Professional Development Tools to Help Enhance Your Nonprofit

Career

Dr. Heather Carpenter Alaina ClarkeRachel Gregg

Grand Valley State University

Who We Are

• Russell G. Mawby Fellowship• Dorothy A. Johnson Center of Philanthropy• School of Public, Nonprofit and Health

Administration

Learning Objectives

• Hear key findings from the 2013 Professional Development Needs Assessment of Michigan nonprofits.

• Complete a personalized professional development needs assessment designed to help you assess your own learning needs, goals and styles.

• Identify professional development tools to enhance your job skills and accelerate your nonprofit career.

What is Talent Development and Why is it Important?

• Overview of the Field• Previous Needs Assessments– Marketing, Collaborative Partnerships, Resource

Development, Planning, and Information Systems• Missing Information– Accessible Professional Development Training

Formats

2013 Nonprofit Needs Assessment

• Online Survey through Johnson Center• 138 Respondents• In Existence for at least 10 years• 5-15 Board members• 0-5 FTE staff

Health/H

uman Se

rvice

Public/So

cietal

Benefit

Arts/C

ulture

Education

Environment/W

ildlife

Philanth

ropy

Recreati

on

Religious

Other

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Organizational Type

Num

ber o

f Org

aniz

ation

s

Findings

• Importance of Professional Development– 73% offer PD training to staff– 51% offer PD training to board– An average of 2% of annual budget is allocated for

PD

What sources do you use to seek out PD?

What nonprofit PD training topics interest you?E.g. Financial Management

Most Crucial Training Needs

• Board of Directors’ Training• Program Evaluation and Data-Based Decision

Making• Technology, Marketing, Communications and

Social Media

What is your preferred PD training format?

Accessible Professional Development Training Formats

• Workshops• One-half day or less• Thursday mornings• Located 50 miles or less from office

Recommendations

• PD should be offered in shorter segments• PD should be relevant to both the individual

and sector standards• PD should be thought of more

comprehensively

70 – 20 – 10

• Center for Creative Leadership– 70% of learning from stretch assignments– 20% of learning from developing relationships – 10% of learning from workshops and trainings

Talent Development Platform

Develop Your Talent Map•Create competencies

•Map Competencies to Job Descriptions

Professional Development Assessment Organizational •Learning Styles Assessment

Individual Professional

Development Assessment

Professional Development

Goals and Objectives

Develop and Deliver

Professional Development

Evaluate Professional

Development

Heather Carpenter & Tera Qualls, Jossey-Bass, 2015

Nonprofit Management Competencies

Nonprofit Management Competencies

• Advocacy, Public Policy and Social Change• Communications, Marketing and Public Relations• Financial Management and Social Entrepreneurship• Fundraising• Direct Service / Grantmaking• Human Resource Management and Volunteerism• Information Management• Legal and Regulatory Contexts• Leadership and Governance• Planning and Evaluation

For Continued Learning

What Does this Mean for You?

• Look for organizations who offer stretch assignments and opportunities to learn and grow

• Seek out external volunteer opportunities for PD

• Staff retention

What does this mean for your PD future?

Investing in Talent: How to Reduce Employee and Volunteer Turnover and Save Your Organization Money

• March 7, March 28, and April 24, 2014 | 1-4 p.m. • This three part course will provide participants hands on tools to

invest in talent development within their organizations. Each participant and their organization will complete a six-part Professional Development Assessment Tool and process developed by the instructors of this course. The tool involves assessing employee and volunteer competencies (the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics that people need to possess in order to perform their jobs) as well as identifying and creating professional development programming that is connected to the goals of the organization and tailored for learning styles.