Cost and Enrollment

Invest in Your Leadership. Strengthen Your Community.

Cultivate provides high-quality leadership training for people creating positive change in their communities.

We use a community pricing model because we believe financial circumstances should not determine who has access to effective leadership training. Our standard membership contribution is $100, while a $50 community rate makes the program more accessible to grassroots leaders and emerging organizations around the world.

Participants who are able to contribute the standard rate help sustain the program and make scholarships possible for leaders who cannot afford the community rate. If the $50 community rate is still a barrier, we offer additional options, including pay-what-you-can, sponsorship, and limited scholarships.

Our goal is simple: committed community leaders should have access to the knowledge, skills, and practical tools they need to create lasting change.

Enrollment for our next cohort is opening soon.

Join the interest list to receive helpful training and resources while you wait — and we’ll notify you as soon as enrollment opens.

$100 — Standard Membership

Our training provides significant professional value, but we intentionally offer it at a contribution level that is far below the cost of comparable leadership training programs.

Your $100 membership payment helps sustain Cultivate’s training programs, improve our resources, and expand access by helping provide scholarships for leaders who cannot afford the community rate.

By choosing the standard membership, you are investing in your own leadership development while helping build a more accessible global learning community.

$50 — Community Membership

Our community membership rate makes Cultivate accessible to grassroots leaders and emerging organizations around the world.

Your $50 membership payment helps sustain and improve our courses, resources, and coaching while ensuring that financial circumstances are not a barrier for committed leaders who want to strengthen their communities.

Need Additional Support?

If the $50 community membership is still a significant barrier, we have additional options to help you participate:

✓ Contribute what you are able to pay.
✓ Ask an individual, organization, or supporter to sponsor your membership.
✓ Apply for a limited scholarship.

Scholarships are available for committed leaders who are unable to afford the community membership rate.

Learn More

If purchasing for more than one learner, please make a separate purchase for each.

If you would like to offer our training to a large group, please consider our → organizational training program.

What You Get as a Member

✓ 12 months of access.

✓ 11 online courses with offline and low-data options.

✓ Monthly group coaching sessions.

✓ Monthly online open-office hours to ask questions and get additional help.

✓ Access to practical tools, templates, and our members-only resource library.

✓ Course Completion Recognition documents for each course you complete.

✓ The opportunity to earn the Applied Learning Certificate in Social Impact Leadership & Organizational Management through an optional application and review process.

Continue Learning After Graduation

Graduates become part of the Cultivate alumni community and may continue accessing learning opportunities, coaching calls, and future resources such as access to volunteers, fiscal sponsorship and fundraising support.

Optional Coaching & Certification Opportunities

We offer additional services to program participants at an additional cost. Occasionally scholarship recipients are offered these opportunities at no cost.

Personalized Coaching & Consulting

Need additional guidance as you apply what you are learning?

Participants can schedule one-on-one coaching sessions for personalized support throughout the program. These sessions provide an opportunity to work through course activities, discuss challenges in your specific community context, receive guidance on your certificate requirements, and get feedback as you develop your organizational plans and other program assignments.

Whether you need help applying a new concept, thinking through an organizational challenge, or preparing your final certificate materials, personalized coaching helps you turn learning into action.

Additional Cost:

Community Members: $25/hr
Standard Members: $50/hr

Applied Learning Certificate in Social Impact Leadership & Organizational Management

Completing the 11 courses is the foundation of the Empowerment Training Program. But Cultivate believes that training is most valuable when you can put what you learn into practice.

Participants who want to take this additional step can apply for the Applied Learning Certificate in Social Impact Leadership & Organizational Management.

This is more than a certificate of course completion. It is an opportunity to take the concepts, strategies, and tools you have learned throughout the program and apply them to your own organization or community work — with individualized review and feedback from Cultivate.

What do I need to do?

To qualify for the certificate, you will:

✓ Complete all 11 required courses.

✓ Complete course evaluations and reflections.

✓ Create practical organizational tools.
As you move through the program, you will develop a set of practical tools that you can use in your own organization:

Organizational Plan
Fundraising Campaign Plan
Grant Application Template
Program or Organizational Evaluation Plan
Organizational Website or Website Improvement Plan

What happens after I complete the requirements?

This is where the Applied Learning Certificate differs from your Course Completion Recognition.

Your work will be personally reviewed by Cultivate. We will spend time examining your submitted materials, considering how effectively you have applied the concepts and tools from the training, and providing individualized feedback to help you strengthen your work.

You will receive feedback that is specific to your organization, your community, and the work you are developing—not simply a standard checklist or automated assessment.

The certificate is awarded when your submitted work demonstrates meaningful application of the training to your organizational or community work.

What makes this different from Course Completion Recognition?

Course Completion Recognition confirms that you completed an individual course.

The Applied Learning Certificate recognizes that you completed the full training program and demonstrated how you have applied the learning to your real-world work.

The Applied Learning process gives you an opportunity to receive several hours of focused review and individualized feedback from Cultivate while developing practical tools that you can continue using after the training program ends.

Additional Cost

Community Members: $100
Standard Members: $250

Frequently Asked Questions

When are the monthly coaching calls?

What are open-office hours?

Open office hours are a common practice in American universities and are one of the benefits included in your Cultivate membership.

During scheduled times each month, a Cultivate facilitator will be available online for questions, additional support, or informal conversations. If you have a question about the program, need help with an assignment, or want to discuss a challenge you are facing, you can join the call at any time.

You do not need to stay for the entire session — simply join and leave whenever you need. Depending on the day, you may have the time to yourself, or other participants may join as well.

Open office hours are an informal opportunity to receive additional coaching and support throughout your learning journey.

What if I cannot afford the membership fee?

How can I pay the membership if I don't have a bank card or credit card for international transactions?

Because many of our participants live outside the United States, we understand that international payments are not always simple. We offer several payment options to make enrollment accessible:

Credit or debit card payments (where available)
PayPal (where available)
International money transfer services such as Western Union or MoneyGram
Bank transfers (where available)
Payment through a sponsor, organization, or partner who can pay on your behalf

If you do not have access to these options, please contact us. We will work with you to find a payment solution that works in your location.

Can I pay in my local currency?

Can my organization pay for my membership?

What is included in my membership?

Membership includes the following:

Access to all 11 courses through our online training platform. Courses can be accessed on a desktop computer, laptop, or mobile phone.
Access to our resource library with practical tools and templates.
Access to monthly group coaching calls, including recordings of past sessions.
Access to monthly open office hours for additional questions and support.
Certificates of completion for each course you complete.
A program certificate upon successful completion of the full program requirements.

If you need additional support beyond the group coaching calls and open office hours, you can purchase personalized coaching and consulting with Cultivate for $50 per hour. Occasionally we offer additional consulting to scholarship recipients who cannot afford the fee.

Can I still participate in the training if I don’t have a computer or reliable internet?

We understand that many community leaders around the world, including those in the Global South and the United States, may have limited access to technology. We work to make our program as accessible as possible by offering:

Courses that can be accessed using a computer, tablet, or smartphone.
Downloadable course readings for offline access, with documents available for both computers and smartphones. Some lessons include videos or audio lectures that require an internet connection, but we provide transcripts whenever possible.
Courses designed to use as little data as possible, whether you are downloading materials or accessing them online.

However, while you can access course lessons on a mobile phone, completing many course activities — such as creating a fundraising campaign plan or a dependency assessment — will be very difficult using only a smartphone. We recommend having regular access to a desktop computer or laptop whenever possible.

If you do not have access to your own computer, consider using an internet café, public library, or asking another community organization in your area if they would allow you to use their computers for a few hours each week.

This can also be a great opportunity to build relationships with local organizations and demonstrate your commitment to contributing to your community’s well-being, even if you do not yet have the resources to purchase your own computer.

How long do I have access?

Can organizations enroll multiple people?

Yes! We welcome organizations that want to enroll multiple team members in the program. In many cases, this is one of the most effective ways to learn and apply new skills — your team can work through the program together, discuss what they are learning, and apply new approaches across your organization.

If you would like to enroll more than one person, please visit our Organizational Consulting page to learn more about options for organizations.

What to alumni get?

Will Cultivate fund my program or project?

Cultivate does not provide funding for participants’ programs, projects, or organizations. Our role is to help you build the skills, knowledge, and tools needed to develop sustainable community initiatives.

While we provide training on topics such as fundraising and resource development, we do not find donors or raise funds on behalf of participants. Instead, we help you strengthen your ability to identify opportunities, communicate your impact, and develop your own fundraising strategies.

How will be my coaches and how will they help me?

Your primary coach and facilitator is Elaine Tymchak Yates, Cultivate’s founder. Elaine has over 20 years of experience in nonprofit management, fundraising, and international development. She has worked with leaders and organizations both in the United States and internationally, long before founding Cultivate.

Throughout the program, you may also have opportunities to engage with other Cultivate staff members, volunteers, and board members who bring expertise in specific areas related to community leadership and organizational development.

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