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Not-for-profit management competencies: What skills should you and your team enhance?
By Paulette Vinette, CAE
September 15, 2008

There is a lot of practical wisdom available from the not-for-profit management “school of hard knocks”. However if you are committed to continuous improvement, you and your staff, as well as volunteer leaders, might want to enhance your not-for-profit management skills by signing up for schedule-friendly, online training. This article sets out a menu of subjects to choose from. These references are provided as a convenience to you and not an endorsement of their contents.
CharityVillage offers online training in the following areas:
Fundraising:

Receipting Charitable Gifts in Canada

How Fundraising Works

Proposal Writing

Grantseeking

Case for Support

Getting Started in Planned Giving

Management & Leadership:

Writing Effective Policies & Procedures

Event Planning

Volunteer Management

How Boards Work

Strategic Planning

The Canadian Society of Association Executives offers a certification program to earn the “Certified Association Executive” CAE designation. The following are the online course topics available:
Leadership
Vision
Working Together
Facilitation and Commitment
Continuous Learning
Conceptual Skills
Ethics
Innovation and Creativity
Change and Flexibility

Structure & Environment
History, Current Status, Trends and Issues
Governance and Decision Making
Policy and By-laws
Volunteers
Staffing

Direction & Strategy
Strategic Management
Planning
Implementation
Monitoring and Evaluation
Reporting and Accountability
Knowledge Management

Membership & Services
Understanding Members
Member Relations
Member Communications
Recruitment and Retention
Products and Services
Quality and Pricing
Marketing
Strategy, Standards and Satisfaction

Operations Support
Human Resources
Association Systems and Practices
Technology
Financial and Management Accounting
Facilities and Equipment
Legal and Statutory
Insurance and Tax
Communications and External Relations
Continuous Improvement

Products & Services
Publications and Information
Events
Education
Advocacy
Fundraising
Credentialing
Other Services
Strategic Alliances and Partnerships

There are other online training opportunities for these subjects. If you don’t have the time to take an online course, there are resources at your finger click (you thought I would say finger tip didn’t you?).
Industry Canada:
This website provides a primer for directors of not-for-profit corporations (rights, duties and practices). Both volunteers and staff should understand these requirements.
Here is an index of the material available to you at no charge:
CHAPTER 1: CORPORATIONS & DIRECTORS
What, Who, Why & How
Introduction
Types of Not-for-Profit Corporations
Special Categories of Directors
Organization Mandate
Accountability
Elements of Good Governance
Checklist
CHAPTER 2: DUTIES OF DIRECTORS
Introduction
The Duty of Care
The Duty of Loyalty
Duties Towards Members
Checklist
CHAPTER 3: LIABILITY OF DIRECTORS
Introduction
Liability and Contracts
Liability in Tort
Liability for Breach of Fiduciary Duty
Liability for Breach of Trustee Duties
Common Law Liabilities
Statutory Liabilities
Checklist
CHAPTER 4: RIGHTS AND POWERS
Introduction
Directors' Rights
Directors' Powers
Checklist
CHAPTER 5: COMMITTEES
Introduction
Types of Committees
Checklist
CHAPTER 6: RISK PROTECTION
Introduction
Due Diligence
Indemnification
Insurance
Statutory Protection
Other Means of Reducing Liability Exposure
Checklist
CHAPTER 7: TAXATION
Introduction
Not-for-Profit Corporations
Charities
The Regulation of Charities
The Treatment of Gifts to Registered Charities and Qualified Donees
Corporate Structures
Checklist
CHAPTER 8: DIRECTOR DEVELOPMENT
Introduction
Tools
Checklist
The HR Council for the Voluntary & Non-profit Sector:
The HR Council for the Voluntary & Non-profit Sector (HR Council) works with organizations, educators, labour and government to identify and address issues related to paid employment in the voluntary and not-for-profit sector.
The HR Toolkit is a comprehensive online resource designed to help managers, employees and board members better understand, address, and manage issues relating to HR in voluntary and nonprofit organizations. Whether you're looking for guidance on the hiring process, information about employment legislation, or sample HR policies to download, the HR Toolkit's intuitive navigation, plain language and integrated tools and templates make it easy to find what you're looking for.
Voluntary Sector Knowledge Network:
The Voluntary Sector Knowledge Network is a program of The Centre for Non Profit Management in British Columbia. It provides management assistance for staff and volunteers in not-for-profit and voluntary organizations.
Nonprofit Library Commons:
The Nonprofit Library Commons is a program of Imagine Canada. This organization, among other roles, delivers tools, resources and networking opportunities to not-for-profit organizations and charities. Its website provides access to practical resources, promising practices and up-to-date intelligence on the state of Canada’s not-for-profit sector.
Specific items of interest are:
Ethical Fundraising and Accountability Code (includes application form)

Insurance and Liability Resource Centre for Nonprofits

Promising Practices - includes a catalogue with examples of program innovation, successful collaboration and partnership, effective communication and leadership in governance, financial sustainability and more.
If your organization presently cannot afford training, here are some other no-cost solutions:
1. Lunch ‘n learns
Each person on your team possesses some skills. Organizations can ask their teams to brown bag there lunch and ask one person to make a presentation on what they know well over lunch. These can be developed into a series of learning opportunities.
2. Mentorship programs
Pair a seasoned person with a novice and formalize a mentorship program. One definition of mentorship is a developmental relationship between a more experienced mentor and a less experienced partner referred to as a protégé, mentoree.
3. Skills exchange hours
Another approach is to trade skills. A management person can provide organizational training to a clerical person who can provide computer training to the manager.
What is important to remember is that high-performance organizations support training for staff and volunteers. This article has provided low cost and no cost links to tools that you can use and the not-for-profit competencies to focus on.
Paulette in President of Solution Studio Inc., a consulting practice that serves the not-for-profit association community. Paulette co-authored two manuscripts on risk management & not-for-profit organizations and regularly conducts risk management, strategic planning and board development workshops. She can be reached at 1-877-787-7714 or Paulette@solutionstudioinc.com.