NLI Classes

To view the Nonprofit Leadership Institute Schedule of Classes please click here.

NLI: Foundations of Leadership

Effective organizations result from effective leadership. Effective leadership requires both skills and self-knowledge. Align’s Nonprofit Leadership Institute, a series of seven classes, begins with Foundations of Leadership to help you gain self-knowledge as a starting point for enhancing your leadership abilities.

Using the Align Leadership Model^™ and proven self-assessment tools, this class gives you the opportunity to:

Understand your preferred leadership style and learn how to broaden your style to fit different organizational needs
Adapt your strengths and preferences so that you bring out the best in others
Provide consistent leadership across all areas and functions of your organization

While economic times may have you focused on today’s fundraising, now is actually the time to focus beyond the short-term. Attend the Align Nonprofit Leadership Institute’s Foundations of Leadership and learn how to balance your important leadership role with the daily management issues . Discover how you can devote your attention to genuine, out-in-front-of-the-issues leadership for your organization.

If any of these statements seem familiar, you owe it to yourself and your organization to attend the Align NLI Foundations of Leadership.

You are a brand new executive director at a nonprofit organization and want to establish your leadership skill set with your board and staff.
You and the board do not share a clear vision for the future of the organization. You have been unsuccessful in getting your board to commit to planning for the future of the organization.
Your organization has been successful in providing services to its clients for many years, but try as it might, you cannot figure out how to increase knowledge of the organization in the community or build collaborative relationships.
Your organization does great things, but lately it seems that each piece of the organization is doing its own thing. This difference of priorities seems to cause periodic upsets within the organization.
You have a heart for nonprofit work and you aspire to move into nonprofit leadership.

This class will help you put your passion, vision and business management practices in order so that you can help both the organization and its people grow in ways that produces positive outcomes.

NLI: Board Management and Recruitment

Providing services to those with a need touches the hearts of many well-intentioned people. Their good intentions and desire to serve leads them to nonprofit boards where they expect to serve with enthusiasm. Unfortunately, too many of them are not clear on their role as a board member; and too many nonprofit leaders are not sure how to explain it to them. Often this lack of clarity makes the recruiting process less than successful for the long-term development of the organization.

In this Nonprofit Leadership Institute class from Align, participants will engage in case studies based on their specific situations. The studies will use advance survey responses by the participants, ensuring that the class content is immediately useful to you and your board. You will get more than the theory of good board management; you will get true-to-life advice and lessons.

By the end of the class, participants will understand:

The definition and purpose of a board of directors
The ideal board make up, including size, structure and specific talents needed
The legal issues that exist for all boards
The differences in the roles of staff members, board members and the organization’s volunteers
How to ensure that new board members embrace their role and their responsibilities
How to analyze board dynamics and address any problems that arise

This class is useful to nonprofit executives and staff at all levels of the organization, as well as to key board members.

NLI: Effective Strategic Planning

The best way for professionals to become more effective in the performance of their responsibilities is to practice the skills required. Unlike other strategic planning classes that provide a step-by-step outline, discuss the purpose of each step and then send you on your way, the NLI strategic planning class, Effective Strategic Planning, provides you the opportunity to apply the skills in a real-world application simulation using a fictional organization.

Participants in this class receive tools and practice time to understand:

What constitutes strategic planning
Why it is critical to an organization’s success
Which stakeholders must be involved in successful planning
The information needed in advance in order to conduct successful planning
How to conduct a thorough and meaningful analysis of the organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (a SWOT analysis)
Steps to creating a mission or purpose statement that works as a “rallying cry” for the organization
How to differentiate between the organization’s mission and its vision
How to conduct a strategic direction exercise
How to set meaningful goals
How to set priorities and include ACTION plans that ensure completion
Other pieces of corporate strategy such as values and self-evaluation
When to use a third-party (neutral) facilitator for planning

By the end of the class, you will have compiled an array of tools for successful strategic planning; and you will have practiced the steps involved in creating a strategic plan that moves your organization forward in positive ways.

NLI: Human Resources Management for Small Organizations

People are the heartbeat of any organization. The greatest mission in the world supported by unlimited funding cannot succeed without good people to carry it out. Yet in our small nonprofits, it is challenging to recruit and retain qualified, enthusiastic employees.

Participants in this class receive tools and practice time to understand:

How to recruit the right people
How to set clear, mutually agreed upon expectations
How to construct pay and benefits packages you can afford and be proud of
How to determine the number of staff hours your organization requires
How to differentiate between the roles of staff and volunteers
How to motivate employees
Basics of the employment law and where to find resources for advice

Whether you’re a board member with a staff of one or a member of a nonprofit staff, this class will provide the basics you need to create and retain a team with a passion for the purpose; and will introduce you to Align as one of the HR resources on which you can rely.

NLI: Outcomes Management and Evaluation

In today’s world nonprofits are being asked to be more accountable and more transparent to their stakeholders. Clients, volunteers, and, of course, funders want to know that the services you provide are effective and are making a measureable difference in the communities served. However, understanding what to measure, how to measure it, and how to report the information are among the most difficult things that a nonprofit organization undertakes.

In this Nonprofit Leadership Institute (NLI) class, we will walk through a simple model that helps organizations understand what outcomes are as well as the process is for measuring and reporting those outcomes. We will look at everything from who should be involved in the process to what tools are available for collecting data.

Participants in this class receive tools and practice time to understand:

Preparing to measure and evaluate outcomes
Choosing which outcomes are most important
Deciding which indicators to measure for the outcomes you chose
Collecting appropriate data
Analyzing the data
Reporting the information to stakeholders

Knowing how many people came through your organization can be helpful, but knowing what impact your organization had on those people is imperative. Attending Align’s Outcomes Management and Evaluation class will give you the tools to demonstrate the difference you are making in the world.

NLI: Reporting and Managing Finances

It is common for even the most veteran of nonprofit employees to be somewhat in the dark about effective compilation and management of the organization’s finances. After all, we entered nonprofit work to help others, not to keep books! This lack of confidence about managing finances can result in each successive board treasurer or third-party auditor redesigning the presentation of the financial reports and cause ongoing confusion and even concern about the organization’s financial picture.

In this Nonprofit Leadership Institute (NLI) class, you have the opportunity to get back to the basics and then move through a day of instruction that will bolster your authority and provide tools for future success. You will be able to take charge of your finances with assurance and create a consistent and meaningful format for presenting financial reports to your board and donors.

Participants in this class receive tools and practice time to understand:

How to cover all the bases in establishing the annual budget
How to use budgets to the advantage of the organization and avoid going over budget
Identification of key financial indicators that measure your organization’s performance
How to communicate with the staff about the importance of understanding the organization’s finances
The different financial reporting formats, such as income statements and balance sheets
How to differentiate revenue, income and cash - and whether you can spend any of it
How to communicate confidently to your board and public your understanding of the finances

In the 21st Century, nonprofits’ finances are under increasing scrutiny by a variety of regulators and by donors. Even if you think you have a firm grasp on your organization’s finances and how they are presented, this class, NLI Reporting and Managing Finances, will ensure your knowledge is up to date. And if you’re a neophyte at organizational finance, you must attend Reporting and Managing Finances.

NLI: Fundraising

For most nonprofits, fundraising is the life blood of the organization. Without funding from individuals, foundations, and government agencies, few nonprofit organizations could survive. However, asking for money can be intimidating and difficult to orchestrate. Understanding the basics of fundraising and having a plan make it easier to ask for financial support and can bring more money in the door…even in the worst of economic times.

In this Nonprofit Leadership Institute class from Align, participants will start to build their own development plan by first understanding why people give and then articulating why people should give to your organization. Align will provide tools for planning and executing an effective fundraising plan.

Participants in this class receive tools and practice time to:

Understand the roles that nonprofit stakeholders play in fundraising
Understand an individual’s motivation for giving
Identify and discuss the principles of fundraising
Assess your organization’s readiness to raise funds by a variety of means
Develop the components to a case for support
Build the framework for a development plan
Prepare for “the ask”

As the economy continues to be unpredictable, it is more and more important your nonprofit organization have a strong fundraising plan and people - staff and volunteers - that are able to bring in the dollars. If you are an experienced fundraiser, NLI Fundraising, will help ensure that your foundational fundraising knowledge is sound. If you are new to fundraising or if you simply are not comfortable making that ask, this class is a must.

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Private Sector

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