Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Management

Interested in expanding or developing your career in the field of nonprofit management? Wayne State's Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Management equips graduates across a variety of nonprofit management and policy careers, including organizational and program managers, nonprofit CEOs and board chairs, professionals in the resource development field and those working or aspiring to build a career in philanthropic organizations.

About the program

The Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Management is a 12-credit program designed to combine academic rigor with practical relevance. Certificate instructors are the core faculty of the nationally accredited top-quality Master of Public Administration (M.P.A.) program, as well as part-time faculty with expertise in nonprofit management.

Through our course offerings, students develop critical nonprofit management competencies and obtain essential skills that are in high demand by the nonprofit sector organizations in metro Detroit, the wider southeast Michigan region and beyond. Some of the competencies include nonprofit financial management, marketing and grant writing, ability to identify funding sources, leadership skills, data analysis and presentation skills.

Certificate courses are taught mostly online. The regular and flexible program offerings enable the completion of the program in as little as one academic year, allowing immediate transfer of knowledge into the field.

• Who can apply?

  Our program welcomes applications from people holding at least a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution of higher education who have experience of working in the nonprofit sector, resource development field and philanthropic organizations or seeking any of such careers.

  Admission also is open to applicants pursuing graduate degrees at WSU or other institutions. The certificate program presents a great opportunity for those professionals who are seeking to develop an alternative career or tailor their existing qualifications to the needs of the nonprofit sector.

  Since the launch of the program in fall 2020, we have welcomed more than 45 graduate certificate students from diverse educational and social backgrounds and all walks of life, including those with many years of experience in the field and those who had already completed degrees in other fields. The program currently has 17 graduates who are putting their nonprofit competencies to use in Metropolitan Detroit.

• Who can benefit from obtaining the certificate?
  • Current employees of nonprofit organizations holding at least a bachelor's degree who have not had formal nonprofit training and are looking for professional development and career advancement
  • Students who already have (or are currently pursuing) master's and doctoral degrees in the liberal arts and humanities and who would like to develop marketable competencies for careers in art museums, historical societies, theaters and other arts and humanities organizations in Detroit, southeast Michigan and beyond
  • Social work, public health, urban development and other college majors interested in working in community development, environmental, human service and health nonprofits or interested in starting their own nonprofit in those areas
  • Current university/college employees working in foundation relations, alumni relations and development departments
  • Current M.P.A. students or alumni looking to expand their career choices and tailor their competencies to the nonprofit field
  • Prospective M.P.A. applicants who are seeking to start their graduate work from the nonprofit certificate and later transfer their credits towards their M.P.A. degree

Nonprofit management program requirements and curriculum

• Required foundational courses

  Course #	Title	Credits	Semester offered
  PS 7700 (or former 6710)	Foundations of Nonprofit Management	3	Fall
  PS 6700	Financial Management for Nonprofit Organizations	3	Winter
  PS 6720	Marketing, Development, & Grant Writing for Nonprofit Organizations	3	Spring/summer
  Total		9

• Functional elective courses (three credits)

  Course #	Title	Credits	Semester offered
  PS 7320	Organization Theory and Behavior	3	Annually
  PS 7340	Public Personnel Management	3	Annually
  PS 7350	Management of Public Organizations and Programs	3	Annually
  PS 7460	Program Evaluation	3	Annually
  PS 7260	Urban Poverty and Racial Segregation	3	Bi-annually
  PS 5630	Statistics and Data Analysis in Political Science	4	Every term
  PS 5890	Dispute Resolution	3	Every term
  ANT 5600	Museum Studies	3	Every other year
  COM 6140	Theories of Public Relations	3	Annually
  COM 7150	Micro-Approaches to Organizational Communication	3	Every other year
  COM 7210	New Media and Strategic Communication	3	Every other year
  HIS 7835	Public History: Theory and Method	3	Every other year
  INF 6415	Project Management	3	Annually
  MGT 7700	Leadership and Management of Innovation and Technology	3	Annually
  MGT 7900	Project Management	3	Annually
  MGT 7660	Entrepreneurial Management	3	Every term
  MGT 7620	Complex Organizations	3	Every term
  MGT 7630	Organizational Change and Development	3	Annually
  SOC 6750	Sociology of Urban Health	3	Intermittently
  SOC 8710	Advanced Seminar in Race/Ethnicity	3	Every other year
  SW 7095	Social Entrepreneurship	3	Annually
  SW 7085	Social Work Leadership Strategies	3	Annually
  SW 7720	Introduction to Social Welfare Policy in the United States	3	Annually
  SW 9260	Current and Historical Trends in US Social Welfare Policy	3	Every other year
  UP 5650	Metropolitan Detroit	3	Annually
  UP 6340	Community Development	3	Annually
  UP 6350	Housing Policy and Programs	3	Intermittently
  UP 6680	Neighborhood Decline and Revitalization	3	Every other year

Contact

For more information regarding this program, please contact npm@wayne.edu.

Alumna: Alicia Arkwright, development director, North Oakland Headwaters Land Conservancy

"I began the nonprofit certificate program two months after starting my new role with a nonprofit. This job is my first professional role within the nonprofit sector. Taking this program while working has helped me understand my role more clearly and connected me to other industry professionals. The faculty are knowledgeable and genuinely committed to their students' success."

I would highly recommend this program to anyone new to the nonprofit sector or a seasoned professional interested in pursuing leadership roles.