The syllabus for
CMGT 599 Special Topics: Managing in the Nonprofit Sector
Annenberg School for Communication
University of Southern California
Titus Levi
Fall 2009
Office: ASC TBD
Office Hrs: TBD
Email:
Phone: 213.247.2715m
Class meets: TBD
Academic Integrity Policy:
The Annenberg School for Communication is committed to upholding the University’s Academic Integrity code as detailed in the SCampus Guide. It is the policy of the School for Communication to report all violations of the code. Any serious violation or pattern of violations of the Academic Integrity Code will result in the student’s expulsion from the Communication major or minor, or from the graduate program.
About this syllabus:
The syllabus is a guide. While I will follow it very closely, I do reserve the right to make changes here and there in order to serve the fundamental goals of the course. In short, be flexible and understand that the goal is learning. I fully intend to fulfill this aim.
Disabilities Services
“Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Be sure the letter is delivered to me as early in the semester as possible. DSP is located in STU 301 and is open 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. The phone number for DSP is (213) 740-0776.”
Objectives
The aim of this course is to familiarize you with management issues, strategies, and skills used in the nonprofit sector. Upon completing this course, you will have the basic skills and knowledge needed to work in or with nonprofit organizations.
The course fuses a variety of disciplinary insights. These come from communications, management, economics, and sociology. We will make use of case-study methodology and a workshop oriented skills development process.
The focus will be on the United States and its particular definition of “private nonprofit organization.” However, we will spend on time nonprofits and NGOs that work outside of the US.
These are the key points that I will convey to you over the course of the coming weeks:
Nonprofit organizations and cultures are distinct from their profit-driven counterparts;
The “service” aim of nonprofits allows for considerable latitude in implementation of action plans and goals;
Nonprofits pursue courses of action that parallel, conflict with, and diverge from for-profit organizations’ actions;
The culture of the nonprofit milieu has a deep impact on nonprofit organizations’ decision making;
Nonprofits have very distinct structures and strategies across industries and countries;
Clearly conveying the nonprofit’s mission to volunteers, employees, clients, funders, and other stakeholders is one of the central communications challenges of working in the nonprofit sector.
Content
The core readings for the course reflect an interdisciplinary approach to this subject, with an emphasis on management. (Remember: this course is offered in the Comm Management program.)
Course Readings
Required (Available USC Bookstore):
Jim Collins, Good to Great and the Social Sectors: A Monograph to Accompany Good to Great.
Peter F. Drucker, Managing the Nonprofit Organization
Lester M. Salamon: The State of Nonprofit America
Note: This text is available online through Google Books so you can read it online if you want to save yourself some pocket change.
We will also work through a reader, consisting of online materials and some case studies. This reader will be available at Magic Machine in University Village.
Finally, I will distribute handouts and email notices as events and needs warrant.
To supplement what I assign, I encourage you to read widely on subject matter related to the class. I am more than happy to let any of you hijack the discussion if there’s a burning issue that you want to talk about on a given night provided that it’s relevant.
I recommend the following sources for learning more about the nonprofit sector:
Chronicle of Philanthropy:
This weekly news journal of the nonprofit sector includes a summary of news, plus full-text of major feature stories.
Foundation News & Commentary:
The bimonthly magazine of the Council on Foundations.
International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing
International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing provides an international forum for peer-reviewed papers and case studies on the latest techniques, thinking and best practice in marketing for the not-for-profit sector.
Nonprofit Management and Leadership
This refereed journal included articles written for both scholars and practitioners. The focus is on nonprofit governance, human resources, fundraising and financial management, and organizational effectiveness. It includes a calendar of conferences and meetings.
Nonprofit Times
This periodical includes the handy and enlightening Salary Survey--Nonprofit Executives: published in January, as well as the NPT Sector Report/Year-end Review.
Nonprofit World
NW Focuses on organizational management and leadership from the practitioner's viewpoint. Published by the Society for Nonprofit Organizations.
Philanthropy News Digest
A weekly news summary on philanthropy.
Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Non-Profit Organizations
Another academic-leaning journal on nonprofits.
Idealist
Great listings for nonprofit jobs and other handy info.
Evaluation and Grading
Reading summaries15% (5% x 3)
Paper #115%
Consulting Report Prospectus15%
Paper #215%
Consulting Report20%
In-class Presentation of Final10%
Class participation10%
Reading summaries
Each summary will be approximately two pages long. You will need to summarize the key points covered in the reading, but I expect you to go beyond mere description and move into explanations regarding the material. That is, identify what the key points are, but as well, how they change your views and can be used to understand the inner, systemic workings of the phenomena detailed in each assigned article. You are required to turn these in via email, and they must be turned in before class starts to receive full credit. Summaries turned in late will lose half the points right off the top. Long story short: be on time.
Paper #1
In our second week, I will assign a short (5-15 pp.) paper pertaining to the first book we will complete in this class: Jim Collins’ Good to Great monograph on nonprofits.
A note on length: when Abe Lincoln was asked how long a man’s legs should be, he replied: “Long enough to touch the ground.” The same logic applies to papers: be complete, but don’t beat it to death. Learning how to do this is one of the primary challenges of grad school.
Paper #2
In our tenth week seminar, I will assign a short (5-15 pp.) paper pertaining to the second book we will complete in this class: Peter Drucker’s text, Managing the Nonprofit Organization. By working through this paper, you should be able to pull together key concepts covered in the book that are relevant to your final paper.
Consulting report
In lieu of a term paper, you will complete a consulting report for a nonprofit organization. This will require that you identify a suitable nonprofit that you have a strong interest in learning more about (or that your now or will eventually working for). I strongly urge you to select an organization working in a field that will help you develop skills and insights that you plan to use at work, either at your current job, or in the kind of job that you hope to move into in the next three years or so.
Something that may help you get a handle on this: think of a job, organization, and/or individual you respect in the nonprofit sector. Begin to analyze what key skills, decisions, and steps you would need to develop in order to move into a similar position in the coming years. From there, work backwards to where you are now.
Here’s an example:
Let’s say you focus on an individual that runs a small foundation that develops water projects in West Africa. Contact this individual. Examine how this individual got started, how she found funding, how she developed her staff, how she found sites for the organization’s work to take place, how projects moved from concept to execution, and how the organization managed difficulties and crises. Go the additional step of figuring out how to improve these processes. Speak with the director and ask what her needs might be in the next 6-12 months and how you can help to facilitate the completion of these goals. Work together to develop a project that will help the organization. Be sure that the scope of the project is such that you can complete the plan for it in about 8 weeks or so.
In essence, I want you to work as a consultant to a nonprofit. There are several reasons for this. First, you will get more “real world” experience. Second, you will begin to forge contacts in the nonprofit sector, which will be crucial in finding employment in the sector. Third, you will end up with a project that can be included in a professional portfolio. This is important because getting hired to a job has much more to do with what you’ve done than what you know how to do.
The paper topic must be formally presented via a prospectus/proposal that will be evaluated and returned to you prior to your final drafting stage. Hint: do this early. Second hint: once you pick a direction, stay with it. The idea is not to find the perfect idea; the important thing is to produce an insightful and useful analysis.
Think of the final report in this way: when you finish it, you will know something about the nonprofit sector that other people probably don’t know as well as you do. This is something you can bring up in job interviews, or in social settings with other professionals. The completed project should be of publication quality as a consulting report, white paper, or magazine article. In short, this paper should help to develop your professional skills, knowledge, and preparation.
You will present a summary of your results in class in a short presentation. This presentation should be regarded as a professional presentation to colleagues. It should be done in a business-like manner. I will require that you bring one of the staff or board members of the organization to class on the night you present.
More details are forthcoming on this assignment. Feel free to discuss your final paper ideas with me outside of class. I am readily available via email.
Class participation
This class is part lecture, part seminar. As professionals (or soon-to-be-professionals), you have thoughts, experiences, and insights to share that can enrich class discussion and help your peers become better prepared for work in the “real world.” A key element in energizing these discussions: do the readings beforehand. Another key element: read more than just the class assignments. And an absolutely essential element: when we have a discussion, make sure to listen twice as much as you speak. That’s why you have two ears and only one mouth. The idea of a conversation is not to “win”; it is to share, and by sharing, to learn. That’s why you’re in this program in the first place.
Week 1: Introduction, Course Overview
In this session we’ll talk over the basic details of the class, we’ll start the term project process, and have an open-ended discussion on the state of the nonprofit sector, what interests you about it, and the emerging interest in service. (This will help me get a sense of your interests.)
* First Summary Assignment: Describe a key issue of interest to you in the nonprofit sector; where possible go beyond mere description and begin to explain the mechanics of how this situation came about. Due by Week 2. *
* Paper Prospectus/Proposal Assigned – Due Week 3 *
Week 2: Good To Great: Conceiving of and Realizing Greatness
Reading:
Jim Collins, Good to Great and the Social Sectors: A Monograph to Accompany Good to Great.
Key Concepts and Teaching Goals
How is performance maintained over time?
How does technological and competitive change challenge leadership over time?
What role does management play in creating and maintaining success?
* Summary #1 Due *
* Paper #1 Assigned – Due Week 4 *
Week 3: Core Concepts Regarding Nonprofits
Reading:
Drucker, Park III; Chapters 1, 2, 3
Key concepts and goals:
What is a nonprofit?
What is service?
How is service measured?
Note the complexity of “maximizing” services related to the organizational mission vs. the simplicity of profit maximization. What are the implications of this in management decision-making?
Be able to describe key characteristics of nonprofit culture.
Who are the employees of nonprofits and what makes them different from their for-profit counterparts?
* Final Paper Prospectus/Proposal Due *
Week 4: Nonprofits, For-Profits, and Government
Reading:
Salamon: Chapter 1
Lester M. Salamon: The Resilient Sector: The State of Nonprofit America
Salamon: Chapter 14
Kirsten A. Gronbjerg and Lester M. Salamon: Devolution, Marketization, and the Changing Shape of Government-Nonprofit Relations
Ian Greene: The Potential for Government Privatization to the Nonprofit Sector
Key Concepts and Teaching Goals:
Be able to distinguish various aspects of private NPOs from government organizations and actions.
Examine different missions of nonprofits.
Distinguish different clients among nonprofit organizations and industries.
Distinguish different strategies and funding models among nonprofits.
Note cases where competition, cooperation, coordination, and collaboration prevail in nonprofit-government and nonprofit-commercial markets.
Be able to identify key nonprofit lobbying organizations.
Be able to provide examples where nonprofits cooperate and/or coordinate with one another (e.g., sharing data, etc.).
Be able to indicate cases of nonprofits working together on projects.
Be able to identify cases where nonprofits work with government on projects.
Be able to identify cases where nonprofits work with commercial operators on projects.
Week 5: Leadership and Management
Reading:
Drucker, Part I; Chapters 1, 2, 3; Part IV, Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4
Salamon, Chapter 15
Evelyn Brody: Accountability and the Public Trust
Key Concepts and Teaching Goals:
Be able to analyze organizational charts and work through the implications of particular organizational types and their suitability for particular nonprofit industries.
Work through the implications of organizational structures (small and flattened vs. robust and developed) for nonprofits.
Be able to identify managerial types (charismatic leader, savior, technocrat, stabilizer, socialite, etc.).
Be able to examine board structures, functions, types, and cultures (ideal vs. reality; boards for fundraising, boards for expertise and connections), as well as key and common board problems.
Provide examples of how management sets the tone for an organization.
Identify particular skills and temperamental characteristics that influence management style and effectiveness.
Be able to identify key ethical and legal constraints on behavior within the nonprofit context.
Be able to work through the basics of strategic planning, including how the mission statement shapes strategy, how the strategic planning process works (who is involved, how much the process costs, what are its aims), and how the strategic plan is written (In-house? With a consultancy? How is it vetted?).
Provide descriptions of at least two successful programs for managing volunteers.
* Summary #2 Assigned; Due Week 8 *
Week 6: Financing and Fundraising
Reading:
Drucker, Part II; Chapters 1, 2, 3
Salamon: Chapters 11, 12
Leslie Lenkowsky: Foundations and Corporate Philanthropy
Virginia A. Hodgkinson, Kathryn E. Nelson, Edward D. Sivak, Jr.: Individual Giving and Volunteering
Foundation Center: Proposal Writing Short Course
Kiva: Microfinance
A Panel Discussion: Funding Social Enterprises
Guest Speakers:
Isabel Maxwell, Grameen America’s Senior Advisor for the West Coast
Leslie Ito, Program Officer, California Community Foundation
Key Concepts and Teaching Goals:
How are finances and fundraising related? Indicate cases where the “fundraising tail wags the organizational dog.”
What is earned income? How can it supplement and even drive gifts as a funding source?
What are the various kinds of donated income (small gifts, major gifts, capital gifts, program funds)? In what cases are gifts ruinous to an organization?
What are in-kind contributions? How do they fit into the mix of gifts?
What are endowments? What organizations have them? What organizations do not? How does this create a “class division” in the nonprofit world?
What are bequests?
What are some funding models that have emerged to cope with economic contraction and financial market instability?
How does taxation change under the nonprofit umbrella?
Week 7: Marketing and Publicity
Reading:
Philip Kotler: Marketing vs. PR: Kotler on Kotler
Thomas M. Siebel: Using Marketing Techniques to Fight Meth Abuse
HBS CASE: Hurricane Island Outward Bound
Guest Speaker:
Judith Luther Wilder: Founder, Center for Cultural Innovation; Executive Director, 1990 Los Angeles Festival
Key Concepts and Teaching Goals:
Be able to identify basic marketing tools and technologies.
Be able to organize a marketing plan using Web 2.0 tools.
Be able to outline a publicity plan, including descriptions of how to form the necessary relationships, cultivate relevance among media outlets, and how to position an organization and its programs to stay in the media and community conversation.
Provide examples of cooperation between organizations regarding marketing and publicity.
Develop an understanding of the informational and cultural environment and how this shapes marketing and publicity plans.
Week 8: Program Development and Advocacy
Reading:
The National Capital Freenet program development strategy:
Malcolm Gladwell: Six Degrees of Lois Weisberg
Guest Speaker:
Lillian Lew, Director, Families in Good Health Program, St. Mary's Medical Center in Long Beach
Key Concepts and Teaching Goals: