
as explained in the module “Starting and Understanding Your Nonprofit?”

---

TRACKING OPEN ACTION ITEMS

1. One of the first indicators that an organization is struggling
is that open action items are not tracked and reviewed. (Open
action items are required actions that have not yet been completed.)
Instead, organization members only see and react to the latest
“fires in the workplace”. Whether open action items
are critical to address now or not, they should not entirely be
forgotten. Therefore, update and regularly review a list of open
action items that includes listing each open action item, who
is responsible to complete it, when it should be completed and
any associated comments. When updating the list, consider action
items as identified during discussions, learning activities and
assessments in this module. Share and regularly review this action
item list with the appropriate board, management and staff members
in your nonprofit. You can use the following Action Item Planning List.

2. If you have questions, consider posing them in the national,
free, online discussion group hr.com, which is attended
by many human resource and organization development experts.

---

(Learners in the nonprofit organization development
program can return to the nonprofit organization development program.)

---

For the Category of Evaluations (Many Kinds):

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may
want to review some related topics, available from the link below.
Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been
selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.

Related Library Topics

Recommended Books

Framework for a Basic Nonprofit Program Evaluation Plan

© Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting, LLC.

Directions

The following framework will guide you through completion of your basic program evaluation plan document. Resources and basic questions to fill in each section of the plan are referenced in Module 7: Program Design and Marketing

Readers are encouraged to work with a planning team in their organization to fill in this framework. After completing this framework, readers can move information from the framework to a more suitable document to be the final version of the plan document, if desired.

Also consider
Related Library Topics

---

[NAME OF YOUR NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION!]

PROGRAM EVALUATION PLAN FOR

[name of program!]

[date!]

---

Purpose of Evaluation?
What do you want to be able to decide as a result of the evaluation? For example:
__ Understand, verify or increase impact of products or services on customers/clients (eg, outcomes evaluation)
__ Improve delivery mechanisms to be more efficient and less costly (eg, process evaluation)
__ Verify that we’re doing what we think we’re doing (eg, process evaluation)
__ Clarify program goals, processes and outcomes for management planning
__ Public relations
__ Program comparisons, eg., to decide which should be retained
__ Fully examine and describe effective programs for duplication elsewhere
__ Other reason(s)

Audience(s) for the Evaluation?
Who are the audiences for the information from the evaluation, for example:
__ Clients/customers
__ Funders/Investors
__ Board members
__ Management
__ Staff/employees
__ Other(s) _________________

What Kinds of Information Are Needed?
What kinds of information are needed to make the decision you need to make and/or enlighten your intended audiences, for example, information to understand:
__ The process of the product or service delivery (its inputs, activities and outputs)
__ The customers/clients who experience the product or service
__ Strengths and weaknesses of the product or service
__ Benefits to customers/clients (outcomes)
__ How the product or service failed and why, etc.
__ Other type(s) of information?

Type of Evaluation?
Based on the purpose of the evaluation and the kinds of information needed, what types of evaluation is being planned?
__ Goal-based?
__ Process-based?
__ Outcomes-based?
__ Other(s)? _____________

Where Should Information Be Collected From?
__ Staff/employees
__ Clients/customers
__ Program documentation
__ Funders/Investors
__ Other(s) _____________

How Can Information Be Collected in Reasonable and Realistic Fashion?
__ Questionnaires
__ Interviews
__ Documentation
__ Observing clients/customers
__ Observing staff/employees
__ Conducting focus groups among_____

When is the Information Needed?

What Resources Are Available to Collect the Information?

---

For the Category of Evaluations (Many Kinds):

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may want to review some related topics, available from the link below. Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.

• Related Library Topics
• Recommended Books

Free Nonprofit Micro-eMBA for Nonprofits – Program You Can Provide

© Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting,
LLC. Much of this program is based on materials adapted from
the Nonprofit Capacity Building Toolkit(SM)
and Field Guide to Consulting and Organizational Development
With Nonprofits.

Complete, Free Nonprofit Development Program

• As a free, self-paced program for entrepreneurs to develop
  a nonprofit organization.
• As a free, self-paced program to understand systems and practices
  in nonprofits.
• By organizations to promptly provide a nonprofit organizational
  development program.

If You Want to Do the Program

• There is no enrollment needed. Just pick the modules that
  you want to do, and start them.
• If you are using the program to start a nonprofit, do all
  the modules in the order listed in the program.
• There is no certification or degree — the program is entirely
  for your learning. See the links below.

If Your Organization Wants to Provide the Program

• Organizations can provide this program. Directions are provided
  below.
• Those organizations might evaluate learners’ results and
  issue certifications, if they choose.
• For more information, see the links below.

If You Are Focusing on For-Profits

See the Free Micro-eMBA(SM)

---

Table of Contents

Who

Who Can Benefit from Program
Results for Learners and Their Organizations
Nature of Learners Who Will — And Won’t
— Thrive in this Program

What

Program Design and Format of Learning Modules
Catalog and Links to Learning Modules

How

Cost of Program and Time to Complete
It
Please Tell Others About This Program!
Providing Program Requires Little
in Resources and Expertise — Here’s How!
Program Not to Be Used to Generate
Profits
How Do I Get Started?

---

Who Can Benefit From Program

• Highly motivated learners who:
  – Have limited time and money
  – Prefer to schedule and locate their own learning experiences
  – Prefer highly practical results from programs
• Nonprofit executives and board members seeking guidance
  to start a nonprofit or to firm up the foundation of an already
  established nonprofit
• Nonprofit service providers who wish to offer highly
  accessible and practical nonprofit organization development programs
  in their areas
• Nonprofit middle managers or entry-level personnel
  who desire highly accessible and adaptable means to professional
  development for advancement in their careers
• Consultants and volunteers who desire understanding
  of nonprofit organizations, their systems and practices, in order
  to provide more effective community service

---

Results for Learners and Their Organizations

Personal and Organizational Outcomes (knowledge, skills and
abilities)

• Complete and careful deliberation about whether to start
  a nonprofit organization
• Guidance to register new nonprofit organization for incorporation,
  tax-exemption, etc.
• Broad understanding of their nonprofit, including structures,
  systems, culture and life cycle
• Basic understanding of the role of chief executive officer
• Basic skills needed to recruit the first board members and
  work with the new board
• Basic skills in management and leadership in order to plan,
  organize, lead and coordinate activities in their nonprofit
• Basic oversight and governance provided by resourced and
  trained board of directors
• Basic and integrated planning processes for strategic direction,
  program development and marketing and evaluation, financial management,
  fundraising, and staffing and supervision of employees and volunteers
• Substantial cost savings from continued access to free, complete,
  online materials for personal, professional and organizational
  development
• (Outcomes from each module are listed near the top of each
  module.)

Program Outputs (tangible results)

Learners in the program produce the following results:

• Job description of chief executive officer
• Management and leadership training plans
• Complete resources to equip board members
• Training plan and materials to train the board
• Strategic plan
• Operating and program budgets
• Program design plan
• Program marketing analysis (for each service)
• Public and media relations plan
• Sales plan
• Advertising and promotions plan
• Customer service plan
• Financial report and analysis
• Fundraising plan
• Policies for staffing and supervising employees and volunteers
• Volunteer management plan
• Program evaluation plans, including outcomes-based evaluations
• Assessments of practices in areas of legal, fundraising,
  financial management, staff and volunteer management, board practices,
  organizational planning, program planning and program evaluation

Note that the recurring processes that produce the above items
are at least as important — if not more important — than the
items themselves. This program carefully guides the learner through
those processes.

---

Nature of Learners Who Will — and Won’t — Thrive in this
Program

Who Will Thrive

This highly accessible and practical program is particularly
useful for highly motivated learners who:
1. Trust their own ability to manage and carry out their own learning
2. Understand that in learning, you don’t always get what you
pay for — but you get out what you put in
3. Prefer practical results (along with powerful outcomes) from
a program, e.g., results such as plans, policies and procedures,
job descriptions, financial statements, etc.
4. Who cannot afford to pay the rapidly increasing costs of tuition
and materials
5. Who are geographically remote from educational facilities
6. Prefer to schedule and locate their own learning experiences
7. Can see the value of self-directed, “homeschooled”
learning with the support of peers in an atmosphere of trust and
confidentiality
8. Prefer to share ongoing ideas, materials and support among
peers
9. Lastly, learners will thrive in this state-of-the-art program
if they have a sense of adventure about new experiences and the
patience for learning new ways of doing things

Who Will Not Thrive

Perhaps the best way to convey the nature of people who won’t
thrive in this program is to point out certain myths that many
of us have come to believe over the years. This program will not
be appealing to people who tend to believe (consciously or unconsciously)
that:
1. The prettier the content and materials, the more valid the
content and materials
2. The more expensive the program, the more learning that will
be accomplished (the fallacy of “executive-level pricing”)
3. The more books and binders in the program, the more learning
in the program
4. Program certification and diplomas represent guaranteed learning
that was accomplished by participants in the program
5. Learning occurs primarily in a classroom
6. Educators can always manage learners’ learning better than
the learners themselves

---

Program Design and Format of Learning Modules

Arrangement of Modules — From Building Basics to Complete
Nonprofit Fitness Test

The program includes 12, online learning modules. Modules are “courses”
through which learners progress in the program. Materials and activities for
learning are tightly integrated with each other across various modules in the
program. A listing of the learning modules is included in the section Links to Learning Modules, which directs learners through
the learning modules. Note that learners can choose to complete modules according
to their own needs, as well.

Learners Can Start Anywhere in the Program

The program can be highly useful to learners regardless of
the order in which they go through the modules in the program.
Learning modules are arranged generally in the order needed
to develop an organization from the ground up. Learners who are
going through the program primarily as a form of training and
development can proceed in a sequential fashion through the Links to Learning Modules,
and address the a) topics for discussion and reflection and the
b) activities to build systems and practices both of which are
posed in each learning module.

Note that the activities required to build and manage a healthy
nonprofit organization are usually cyclical and highly integrated in nature —
for example, program planning often produces learning that, in
turn, polishes previous strategic planning activities. Therefore,
learners are guided to revisit certain portions of various learning
modules at various points in the program.

Format of Each Learning Module

Learning modules (other than the first and last) have the following
format:

• Introduction — explains how the module fits into
  the program and the overall process of nonprofit organization
  development
• Outcomes — lists the new knowledge, skills, practices
  and systems that learners will accomplish from completing that
  module
• Specific Materials for Review — references specific
  and free materials needed to respond to all suggested topics
  for discussion and reflection and to the learning activities
  to build basic systems and practices
• Specific Topics and Questions for Reflection and Discussion
  — highlights key concepts to understand about the overall topic
  of the learning module
• Specific Activities to Build Systems and Practices
  — guides the learner to develop the basic systems and practices
  to successfully build and manage the nonprofit
• Assessments — helps the learner measure and / or
  evaluate extent of application of that topic to the learner’s
  nonprofit
• Tracking Open Action Items — guides the learner throughout
  the program to consistently record and track any incomplete action
  items remaining from the current and previous learning modules
• Reminders to Learners — some of the modules pose
  miscellaneous reminders for learners to ensure they’re using
  information and skills from previous learning modules

---

Links to Learning Modules

The Free Nonprofit Micro-eMBA has numerous modules that pertain to program development.
Each of the modules suggests specific materials for
review, specific topics for discussion and reflection, and specific
activities to develop basic systems and practices. Various modules
also include assessments and guidelines to record and monitor
action items from current and previous learning modules.

Module
1: Program Orientation — Getting the Most from This Program

1. Guidelines for You to Get the Most from this Program
2. Tips to Improve Your Reading and Studying Skills
3. Extensive Free, Online Resources for You
4. Design Your Best Approach to the Program

Module
2: Starting & Understanding Your Nonprofit

Starting Your Nonprofit:

1. Clarify What You Mean by “Nonprofit”
2. Decide if You Are an Entrepreneur
3. Decide If Should You Start with Fiscal Sponsorship
4. Get Guidelines to Incorporation and Tax-Exemption

Understanding Your Nonprofit:

1. Know How to Classify Your Nonprofit With the IRS
2. Recognize Key Roles in Your Nonprofit
3. Learn Basic Structures in Your Nonprofit
4. Recognize the Life Cycle of Your Nonprofit
5. Classify the Culture of Your Nonprofit
6. Verify Your Nonprofit Meets Regulations

Module
3: Understanding the Role of Chief Executive

• Learn What a Chief Executive Officer Is
• Understand Major Functions of CEO
• Understand Core Knowledge and Skills for CEO Role
• Be Prepared for Building Your Board
• Set Basis for Strong Board-Staff Relationships
• Avoid “Founder’s Syndrome”

Module
4: Developing Your Basic Management & Leadership Skills

Gain Basic Skills in:

1. Problem Solving and Decision Making
2. Planning
3. Delegation
4. Internal Communications
5. Meeting Management
6. Managing Yourself

Optional:

1. Review Advanced Topics in Management and Leadership
2. Design Your Management and Leadership Development Plans

Module
5: Building and Training Your Board of Directors

• Understand Roles and Responsibilities of a Board
• Adopt Board Policies
• Build Board Committees
• Recruit New Board Members
• Ensure Strong Participation of Board Members
• Prepare for Board and CEO Evaluations
• Build Board Calendar to Schedule All Operations
• Organize a Board Manual
• Train Board Members
• Assess the Health of Your Board Practices

Module
6: Developing Your Strategic Plan

• Understand the Strategic Planning Process
• Draft Your Mission, Vision and Values Statements
• Conduct Basic Strategic Analysis
• Set Strategic Direction
• Conduct Action Planning
• Draft an Operating Budget
• Write and Communicate Your Plan
• Monitor and Evaluate Your Strategic Plan
• Evaluate Your Strategic Planning Practice

Module
7: Developing and Marketing Your Programs

• Understand Program Design
• Construct a Program Logic Model
• Clarify Program Outcomes, Goals and Strategies
• Conduct Basic Market Analysis for Each Program
• Draft Your Public and Media Relations Plan
• Draft Your Sales Plan
• Draft Your Advertising and Promotions Plan
• Organize Your Marketing and Promotions Plan
• Evaluate Your Program Planning Practices

Module
8: Managing Your Nonprofit’s Finances and Taxes

Financial Management

1. Learn Basics of Bookkeeping and Finances
2. Understand Budgeting and Deviation Analysis
3. Understand Basic Cash Management Practices
4. Recognize Major Nonprofit Financial Statements
5. Know Basics of Nonprofit Financial Analysis
6. Evaluate Your Financial Management Practices

Managing Taxes

1. Know Key Steps to Apply for Tax-Exempt Status
2. Access Form to File Form 990
3. Know When Unrelated Business Income Applies
4. Know Terms of Lobby and Advocacy
5. Evaluate Your Tax Management Practices

Module
9: Developing Your Fundraising Plan

• Learn Common Sources of Funding
• Understand Board’s Role in Fundraising
• Assess if You’re Ready for Fundraising
• Learn Who Should Ask for Money, How Much
• Recognize Best Practices in Annual Appeals, Events, Major Gifts and Capital
  Campaigns
• Learn Key Components of Grant Proposals
• Draft Your Fundraising Plan
• Evaluate Your Fundraising Practices

Module
10: Supervising Your Employees and Volunteers

Supervising Staff, Including How to:

1. Define New Job Roles
2. Recruit Job Candidates
3. Screen Applicants
4. Orient New Employees
5. Delegate to Employees
6. Ensure Strong Performance
7. Fire Employees
8. Compile Personnel Policies and Samples
9. Evaluate Your Supervisory Practices

Supervising Volunteers, Including How to:

1. Design Your Volunteer Program
2. Decide Where Volunteers Can Help
3. Recruit and Screen Volunteers
4. Ensure Strong Performance
5. Recognize Common Risks and Liabilities
6. Evaluate Your Volunteer Management Practices

Module
11: Designing Your Program Evaluation Plans

General Program Evaluation

1. Understanding Program Evaluation, Goals and Types
2. Gain Overview of Data Collection Methods
3. Understand Guidelines for Analyzing, Interpreting and Reporting Information
4. Recognize Pitfalls to Avoid
5. Evaluate Your Program Planning and Evaluation Practices

Outcomes-Based Evaluations

1. Get Ready for Your Outcomes Planning
2. Select Your Outcomes and Target Outcomes
3. Develop Your Logic Model
4. Identify Indicators for Each of Your Target Outcomes
5. Decide What Data You Need and How You Will Collect It
6. Gain Guidelines for Your Data Analyses
7. Draft Your Outcomes-Based Evaluation Report

Module
12: Conducting Final Fitness Test of Your Nonprofit

Evaluate Quality of:

1. Compliance to Laws and Regulations
2. Board Operations
3. Supervisory Practices
4. Strategic, Program and Personnel Planning
5. Financial Management
6. Fundraising Practices

Optional:
Module 13: Managing Ethics in the Workplace

Set Up Systems to Manage Ethics, Including:

1. What is Business Ethics?
2. Myths About Business Ethics
3. 10 Benefits of Managing Ethics
4. Ethics Management System
5. 8 Guidelines for Managing Ethics
6. 6 Key Roles and Responsibilities
7. Codes of Ethics
8. Codes of Conduct
9. Ethics Policies and Procedures
10. Resolving Ethical Dilemmas
11. Conduct Ethics Training

---

Cost of Program and Time to Complete It

Program Costs

The cost of the program depends very much on how the learner
chooses to go through the program. If the learner chooses to go
through the program on their own (rather than, for example, as
part of a group of learners sponsored by a local service provider),
the program is entirely free. Otherwise, program costs are determined
by the local service provider who sponsors the program.

Time to Complete Program

Learners can go through all of the modules in the program or
they can choose their own set of modules and how those modules
will be completed. Consequently, the amount of time to complete
the program depends very much on how the learner chooses to go
through the program. The more time and energy that learners invest
in the program, the more they will learn and accomplish for their
organizations and careers.

Many of the learning activities in this program are activities
that organizational leaders and managers should do in the workplace
anyway to develop a healthy organization. Consequently, time in
the program to conduct these learning activities should not be
viewed only as “time in the program”; rather, this program
helps learners turn their organizations and careers into “learning
labs” where they get things done — and learn at the same
time.

As a very rough estimate, learners can spend anywhere from
10-40 hours in each module — again this amount of time depends
very much on how thorough learners are in reviewing learning materials
and conducting activities to deepen and enrich that learning.

Certain modules include more learning activities than others.
Therefore, the program sponsor and learners may choose to dedicate
more than one meeting for these modules. For more information,
Suggested Number of Meetings Per Learning Module
in Here’s How to Provide the Program.

---

Please Tell Others About This Program!

• The vast majority of nonprofit organizations have very limited
  time and money — yet the majority of these nonprofits still
  do not tap the vast reserve of free resources available on the
  Internet and Web! Please help spread the word!
• Please print out this program flyer and place copies appropriately
  around your nonprofit community.
• If you know of service providers who will see value in providing
  this nature of program, please tell them. You might suggest they
  read the program description at https://staging.management.org/freenonprofittraining/program-description.htm
• If you’re a service provider to nonprofits, please consider
  offering this program as a service in your area.

Thank you!!!

---

Providing the Program Requires Little in Resources and Expertise!

Providing the program in your area requires little in resources
and expertise. See Here’s How to Provide the Program.

Within certain limits, I can also work with you to customize
the program to suit your needs, if needed. For example, you may
want to modify certain topics.

---

Program Not to Be Used Primarily to Generate Profits

This program was developed on a pro bono basis as a service
to the nonprofit community. The study materials for the program
are contained in the Free Management Library, also developed as
a pro bono service. Because of the pro bono nature of the program
and its resources, the program should not be used primarily
to generate profits. Specifically, any fees to learners to
participate in this program should be no more than the very low
costs incurred to provide and operate the program.

---

How Do I Get Started?

• Begin proceeding through the modules by referencing the Links to Learning Modules.

---

For the Category of Personal Development:

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may
want to review some related topics, available from the link below.
Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been
selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.

Related Library Topics

Recommended Books

Free Nonprofit Micro-eMBA

Free Online Nonprofit Organization
and Management Development Program!

Nonprofit leaders, managers, staff, volunteers and service
providers can complete this entire 12-module, online program for free at
any time from anywhere in the world. All materials are available on the
World Wide Web!

Online, free, learning modules include:

1. Orientation to Program — and Other Free Resources for Your Nonprofit
2. Starting and Understanding Your Nonprofit
3. Understanding the Role of Chief Executive
4. Developing Your Management and Leadership Skills
5. Building and Supporting Your Board
6. Developing Your Strategic Plan
7. Developing and Marketing Your Programs
8. Managing Your Nonprofit’s Finances and Taxes
9. Developing Your Fundraising Plan
10. Supervising Your Employees and Volunteers
11. Evaluating Your Programs and Services
12. Conducting Overall Final Fitness Test of Your Nonprofit

On the World Wide Web, see

https://tinyurl.com/y2c6r994

(Many public libraries provide free access to the Web.)

---

For the Category of Personal Development:

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may want to review some related topics, available from the link below. Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.

Related Library Topics

Recommended Books

Free Management Library’s
Online Nonprofit Organization Development Program Module #1:

Preparation for Nonprofit Micro-eMBA(SM)
Program

(includes recommendations to large amount of free, online
resources)

© Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting,
LLC.

(This module is in the nonprofit organization development program.
However, this module can also be used by anyone to improve their
self-directed study habits and/or become aware of free, online
information for nonprofit organizations.)

Also consider
Related Library Topics

INTRODUCTION

This module helps you get ready for the program by providing
guidelines to get the most out of the program, along with suggesting
numerous free, online resources of which you might take advantage.

As with any learning module in this program, you’ll get the
most if you read all materials, consider each question for discussion
and reflection, discuss information and materials with others,
complete suggested activities and apply assessments as appropriate.
You should also regularly conduct action planning to record and
monitor important actions (for yourself or your business organization)
identified during the program, including what needs to be done,
who needs to do it, by when and current status on the completion
of the tasks.

Lastly, congratulations, on your own initiative and commitment
to your learning!

Also consider
Related
Library Topics

---

OUTCOMES

Learners who complete this module will achieve the following
outcomes:

1. Guidelines for You to Get the Most from this Program
2. Tips to Improve Your Reading and Studying Skills
3. Extensive Free, Online Resources for You
4. Designing Your Best Approach to the Program

---

MATERIALS FOR REVIEW

• The following materials will help you address each of
  the topics and learning activities in this module.
• Read the following materials according to directions in
  their titles, eg, “read paragraphs till you come to next title”)

Program
Design and Format of Learning Modules (read paragraphs till come
to next title)
Basics
for Learners to Get Most from Training and Development (read paragraphs
on page)
Tips
to Improve Reading Skills (read articles in “Various Perspectives”)
Tips
to Study More Effectively (read tips both for studying and concentrating)
General
Resources (be aware of the types of resources listed under that
category on the right sidebar)

---

SUGGESTED TOPICS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION

• Learners are strongly encouraged to discuss the following
  questions with peers, board members, management and employees,
  as appropriate.
• The following suggestions and activities are based on
  the readings from the above “Materials for Review”.

1. You’ll learn the most — and develop needed systems for
your organization — by a) actually applying information and materials
from this program and b) sharing feedback with others about these
experiences. List at least two groups of people (peers, board
members, management, employees, etc.) with whom you will share
ongoing feedback during this program.

2. What do you do to deal with stress in your private and work
life? This question is critical to the success of this program,
and particularly to the success of your organization! List at
least three support systems (friends, to-do lists, etc.) you will
use to support you as you a) start your new organization and b)
apply information and materials from the program? (You might find
useful ideas in some of the articles in Stress Management.)

3. From reading the above-listed Materials for Review, list
at least two useful tips for you to read more effectively? Study
more effectively?

4. Are there any other key questions that you should reflect
on and / or discuss with others to ensure the program remains
meaningful to you?

---

SUGGESTED LEARNING ACTIVITIES

• Learners are strongly encouraged to complete the following
  activities, and share and discuss results with peers, board members,
  management and employees, as appropriate.
• As you proceed through the following activities, be sure
  to note any incomplete actions in the Action Item Planning List. (At that Web
  address, a box might open, asking you which software application
  to open the document.)

1. Write down a schedule of when you plan to study information
and materials in the program. Share the schedule with several
people who can help you stay on track with your schedule, for
example, peers, fellow board members, management, employees, consultants,
friends, family, etc. Give them permission to pose supportive
challenges to you to help you stay on track.

2. Write and distribute a one-page memo to whomever you plan
to share feedback with (peers, board members, management and employees,
etc.) indicating your plans to complete the program and that you
plan to discuss information and materials with them (for example,
in upcoming board meetings, staff meetings, etc). Suggest the
program to them, as well.

3. Schedule regular meeting times (for example, in meetings
with peers, board members, management, employees, etc.) to discuss
information and materials from this program. Share the schedule
with others.

4. Recruit fellow learners to go through the program with you.
You could, for example:
a.) Contact local service providers to get suggestions for other
learners — or ask them if they would sponsor the program.
b.) Call several peers, for example, board members, chief executives,
managers, consultants, instructors, etc., and pose the program
to them.

5. If you have questions, consider posing them in the national,
free, online discussion group hr.com, which is attended
by many human resource and organization development experts.

6. Are there other activities that would be more suitable for
your needs and nature? Commit to undertaking these activities
— by undertaking, we mean other than thinking about or talking
about, but starting and completing the activities. Write down
your ideas and share them with whomever is going to support you
as you progress through the program.

7. Lastly, spend an hour over the coming week in which you
scan around inside the Free Management Library. There are a massive
amount of links in the Library, including about 675 topics. Get
a feel for how they are arranged.

8. OPTIONAL: The following three links are to a large amount
of free, online resources in regard to personal development, productivity
and wellness. If you have the time, you might glance around inside
the topics. If you find something that might benefit you, consider
identifying suitable actions to take. Write down these planned
actions and share them with others who can support you as you
take the actions.
Personal
Development
Personal
Productivity
Personal
Wellness

---

OPTIONAL SELF-ASSESSMENTS

• OPTIONAL: The following self-assessments can help you
  identify areas where you’d like further self-development.

Behavioral Styles — Take a look at the following
matrix of behavioral styles. See where you fit in. How might that
affect how you proceed through the eMBA?

Are You Ready for Change? — Are you
really ready for change? For implementing this eMBA?

Identify Your Strengths and Weaknesses —
Based on the SWOT analysis, what did you learn about yourself?
Use your strengths to take advantage of opportunities, to strengthen
weaknesses and ward off threats. Any strategies that you should
implement?

Stress Self-Evaluation —
To determine how effectively you are using your time, respond
to these questions honestly

(More self-assessments if you are interested.)

---

TRACKING OPEN ACTION ITEMS

1. One of the first indicators that an organization or a person
is struggling is that open action items are not tracked and reviewed.
(Open action items are required actions that have not yet been
completed.) Instead, people only see and react to the latest “fires”
in their workplaces or their lives. Whether open action items
are critical to address now or not, they should not entirely be
forgotten. Therefore, update and regularly review a list of open
action items (identified while proceeding through this program)
that includes listing each open action item, who is responsible
to complete it, when it should be completed and any associated
comments. When updating the list, consider action items as identified
during discussions, learning activities and assessments in this
module. Share and regularly review this action item list with
the appropriate peers, board, management and employees in your
organization. You can use the following Action Item Planning List. (At that Web address,
a box might open, asking you which software application to open
the document.)

2. If you have questions, consider posing them in the national,
free, online discussion group hr.com, which is attended
by many human resource and organization development experts.

---

(Learners in the nonprofit organization development program
can return to the nonprofit organization development program.)

---

For the Category of Personal Development:

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may
want to review some related topics, available from the link below.
Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been
selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.

Related Library Topics

Recommended Books

Free Nonprofit Micro-eMBA Module #7: Designing and Marketing Your Programs

© Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting,
LLC.

Much of this program is based on materials adapted from the
Nonprofit Capacity Building Toolkit(SM).
Much of the content of this module was adapted from the guidebook,Field Guide to Nonprofit Program Design, Marketing
and Evaluation.

This module is in the nonprofit organization development program.
However, this module can also be used by anyone as a self-study
exercise to learn more about designing a marketing nonprofit programs.

Sections of This Module Include the Following

Introduction
Outcomes
Materials for Review
Suggested Topics for Reflection and Discussion
Activities to Build Systems and Practices
Assessments
Tracking Open Action Items

---

INTRODUCTION

The three major sections of personnel in nonprofits are usually
governance (the board of directors), central administration or
general operations (executive director, central offices, etc.),
and programs. Nonprofit organizations usually manage their products
and services (to clients) in the form of programs. Program services
to clients are the primary reason that the nonprofit exists. Therefore,
it’s critical to know how to plan and market programs.

There is often a great deal of misunderstanding about marketing.
People often consider marketing to be the same as advertising.
It’s not. Advertising is only one part of marketing. Marketing
is the wide range of activities involved in making sure that you’re
continuing to meet the needs of your clients and getting value
in return.

Market analysis includes finding out what groups of clients
(or markets) exist, what their needs are, what groups of clients
you prefer to serve (target markets), what products or services
you might develop to meet their needs, how the clients prefer
to use the products and services, what your competitors are doing,
what pricing you should use and how you should distribute products
and services to clients. Results of this marketing analysis indicates
the position, or market “niche”, for the nonprofit to
work from — and to be seen as having. Marketing also includes
ongoing promotions, which can include advertising, public relations,
sales and customer service. Various methods of market research
are used to find out information about markets, target markets
and their needs, competitors, market trends, customer satisfaction
with products and services, etc.

NOTE ABOUT THE LARGE SIZE OF THIS MODULE: This module is one
of the largest in the program. The activity of marketing an organization
and its programs is critical to the success of the organization
and its programs — the marketing process is broad and sometimes
quite detailed. Learners who have very limited time schedules
might proceed through this module primarily by reviewing the learning
materials and then thinking about how they would carry out (rather
than actually carrying out) the various activities to build structures
in their organization.

NOTE ABOUT USE OF TERM “SERVICES”: Marketing is in
regard to organizations, and their products and services. Nonprofit
organizations exist largely to provide services to the community.
Services can be provided by providing services — also by providing
products (or tangible services) to clients. In this document,
products and services are referred to by use of the term “services”.

NOTE ABOUT BOARD COMMITTEES: Consider establishing a Programs
Committee or Marketing Committee to review and help guide implementation
of the information in this learning module. Major activities and
goals from this learning module could be incorporated in that
Committee’s Committee Work Plan.

---

OUTCOMES

1. Understand Program Design
2. Construct a Program Logic Model
3. Clarify Program Outcomes, Goals and Strategies
4. Conduct Basic Market Analysis for Each Program
5. Draft Your Public and Media Relations Plan
6. Draft Your Sales Plan
7. Draft Your Advertising and Promotions Plan
8. Organize Your Marketing and Promotions Plan
9. Evaluate Your Program Planning Practices

---

MATERIALS FOR REVIEW

• The following materials will help you address each of
  the topics and learning activities in this module.

Program Design, Marketing and Promotions

NOTE: The following link is to a sizable document. The learner
might be better off time-wise to do a quick read of the guide,
and then deepen and enrich the learning in the following section
of this module, “Activities to Build Systems and Practices”.
That section guides the learner through the process of designing
a program (including its logic model) and then marketing and promoting
the program (including marketing the organization). The activities
in this section might reinforce the learning in the following
extensive guide if the learner regularly refers to the guide while
completing the activities to build systems and practices.

Basic
Guidelines for Nonprofit Program Design and Marketing

Marketing Basics, Analysis and Positioning

– – – What
Programs Are, What They Are Not

Marketing
— particularly the sections:
– – – Marketing
(the introduction “Marketing” — A Commonly Misunderstood
Term”)
– – – Basics
of Market Planning (read first 7 articles about doing a marketing
plan)
– – – Market
Research — particularly the sections:
– – – – – – Basic
Methods to Get Feedback from Customers (read all)
– – – – – – Some
Major Sources of Market Research Information (read all)
– – – Competitive
Analysis (read introduction at top of page)
– – – – – – Direct
and Indirect Competition – Definitions
– – – – – – What
is Competitive Intelligence?
– – – Pricing
(read introduction at top of page)
– – – Naming
and Branding (read introduction at top of page)
– – – Intellectual
Property (read introduction at top of page)
– – – Positioning
(read introduction at top of page)

Advertising and Promotions

Basics
and Planning (read introduction)
– – – Major
Methods of Advertising and Promotion (read all)

Public and Media Relations

Public
and Media Relations, particularly the sections:
Managing
Media Relations (at least 4 articles)

Sales

What
is Sales?
Understanding
the Sales Process

Optional — Customer Service

Customer
Service (read at least 4 articles in “Basics and Planning”)

---

SUGGESTED TOPICS FOR REFLECTION
AND DISCUSSION

• Learners are strongly encouraged to discuss the following
  questions with peers, board members, management and staff, as
  appropriate.

Basics of Program Design

The Basic Guide to Nonprofit Program Design and Marketing
includes answers to the following questions.

1. What is a nonprofit program?

2. Describe program inputs? Processes? Outputs? Outcomes?

3. Why should program planning be closely aligned with strategic
planning?

4. Who should be involved in program planning?

Basics of Marketing

1. Define marketing. Advertising. Promotions. Public relations.
Publicity. Sales. In your definitions, include how these terms
are similar and different. (See What’s Advertising, Marketing, Promotion, Public
Relations and Publicity, and Sales?)

2. What is inbound marketing? Outbound marketing? (See Marketing
(the introduction “Marketing” — A Commonly Misunderstood
Term”.)

3. What is market analysis? (See Basics of Marketing — introduction.)

4. What is market research? (See Market Research — introduction.)

Basics of Marketing Analysis and Positioning

1. What is a target market? How does one define a target market?
(See Marketing (the introduction “Marketing”
— A Commonly Misunderstood Term”.)

2. What is a competitor analysis? (See Competitive Intelligence — introduction.)

3. What should be considered when setting the price for a product
or service? (See Marketing Pricing — introduction.)

4. What should be considered when naming a product or service?
(See Naming and Branding — introduction.)

5. What is intellectual property? (See Intellectual Property — introduction.)

6. What is a positioning statement? (See Positioning — introduction.)

Public and Media Relations

1. What is public relations? (See What’s Advertising, Marketing, Promotion, Public
Relations and Publicity, and Sales? and Managing Your Public Image.)

2. Name at least three practices in maintaining strong public
relations. (See Managing Your Image (Public Relations).)

3. What is media relations? (See What’s Advertising, Marketing, Promotion, Public
Relations and Publicity, and Sales? and Managing Media Relations.)

4. Name at least three practices in maintaining strong media
relations. (See Managing Media Relations.)

Sales

1. What is sales? (See What’s Advertising, Marketing, Promotion, Public
Relations and Publicity, and Sales? and What is Sales?.)

2. What are some basic steps in the sales process? (See Understanding
the Sales Process.)

Customer Service

1. What are some basic steps in the maintaining high-quality
customer service? (See Customer Service.)

---

ACTIVITIES TO BUILD SYSTEMS AND
PRACTICES

• Learners are strongly encouraged to complete the following
  activities, and share and discuss results with peers, board members,
  management and staff, as appropriate.
• Various activities below will direct you to complete your Program Design
  Plan by filling in the Framework for Basic Nonprofit Program Structural Design.
• Various activities below will direct you to complete your
  Program Marketing and Promotions Plan by filling in the Framework for Basic Nonprofit Marketing and
  Promotions Plan.
• As you proceed through the following activities, be sure
  to note any incomplete actions in the Action Item Planning List.

Designing the Strategic Structure of Each of Your Programs

The structural design is the “skeleton” on which
the nonprofit program is designed. Nonprofit management can reference
this structure when planning program resources and budgets, staffing
and operational procedures to provide services to clients.

The “skeleton” is comprised of the program goals,
strategies and objectives, which should follow directly from the
goals, strategies and objectives produced during strategic planning.
(Therefore, learners in the program can design their programs
by using many of the results from the previous strategic planning
module.) The program goals are selected in order to accomplish
certain benefits, or outcomes, for clients.

The goals, outcomes, strategies and objectives are a major
portion of the program plan. This plan usually also includes description
of resources needed to achieve the goals and objectives, and the
funding necessary to obtain and use the resources. Required resources
usually includes human resources, which are often described in
terms of necessary skills and capabilities. The necessary funding
is often depicted in the form of a program budget.

Program strategies are usually carefully described in the form
of descriptions of methods to deliver services to clients.

1. In the Framework for Basic Nonprofit Program Structural Design.,
list the goals for the program. Each program should be intended to achieve at
least one of the strategic goals, and may achieve more.

2. In the Framework for Basic Nonprofit Program Structural Design.,
under each goal, list the outcome that the goal is geared to achieve for clients.
Program goals are intended to accomplish certain benefits, or outcomes, for
clients. List the outcomes intended from the program. Note that outcomes are
not always directly associated with a specific goal, but may be accomplished
across several goals.

3. In the Framework for Basic Nonprofit Program Structural Design.,
under each goal, list the strategies needed to achieve the goal. Program strategies
are the major methods that are intended to be used to achieve the goals of the
program. Often there are a set of strategies for each goal. However, strategies
may combine to accomplish several goals. Program strategies often become major
methods for delivering services to clients.

4. In the Framework for Basic Nonprofit Program Structural Design.,
under each strategy, list the objectives along the way to achieving the goal
and implementing the strategy. Next to each objective, list who is responsible
to achieve the objective and by when.

Updating Logic Models of Your Organization and Each Program

1. In the learning module “Starting and Understanding
Your Nonprofit”, learners designed a very basic logic model
of their nonprofit organization. Logic models depict the overall
flow of the major parts of an organization or program to produce
desired results for clients. Now that the learner has completed
the strategic planning process, then he or she is likely to have
much more specificity about the organization and its programs,
including program goals, inputs, processes (strategies), outputs
and outcomes. Therefore, return to your logic models for your
organization and each program. Update the models to reflect what
you’ve learned during strategic planning. (For assistance, see
Guidelines and Framework for Designing Basic
Logic Model.)

Writing Your Marketing Plan for Each Program or Service

NOTE: This Plan should be focused on a particular program (product
or service), because each has its own different description, features
and benefits, customers, competitors and pricing.

Describe Your Service

1. In the Framework for Basic Nonprofit Marketing and Promotions
Plan, write a description of the service. The description
should be written as if your clients are the readers. In the description,
include the specific groups of clients served by the service,
nature of the method(s) in the service, outcomes for clients and
any other benefits to them, and where they should go next if they
are interested in using the service. Be careful to describe the
services in terms of benefits to clients, not to you. For example,
address pricing, convenience, location, quality, service, atmosphere,
etc.

List Your Target Market(s)

2. In the table in Framework for Basic Nonprofit Marketing and Promotions
Plan, write a brief description of the major groups of clients
who will benefit from your service and the major benefits to them.
Remember that the overall goals of the organization very much
determine whom you want to serve. For example, strategic goals
might be to expand the number of clients you have now, get new
clients, get more revenue from current clients, etc. You may want
to develop new services in a current or new market, or expand
current services in a current or new market.

Understanding your program’s target markets makes it much easier
for you to ensure that your program remains highly effective.
In addition to helping focus the results and evaluation of your
services, understanding your target markets helps you to focus
on where to promote your services, including advertising, conducting
public relations campaigns and selling your services. If you’ve
done a good job so far of strategic planning, then identifying
the primary targets market should be fairly straightforward. However,
it is very useful to determine several additional target markets.
These additional markets are often where you should focus promotions
and mean additional sources of assistance and revenue. (If you
struggle to identify your target markets, the following links
might help you, including How to Identify a Target Market
and Prepare a Customer Profile and Marketing Research.)

Write a Profile of Each Target Market

3. In the Framework for Basic Nonprofit Marketing and Promotions
Plan, write a description of each of your target markets.
The more you know about your clients, the better you might be
at serving them. Consider, for example, their major needs, how
they prefer to have their needs met, where they are and where
they prefer to have their needs met and demographics information
(their age ranges, family arrangement, education levels, income
levels, typical occupations, major interested, etc).

Analysis of Competitors

4. In the Framework for Basic Nonprofit Marketing and Promotions
Plan, write results from your analysis of your competitors.
Yes, nonprofits do have competitors — competitors to provide
services and competitors to obtain funding. Consider the following
questions: Who are your competitors? What client needs are you
competing to meet? What are the similarities and differences between
their service and yours? What are the strengths and weaknesses
of their service? How do their prices compare to yours? How are
they doing overall? How do you plan to compete, for example, offer
better quality services, lower prices, more support, easier access
to services etc? (For assistance, see Competitive Analysis.)

Analysis of Collaborators

5. In the Framework for Basic Nonprofit Marketing and Promotions
Plan, write results from your analysis of potential collaborators.
Who are potential collaborators with your nonprofit? What client
needs might you collaborate to meet? What resources might they
bring and what could you bring? What could you do next to cultivate
collaboration with other agencies? (For assistance, see Organizational Alliances.)

Pricing Analysis

6. In the Framework for Basic Nonprofit Marketing and Promotions
Plan, write results from your pricing analysis. Several major
factors influence the pricing for a service. Strategic goals greatly
influence pricing. For example, the values of the nonprofit might
be to serve as many people as possible, including by not charging
for fees or by charging very low prices. Or, for example, if the
nonprofit really wants to get into a new market, then it might
charge lower than usual prices in order to generate more clients
who buy the service. The nonprofit might consider changing pricing
if the demand for its services are very high or low. Competitor
pricing also has a great effect. If competitors are charging much
less, then the nonprofit might do well to lower prices. Similarly,
if the competitor is charging much more, then the nonprofit might
consider increasing its own prices. (For assistance, see Pricing.)

Write Your Sales Plan

7. In the Framework for Basic Nonprofit Marketing and Promotions
Plan, fill in the sales plan. Regarding your sales planning,
consider: What target markets will be approached? What should
be your sales method for each target market, for example, who
will make initial contacts to generate leads, do follow-ups to
initial contacts, make presentations and close sales? How much
do you expect to accomplish in sales (consider terms of outputs,
such as dollars made, clients recruited, or other units of service).
(For assistance, see Understanding the Sales Process..)

Write Your Advertising and Promotions Plan

8. In the Framework for Basic Nonprofit Marketing and Promotions
Plan, fill in the advertising and promotions plan. The plan
includes what target markets you want to reach, what features
and benefits you want to convey to each of them, what methods
and media you will use to convey it to them, who is responsible
to implement the methods and how much money is budgeted for this
effort. The plan includes plans for a promotional campaign, including
an advertising calendar and media plan. The goals of the plans
should depend very much on the overall goals and strategies of
the organization, and the results of the marketing analysis, including
the positioning statement.

When selecting methods, consider what communications methods
and media will be most effective in reaching target markets (groups
of clients) and when. What are their preferences for media and
when do they use them? (The link Basic Methods to Get Feedback from Customers
might be helpful now.) Consider, for example, radio, newsletters,
classifieds, displays/signs, posters, word of mouth, press releases,
direct mail, special events, brochures, neighborhood newsletters,
etc. What media is most practical for you to use in terms of access
and affordability? (The link Major Methods of Advertising and Promotion
might be helpful now.)

(For additional assistance, see Advertising and Promotion .)

Conduct Your Customer Service Planning

9. In the Framework for Basic Nonprofit Marketing and Promotions
Plan, fill in the customer service plan. When considering
how you will ensure strong services to clients, consider: Are
clients very satisfied with your services? How do you know? If
not, what can you do to improve customer service? How can you
do that? What policies and procedures are needed to ensure strong
customer service. Include training in your considerations, including
to develop skills in interpersonal relations, such as questioning,
listening, handling difficult people, handling interpersonal conflicts,
negotiating. (For assistance, see Customer Service, Basic Methods to Get Feedback from Customers,
Questioning, Listening, Handling Interpersonal Conflict, Handling Difficult People and Negotiating.)

Conduct Your Production Planning

10. In the Framework for Basic Nonprofit Marketing and Promotions
Plan, fill in section about production planning. Note that
the development and implementation of various production methods
do not have to be addressed in detail in a marketing plan — these
topics are usually included in the operations or management planning
for the program. However, production should be generally considered
during the marketing analysis to ensure the eventual detailed
production planning takes into consideration the needs of target
markets and having their needs met on time. Consider: What resources
do you need to build, reproduce and provide the service? How do
you know? Will you have sufficient resources into the near future?
How do you know?

Conduct Your Distribution Planning

11. In the Framework for Basic Nonprofit Marketing and Promotions
Plan, fill in section about distribution planning. Matters
of distribution of service can be critical for a nonprofit, especially
if they are providing critically needed services to specific groups
of clients. For example, low-income clients may not be able to
afford transportation to other areas to receive your services.

Carefully consider: What distribution channels should you consider,
for example, should clients come to your facility, you visit their
offices, can you provide services over the telephone, etc? What
resources are needed to bring together your services and your
target markets? What major steps need to occur to accomplish these
distribution channels? (The link Distribution may help you.)

Note that detailed planning about developing and maintaining
distribution channels is often included in the operations or management
plans, rather than in the marketing plan. However, the marketing
analysis should focus on selecting the methods of distribution
that best meet the needs of target markets and the nonprofit.

Designing Your Program Budgets

Update Program Budgets from Your Operating Budget

1. Design a budget for each of your programs. If you completed
Module 6: Developing Your Strategic Plan,
then you already have started basic budgets for each of your programs.
Update those budgets with results from completing this module
on program design and marketing. Consider expenses of advertising
and promotions, production, distribution and customer service.
Also consider any updates to expected revenues as a result of
any changes in your pricing policy and as a result of your sales
goals in your sales plan.

---

ASSESSMENTS

1. 7
Ways to Evaluate Your Marketing Programs

2. How
Do You Evaluate a Marketing Plan?

3. Evaluating
Advertising and Promotions Efforts

4. Evaluating
Sales Efforts

---

TRACKING OPEN ACTION ITEMS

Reminders About You

1. Are you exchanging feedback with others about what you’re
learning in this program? If not, you really should be thinking
a lot more seriously about this — adults learn by doing something
with new information and then exchanging feedback about it.

2. Are you sticking to your study schedule for this program?

3. Are you practicing your basic skills in management and leadership,
including in problem solving and decision making, planning and
meeting management?

4. Are you communicating throughout your organization by using
your skills in internal communications?

5. Are you managing yourself? How many hours a week are you
working? Are you noticing any signs of stress? If so, what are
you doing about it?

6. One of the ways you might be able to tell if you’re stressed
out and/or losing perspective might be whether you’re tracking
details or not. Are you using the action item list referenced
above?

7. Are you reflecting on learnings from past modules and how they build on the learning
in this module? For example, are you seeing your organization from a systems view,
as explained in the module “Starting and Understanding Your Nonprofit?”

Reminders About Your Nonprofit

1. Now that you’ve given more thought to the design and marketing
of your programs, go back to your strategic plan and update the
plans about programs, staffing and operating plans.

---

TRACKING OPEN ACTION ITEMS

1. One of the first indicators that an organization or a person
is struggling is that open action items are not tracked and reviewed.
(Open action items are required actions that have not yet been
completed.) Instead, people only see and react to the latest “fires”
in their workplaces or their lives. Whether open action items
are critical to address now or not, they should not entirely be
forgotten. Therefore, update and regularly review a list of open
action items (identified while proceeding through this program)
that includes listing each open action item, who is responsible
to complete it, when it should be completed and any associated
comments. When updating the list, consider action items as identified
during discussions, learning activities and assessments in this
module. Share and regularly review this action item list with
the appropriate peers, board, management and employees in your
organization. You can use the following Action Item Planning List. (At that Web address,
a box might open, asking you which software application to open
the document.)

2. If you have questions, consider posing them in the national,
free, online discussion group hr.com, which is attended
by many human resource and organization development experts.

---

(Learners in the nonprofit organization development
program can return to the nonprofit organization development program.)

---

For the Category of Marketing:

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may
want to review some related topics, available from the link below.
Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been
selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.

Related Library Topics

Recommended Books

Framework for Basic Nonprofit Marketing and Promotions Plan

(including plans for public and media relations, sales, advertising
and promoting, and customer service)

© Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting,
LLC.

Description

The following framework will guide you through completion of a basic nonprofit
marketing and promotions plan. Associated plans include public and media relations
plan, sales plan, and advertising and promotions plan.

NOTE: The framework depicts a useful format, but should be duplicated into
an editable version, for example, into Microsoft Word.

Guidelines are provided to fill in the section and links to additional resources
are provided.

Readers are encouraged to work with a planning team in their
organization to fill in this framework. After completing this
framework, readers can move information from the framework to
a more suitable document to be the final version of the plan document,
if desired.

Also consider
Related Library Topics

---

[NAME OF YOUR NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION!]

MARKETING AND PROMOTIONS PLAN

[date!]

---

TABLE OF CONTENTS

MARKETING AND PROMOTION OF ORGANIZATION

Public Relations Plan

Media Plan

MARKETING AND PROMOTIONS OF EACH PROGRAMS/SERVICE

Description of Service

Target Markets and Client Profiles

Competitor Analysis

Collaborator/Partner Analysis

Pricing Analysis

Sales Plan

Advertising and Promotions Plan

Production Planning

Distribution Planning

Customer Service Plan

EVALUATION OF PLAN

GOALS, RESPONSIBILITIES, TIMELINES AND BUDGET

---

=======

MARKETING AND PROMOTIONS OF ORGANIZATION

=======

Public Relations Plan

(For additional assistance, see Managing
Your Public Image (Public Relations).)

Mission Statement

Portrays the basic purpose of our organization, the groups of clients that
it services and generally how it serves them. The mission statement should be
referenced when designing and implementing the marketing and promotions plan.
(For assistance, see Basics
in Developing a Mission Statement.)

Positioning Statement

Portrays the unique role of our nonprofit and how it fills that role. The
statement depicts how we want others to view our nonprofit. This statement is
the essence of how we want the media, and others, to recognize our organization.
The statement is the basis for wording used in ads and other methods of promotion.
(For assistance, see Positioning.)

Script for Representing Our Nonprofit to External Stakeholders

Portrays key points to make when representing the nonprofit to external
groups. The script is referenced by key personnel (board members, chief executive,
etc.) to represent the nonprofit to external stakeholders, for example, funders/investors,
reporters,

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Stakeholders, Messages and Methods (Media Plan and Calendar)
Consider the major stakeholders for your nonprofit, for example, employees,
volunteers, board members, funders/investors, reporters, collaborators, associations,
etc. Consider what you’d like each stakeholder to think of your nonprofit. What
media do they read and listen to and when? What media is most practical for
you to use in terms of access and affordability? The following link might be
useful to you in this activity: Major
Methods of Advertising and Promotion.

Stakeholder Group

Message to Convey (consider what’s important to them)

Method

When to Use Method

Additional thoughts/comments and any actions we should take:
What do we need to do to make the above happen? What major steps must occur?
What must be developed? Who should be contacted? What resources might you need?

Actions in this area should be worded as specific goals
and organized into the section “Goals, Responsibilities …”
later in this plan. That section includes goals, responsibilities,
dates for completion and the budgeted amount to achieve the goals.

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Media Relations

(For assistance, see Managing
Media Relations.)

Procedure for Managing Media Contacts

The following procedure will be used for all calls from and to reporters, or
other contacts with the media, including, for example: newspapers, magazines,
television, radio, etc.

Preferred Media and Contacts

The following media and contacts are preferred when promoting
our organization. These media (newspapers, television, radio,
etc.) and contacts have been used in the past, understand our
organization and our marketplace, etc.

Additional thoughts/comments and any actions we should take:
What do we need to do to make the above happen? What major steps must occur?
What must be developed? Who should be contacted? What resources might you need?

Actions in this area should be worded as specific goals and organized into
the section “Goals, Responsibilities …” later in this plan. That
section includes goals, responsibilities, dates for completion and the budgeted
amount to achieve the goals.

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MARKETING AND PROMOTIONS OF SERVICES

=======

You should consider addressing the following subsections
in this overall section for each of your programs and/or major
services.

Description of Service

The overall goals of the organization very much determine
whom you want to serve and the nature of the service to serve
them. For example, strategic goals might be to expand the number
of clients you have now, get new clients, get more revenue from
current clients, etc. You may want to develop new services in
a current or new market, or expand current services in a current
or new market.

Describe your service. The description should be written as if your clients
are the readers. In the description, include the specific groups of clients
served by the service, nature of the method(s) in the service, outcomes for
clients and any other benefits to them, and where they should go next if they
are interested in using the service. Be careful to describe the services in
terms of benefits to clients, not to you. For example, address pricing, convenience,
location, quality, service, atmosphere, etc.

Any additional thoughts/comments about the service description:

Actions in this area should be worded as specific goals
and organized into the section “Goals, Responsibilities …”
later in this plan. That section includes goals, responsibilities,
dates for completion and the budgeted amount to achieve the goals.

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Target Markets and Client Profiles

(For assistance, see How to Identify a Target Market and Prepare a
Customer Profile.)

Target markets are the specific groups of people whom you
want to benefit with your service. The target markets are determined
by your program goals, outcomes and strategies. At this point,
it may help to reference your completed Framework
for Basic Nonprofit Program Structural Design. For example:

• Example Program Goal 1: Support at least 600 drop-outs from Minneapolis
  high schools to obtain diplomas or equivalent levels of certification
• Example Outcome 1.1 — Drop-outs from Minneapolis high schools obtain
  high school diplomas or equivalent levels of certification
• Example Outcome 1.2 — Within three months after getting certification,
  participants obtain at least half-time employment or enroll in an accredited
  program to further their education
• Example Program Strategy/Service 1.1 — Conduct high-school equivalency
  training programs to drop-outs from Minneapolis high schools
• Example Program Strategy/Service 1.2 — Provide free transportation to
  enrollees in the program
• Example Program Strategy/Service 1.3 — Provide subsidized child care
  to enrollees in the program

Target Markets	Primary Benefits to Them
Target Market 1 (Optional: Goals ____, Strategies ____ ) | | |

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Profiles of Your Target Markets
(Client Profiles)
The more you know about your clients, the better you might
be at serving them. At this point, write down a customer profile,
or description of each of the groups of clients (or target markets).
Consider, for example, their major needs, how they prefer to have
their needs met, where they are and where they prefer to have
their needs met and demographics information (their age ranges,
family arrangement, education levels, income levels, typical occupations,
major interested, etc).

Target Market #1: ____
Make copies of this section as needed for your number of target markets
Actions in this area should be worded as specific goals and organized
into the section “Goals, Responsibilities …” later in this plan.
That section includes goals, responsibilities, dates for completion and the
budgeted amount to achieve the goals.

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Competitor Analysis

(For assistance, see Competitive
Analysis.)

Name of competitor’s organization

Name of their service

Common markets that we serve

Benefits of their product/service

Comparison of their pricing and ours

Strengths of their product/service

Weaknesses product/service

How our product/service compares

Additional thoughts/comments and any resulting actions we should take:
How do you plan to compete, for example, offer better quality services, lower
prices, more support, easier access to services etc?

Actions in this area should be worded as specific goals and organized into
the section “Goals, Responsibilities …” later in this plan. That
section includes goals, responsibilities, dates for completion and the budgeted
amount to achieve the goals.

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Collaborator/Partner Analysis

(For assistance, see Organizational
Alliances.)

Name of potential collaborator’s organization

Name of their product/service

Common markets that we serve

Similarities between our product/service

Potential areas of collaboration

Advantages of collaboration

Disadvantages of collaboration

Additional thoughts/comments and any resulting actions we should take:
What can you do next to initiate consideration of collaboration with other
nonprofits? What needs to happen next? Who needs to be involved? What resources
do you need?

Actions in this area should be worded as specific goals and organized into
the section “Goals, Responsibilities …” later in this plan. That
section includes goals, responsibilities, dates for completion and the budgeted
amount to achieve the goals.

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Pricing Analysis

(For assistance, see Pricing.)

What’s the current fee for the product/service?

How much is it costing us to provide this product/service?

Are we recovering our costs to produce and provide the product/service?

Is the current price affordable to customers?

Is our pricing competitive?

What should be the pricing structure that we use for this product/service (for
example, deferred payments, installment payments, etc.)?

Additional thoughts/comments and any resulting actions we should take:
What do we need to do to make that happen? What major steps must occur? What
must be developed? Who should be contacted? What resources might you need?

Actions in this area should be worded as specific goals and organized into
the section “Goals, Responsibilities …” later in this plan. That
section includes goals, responsibilities, dates for completion and the budgeted
amount to achieve the goals.

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Sales Plan

(For assistance, see Sales.)

Target Markets	Sales Methods to Generate Leads, Follow-Ups, Presentations and Closing Sales	Sales Goals (number of contracts and/or dollars in revenue and/or other units?)
Target Market 1 | | | | | |	| | | | | |	| | | | | |

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Sales Plan (Cont.)

Additional thoughts/comments and any resulting actions we should
take:
Consider: What do we need to do to make the sales methods and
goals happen? What major steps must occur? What must be developed?
Who should be contacted? What resources might you need? Should
staff attend sales training?

Actions in this area should be worded as specific goals and organized into
the section “Goals, Responsibilities …” later in this plan. That
section includes goals, responsibilities, dates for completion and the budgeted
amount to achieve the goals.

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Advertising and Promotions Plan

The plan includes what target markets you want to reach,
what features and benefits you want to convey to each of them,
what methods and media you will use to convey it to them, who
is responsible to implement the methods and how much money is
budgeted for this effort. The plan often includes plans for a
promotional campaign, including an advertising calendar and media
plan. The goals of the plans should depend very much on the overall
goals and strategies of the organization, and the results of the
marketing analysis, including the positioning statement.

When selecting methods, consider what communications methods
and media will be most effective in reaching target markets (groups
of clients) and when. What are their preferences for media and
when do they use them? (The link Basic
Methods to Get Customer Feedback might be helpful now.) Consider,
for example, radio, newsletters, classifieds, displays/signs,
posters, word of mouth, press releases, direct mail, special events,
brochures, neighborhood newsletters, etc. What media is most practical
for you to use in terms of access and affordability? (The link
Major
Methods of Advertising and Promotion might be helpful now.)

(For additional assistance, see Advertising
and Promotion and Planning
your Advertising.

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Markets, Messages and Methods (Media Plan and Calendar)

What do you want your target markets to think about your service? What media
do they read and listen to and when? What media is most practical for you to
use in terms of access and affordability? The following link may be helpful
to you when completing the following table: Major
Methods of Advertising and Promotion.

Target Market (customer group)

Message to Convey (“What’s in it for customer?”)

Method to Convey It

When to Use Method

Additional thoughts/comments and any resulting actions we should take:
What do you need to do to make the above happen? What resources are needed
to accomplish the methods? Who is responsible to implement the methods?

Actions in this area should be worded as specific goals and organized into
the section “Goals, Responsibilities …” later in this plan. That
section includes goals, responsibilities, dates for completion and the budgeted
amount to achieve the goals.

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Production Planning

Production includes the resources and processes needed to
continue to develop the service to meet the demands of the clients.
Note that the development and implementation of various production
methods do not have to be addressed in detail in a marketing plan
— these topics are usually included in the operations or management
planning for the program. However, production should be generally
considered during the marketing analysis to ensure the eventual
detailed production planning takes into consideration the needs
of target markets and having their needs met on time.

Will services be produced in time to meet current needs of the target markets?

Will services be produced in time to meet future needs of the target markets
(for example, over the next three years)? What’s needed to ensure the future
needs are met?

What major resources and activities will be needed in the near future?

Additional thoughts/comments and any resulting actions we should take:
What do we need to do to make the above happen? What major steps must occur?
What must be developed? Who should be contacted? What resources might you need?

Actions in this area should be worded as specific goals and organized into
the section “Goals, Responsibilities …” later in this plan. That
section includes goals, responsibilities, dates for completion and the budgeted
amount to achieve the goals.

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Distribution Planning

(For assistance, see Distribution
Channels.)
Distribution includes the resources and activities required to
bring your product/service together with the client in order to
benefit from it. Matters of distribution of service can be critical
for nonprofits, especially if they are providing critically needed
services to specific groups of clients. For example, low-income
clients may not be able to afford transportation to other areas
to receive your services. (The link Distribution
may help you.)

What is the best means to distribute the service to clients?
(Consider, for example, should clients come to your facility? You go to them?
Are there other means, for example, services over the phone?)

Additional thoughts/comments and any resulting actions we should take:
What do we need to do to make the above happen? What major steps must occur?
What must be developed? Who should be contacted? What resources might you need?

Actions in this area should be worded as specific goals
and organized into the section “Goals, Responsibilities …”
later in this plan. That section includes goals, responsibilities,
dates for completion and the budgeted amount to achieve the goals.

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Customer Service Plan

(For assistance, see Customer
Service.)

When considering how you will ensure strong services to
clients, consider: Are clients very satisfied with your services?
How do you know? If not, what can you do to improve customer service?
How can you do that? What policies and procedures are needed to
ensure strong customer service. Include training in your considerations,
including to develop skills in interpersonal relations, such as
questioning, listening, handling difficult people, handling interpersonal
conflicts, negotiating. (For assistance, see Customer
Service, Basic
Methods to Get Customer Feedback, Questioning,
Listening,
Handling
Interpersonal Conflict, Handling
Difficult People and Negotiating.)

Are clients highly satisfied with the service and how do you know?
(This section might include references to other reports, eg, program evaluations,
etc.)

What should we be doing to ensure that clients are highly satisfied?
(Consider policies and procedures, staff training, scheduled evaluations,
basic forms of market research, etc.)

Additional thoughts/comments and any resulting actions we should take:
What do we need to do to make the above happen? What major steps must occur?
What must be developed? Who should be contacted? What resources might you need?

Actions in this area should be worded as specific goals and organized into
the section “Goals, Responsibilities …” later in this plan. That
section includes goals, responsibilities, dates for completion and the budgeted
amount to achieve the goals.

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======= MONITORING AND EVALUATION OF PLAN ============
Responsibilities and Frequencies for Monitoring and Evaluation

Plan’s section, goals, etc.	Completion date	Respon- sibility	Written description of results to:
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Key Questions While Monitoring Implementation of the Plan

The following questions should be modified to suit the nature
and needs of the organization.

Monitoring and evaluation activities will consider the following
questions:

1. Are goals and objectives being achieved or not? If they
are, then acknowledge, reward and communicate the progress. If
not, then consider the following questions.

2. Will the goals be achieved according to the timelines specified
in the plan? If not, then why?

3. Should the deadlines for completion be changed (be careful
about making these changes — know why efforts are behind schedule
before times are changed)?

4. Do personnel have adequate resources (money, equipment,
facilities, training, etc.) to achieve the goals?

5. Are the goals and objectives still realistic?

6. Should priorities be changed to put more focus on achieving
the goals?

7. Should the goals be changed (be careful about making these
changes — know why efforts are not achieving the goals before
changing the goals)?

8. What can be learned from our monitoring and evaluation in
order to improve future planning activities and also to improve
future monitoring and evaluation efforts?

Additional questions:

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Reporting Status of Implementation

Results of monitoring and evaluation will be in writing, and
will include:

1. Answers to the “Key Questions While Monitoring Implementation
of the Plan”

2. Trends regarding the progress (or lack thereof) toward goals,
including which goals and objectives

3. Recommendations about the status

4. Any actions needed by management

Procedure for Changing the Plan

Regarding any changes to the plan, write down answers to the
questions:

1. What is causing changes to be made?

2. Why the changes should be made (the “why” is often
different than “what is causing” the changes).

3. What specific changes should be made, including to goals,
objectives, responsibilities and timelines?

Reminders:
Manage the various versions of the plan (including by putting
a new date on each new version of the plan).

Always keep old copies of the plan.

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GOALS, RESPONSIBILITIES, TIMELINES AND BUDGETS

======

As much as possible, goals should be specified to be “SMARTER”,
that is, specific, measurable, acceptable to those people working to achieve
the goal, realistic, timely, extending the capabilities of those working to
achieve the goals and rewarding to them, as well.

Goal	Respon- sibility	Comple tion Date	Budget for Goal
====== MARKETING AND PROMOTING ORGANIZATION =========== Public and Media Relations Plan:
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==== MARKETING AND PROMOTING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES === Description of Product or Service:
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Target Market and Benefits:
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Competitive Analysis:
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Collaborator Analysis:
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Pricing Analysis and Policy:
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Advertising and Promotion Plan:
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Production Planning:
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Distribution Planning:
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Sales Plan:
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Customer Service Plan:
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For the Category of Marketing:

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may
want to review some related topics, available from the link below.
Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been
selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.

Related Library Topics

Recommended Books

Free Nonprofit Micro-eMBA Module #4: Basic Skills in Management and Leadership

© Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting, LLC.
Much of the content of this module came from the guidebook, Field Guide to Leadership and Supervision for Nonprofit Staff.
(This learning module is in the nonprofit organization development program. However, this module can also be used by anyone as a self-study exercise to learn more about nonprofit management and leadership skills.)

Sections of This Module Include the Following

• Introduction
• Outcomes
• Materials for Review
• Suggested Topics for Reflection and Discussion
• Activities to Build Systems and Practices
• Assessments
• Tracking Open Action Items

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INTRODUCTION

In new businesses, “management” is often considered “whatever needs to be done just to keep things afloat”. However, for your business to grow and remain healthy, you must master certain basic skills in management and leadership — skills that will help you avoid the crisis situations where you have to do “whatever it takes to stay afloat”. The basic skills include problem solving and decision making, planning,
meeting management, delegation, communications and managing yourself.

Those basics are also the foundation from which to develop more advanced practices in management and leadership. When organizational personnel struggle, it’s often because they’ve forgotten the basics
— not because they aren’t implementing state-of-the-art techniques in management and leadership.

NOTE ABOUT THE LARGE SIZE OF THIS MODULE: This module references numerous basic skills that leaders and managers must master in order to be effective in their organizations and their lives. These skills can be practiced throughout this program and in other areas of learners’ lives. Readers who are interested in gaining broader contexts of management and leadership can review optional readings suggested in the “Materials for Review” section below.

NOTE ABOUT ORDER OF MODULES: Therefore, it is common to start management training programs with an overview of the board of directors (if the program includes focus on corporations, which are governed by boards of directors) — the board of directors is legally charged to govern a corporation. However, in this program, this learning module about basic skills in management and leadership is presented before the learning module about boards of directors. The reason for this order of modules is as follows. Frequently businesses are started by someone with a strong vision for a new product. That person often goes on to become the first chief executive of the new business. Typically, that person also takes a very strong role (often the leading role) in the initial organization and development of the board of directors. Therefore, modules in this program are organized to help the founder (and often the first chief executive) to effectively apply basic skills in management and leadership when organizing the board of directors.

NOTE ABOUT LEARNING SUPERVISION — Supervision is a major aspect of managing and leading. There are certain roles and responsibilities — and experiences — that are highly unique to the role of supervision and highly critical to the success of the organization. Therefore, the topic of staffing and supervision will also be addressed in an upcoming module in this program.

Also consider
Related Library Topics

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OUTCOMES

Gain Basic Skills in:

1. Problem Solving and Decision Making
2. Planning
3. Delegation
4. Internal Communications
5. Meeting Management
6. Managing Yourself

Optional:

1. Review Advanced Topics in Management and Leadership
2. Design Your Management and Leadership Development Plans

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MATERIALS FOR REVIEW

• The following materials will help you address each of the topics and learning activities in this module.
• NOTE: Several of the following materials for review are sections of a larger document, Basic Guide to Leadership and Supervision. An upcoming learning module “Staffing and Supervision of Employees” also references various sections of that document. Therefore, the reader might best benefit from printing that document for ongoing reference during this module and the upcoming module about supervision.

Basic Skills in Management and Leadership

Read Basic Guide to Leadership and Supervision — specifically the sections:

Introduction to Management and Supervision

What is “Management”? What do Managers Do? (don’t have to follow links out)

Core Skills in Management and Supervision

You don’t have to follow links out of the following sections:

• Problem Solving and Decision Making
• Planning
• Effective Delegation
• Basics of Internal Communications
• Meeting Management
• Managing Yourself

Optional Readings — Broad Context of Management

• Management (an Introduction) — particularly the sections:
  • Basics — Definitions (and Misinterpretations) in Management
  • View That Leading is Different Than Managing
  • Contemporary Theories in Management (read contingency, systems and chaos theories)
  • New Paradigm in Management (driving forces and traits of new paradigm)

Optional Readings — Broad Context of Leadership

• Leadership
  — particularly the sections:
  • Definitions of Leadership
  • Major Theories
  • Conventional Styles
  • Is Leading Different than Managing? (pros and cons of this debate)
  • How to Know Which to Use
  • Core Competencies
• How to Lead Yourself
  • How to Lead Other Individuals
  • How to Lead Groups
  • How to Lead Organizations

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SUGGESTED TOPICS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION

• Learners are strongly encouraged to discuss the following questions with peers, board members, management and employees, as appropriate.

Problem Solving and Decision Making

• For assistance in answering the following questions, see Problem Solving and Decision Making.

1. What are the seven steps to problem solving and decision making (as presented in your materials for review)? Describe what occurs in each step.

2. How do you typically solve problems? Do you have a standardized way of solving problems, that is, a method that you use? How do you know that your approach is effective?

3. Think of several major problems that you faced over the past three months. Where did you struggle when solving the problem?

4. As your business grows, the types of problems that you’ll face will become more demanding and complex. What can you do to be more careful about how you will solve problems and make decisions?

5. What problems might you foresee in applying the seven steps presented in your materials for review?

Basics of Planning

• For assistance in answering the following questions, see Planning.

1. Describe each of the following terms: Goals. Objectives. Strategies. Resources. Budgets.

2. What are the eight steps in the typical, basic planning process (as presented in your materials for review)?

3. Who should be involved in planning a particular effort?

4. What does the acronym “SMARTER” stand for, that is, what does each letter represent?

5. How can you build in accountability to your planning processes?

6. What should be evaluated when evaluating a planning process?

7. Where is the “real treasure” during planning? HINT: Fill in the blank “the real treasure of planning is
the planning _ _ _ _ _ _ “.

8. What is the frequently missing step in the planning process?

Delegation

• For assistance in answering the following questions, see Effective Delegation.

1. What is delegation?

2. What are some benefits of delegation?

3. Why is it sometimes difficult for managers to learn to delegate?

4. What are the nine steps to delegation (as listed in your materials for review)?

5. What might you foresee as your biggest challenge to learning how to delegate? Delegation is a critical skill in the effective management of organizations. What can you do to start overcoming these challenge(s)?

Basics of Internal Communications

• For assistance in answering the following questions, see Basics of Internal Communications.

1. What should be included in status reports (according to the materials for review)? How often should status reports be shared and with whom? Your wishes may disagree with those asserted in the materials for review. That’s fine — just be able to specify your own terms for status reports, including what’s in them, how often they are shared with whom.

2. What might you include in regular monthly meetings with all of your employees in attendance? Do you agree that you should have regular meetings with all employees in attendance? If not, then how will you really ensure that employees are aware of activities in the organization? Do they know now? Are you really sure? Seriously consider holding regular meetings. These meetings can go a long way toward building a strong sense of community and ensuring effective communications throughout the organization.

3. How do you ensure that all key employees are aware of important information and activities in the organization? As noted in the materials for review, new managers and supervisors often assume that everyone else knows what they know. This is a mistake. Seriously consider holding regular meetings with key staff. Don’t just rely on good intentions to communicate or “working harder to communicate”. Actually make some changes in policies and procedures to ensure effective communications.

Meeting Management

• For assistance in answering the following questions, see Meeting Management.

1. How can you ensure that the right people are included in your meetings?

2. What’s the best way to design an agenda (according to the materials for review)?

3. What kinds of activities should be included in the opening of a meeting?

4. What is the purpose of ground rules for a meeting. How can they be developed?

5. What are some ideas to ensure that meeting time is managed as effectively as possible?

6. How can you evaluate the meeting process? How can you evaluate results of the overall meeting process?

7. What activities are including when closing a meeting?

8. What challenges do you see in implementing the meeting-management recommendations in the materials for review? What do you dislike about meetings? What do you like? What are you hearing from others about the quality of the meetings in your organization? What can you do to make your meetings more effective?

Managing and Leading Yourself

• For assistance in answering the following questions, see Managing Yourself.

1. Why is the role of first-time manager and/or supervisor so stressful sometimes?

2. How many hours a week are you working now? Is that a problem? What do those nearest to you think about the number of hours that you’re working? How many hours a week do you think you should work on average? What is the largest number of hours that you should work in a week? The number of hours that you work in a week can be a clear indicator of current or oncoming problems in your stress level and effectiveness as a manager. What measures can you take to ensure that you don’t get so consumed by your job that you lose perspective and ultimately lose your overall effectiveness as a manager? Strongly consider involving someone else in helping to determine the total number of hours that you will work in a week.

3. How do you know if you’re stressed? What are the signs? Does anyone else in your life and/or your work know to look for those signs?

4. How might you recruit a mentor or coach? Think about this question very seriously. Having a mentor or coach can be the single, most effective measure you can take to ensure that you manage yourself and your job in a highly effective manner.

5. What’s the difference between matters that are urgent and those that are important? What should be your approach to handling each of these two types of issues? What advice is given in the materials for review regarding these two types of issues?

Optional Readings — Broad Contexts of Management and Leadership

1. Give brief definitions for the following terms (compare the terms with each other, noting how they are similar and different): Board of Directors. Executives. Managers. Leaders. Supervisors. (See Basics — Definitions (and Misinterpretations) in Management.)

2. What does the term “management” mean (include in your answer, the four major functions of management)? (See Basics — Definitions (and Misinterpretations) in Management.)

3. Briefly describe each of the following four management functions: Planning. Organizing. Leading. Coordinating (or controlling) activities. Of course, these functions are not carried out apart from each other — they’re highly integrated. (See Basics — Definitions (and Misinterpretations) in Management.)

4. New managers and leaders often struggle to find the one, best way to manage and lead. Over time, they realize the “best way” depends very much on the situation, for example, the life cycle of the organization, the specific nature and needs of the organization — and their own nature and needs, as well. A very basic understanding of theories and styles of management and leadership can help greatly when finding the “best way”. Very briefly, what is the contingency theory of management? Systems theory? Chaos theory? What are some of the major styles of management? What is the importance of knowing the life cycle of an organization when leading and managing an organization? (See Contemporary Theories in Management, Conventional Styles of Leadership and Life Cycles of Organizations.)

5. Many management experts believe that we’re coming into a “new paradigm”. What is this new paradigm? (See New Paradigm in Management)

6. What is the argument that some people put forth to explain their view that managing and leading are different? What do you think? (See Views That Leading is Different Than Managing.)

7. By now, you might consider your own definition of “What is leading (in an organizational setting)?” Consider in your answer, setting direction for others and influencing others to follow that direction. (See Definitions of Leadership.)

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ACTIVITIES TO BUILD SYSTEMS AND PRACTICES

• Learners are strongly encouraged to complete the following activities, and share and discuss results with peers, board members, management and employees, as appropriate.
• As you proceed through the following activities, be sure to note any incomplete actions in the Action Item Planning List.

Developing Your Basics Skills in Management and Leadership

1. Conduct the following activities with each of the following practices: problem solving and decision making, planning, delegating, internal communications and meeting management.
a) Develop a basic procedure that is customized to your chosen approach to carrying out the practice, While developing your procedure, seriously consider the advice and guidelines provided in the materials for review regarding that practice.
b) Test your procedure by applying it to a current major effort in your organization or your life. What problems did you encounter? Does the procedure need to be updated?
c) Share the procedure with a friend and ask for their feedback.

d) Update the procedure as a result of your testing and feedback.
e) Communicate the procedure throughout your organization, as appropriate.
(For assistance, see Problem Solving and Decision Making, Planning, Effective Delegation, Basics of Internal Communications and Meeting Management.)

Learning to Manage and Lead Yourself

1. Design a personalized stress management plan. In the plan, include description of:
a) The signs that indicate that you’re overly stressed. Include the number of hours that you want to average in work per week.

b) How you will ensure that you notice each of the signs.
c) How you will conclude whether you need to make changes in your work and life styles.
d) Where you will go for help.
e) At least one friend and ask them to check in with you every two weeks to see how you’re doing. You might suggest that they do the same plan and you can reciprocate by helping them, as well.

(For additional assistance, see Managing Yourself and Leading Yourself.)

2. Consider getting a mentor or a coach. (See Getting a Mentor or Hiring a Coach and Getting Coached.)

3. Name at least three sources for networking and/or support for you, for example, a network of friends, association, club, etc. Do you feel comfortable turning to these sources when you need help? If not, contact at least one source that you feel comfortable approaching when you’re, for example, in need of suggestions for resources, feeling burned out, etc.

Optional — Management Development Planning

1. You can learn a great deal about management by using a wide variety of informal methods. The following link is to many suggestions and materials you can use for informal training.
Ideas for Activities to Learn About Management.

2. Usually, the most effective way to learn a topic or skill is through use of a formal training plan. The following link is to a detailed procedure and materials you can use to develop your own highly customized management development plan. The procedure includes use of the assessments listed in the following section “Assessments”.
Customizing Your Own Management Development Plan.

Optional — Leadership Development Planning

1. You can learn a great deal about leadership by using a wide variety of informal methods. The following link is to many suggestions and materials you can use for informal training.
Ideas for Activities to Learn About Leadership.

2. Usually, the most effective way to learn a topic or skill is through use of a formal training plan. The following link is to a detailed procedure and materials you can use to develop your own highly customized management development plan. The procedure includes use of the assessments listed in the following section “Assessments”.
Customizing Your Own Leadership Development Plan.

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ASSESSMENTS

Consider any or all of the following assessments as means to evaluate the extent of your management and leadership skills.

1. Various Needs Assessments to Help Identify Leadership Development Goals

2. Needs Assessments for Management Training and Development

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TRACKING OPEN ACTION ITEMS

1. One of the first indicators that an organization or a person is struggling is that open action items are not tracked and reviewed. (Open action items are required actions that have not yet been completed.) Instead, people only see and react to the latest “fires” in their workplaces or their lives. Whether open action items are critical to address now or not, they should not entirely be forgotten. Therefore, update and regularly review a list of open action items (identified while proceeding through this program) that includes listing each open action item, who is responsible to complete it, when it should be completed and any associated comments. When updating the list, consider action items as identified during discussions, learning activities and assessments in this module. Share and regularly review this action item list with the appropriate peers, board, management and employees in your organization. You can use the following Action Item Planning List. (At that Web address, a box might open, asking you which software application to open the document.)

2. If you have questions, consider posing them in the national, free, online discussion group hr.com, which is attended by many human resource and organization development experts.

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(Learners in the nonprofit organization development program can return to the nonprofit organization development program.)

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For the Category of Management:

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may want to review some related topics, available from the link below. Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.

• Related Library Topics
• Recommended Books