Understanding basic computer use, and an introduction to best practices in time management. 

Key Themes:

• Getting started with email
  • Using folders and email organization
  • Email etiquette
  • Email security and privacy
• Cloud servers and storage
• Time management
  • Using a calendar and to-do list

Suggested Time to Complete:
30 days or less

* This course also includes an introduction to using Cultivate's online training platform. The course is included for free for all our learners. 

Understanding who you are and establishing your potential as a leader of an impactful community-led development program.

Key Themes:

• Qualities and practices for effective and authentic leadership
• Building confidence and self-awareness
• Accountability
• Rest and balance in leadership

Suggested Time Needed to Complete:
60 days or less

Understanding the principles and best practices for asset-based community-led development, no matter its focus or activities.

Key Themes:

• Types and stages of community development work (relief, development, advocacy)
• Principles of asset-based community-led development
  • Learned helplessness and dependency vs. empowerment
  • Community buy-in and program ownership, capacity building
  • Collaboration, transparency, access and equity, adaptability
• Responsibilities of community development practitioners
• Using appreciative inquiry to tackle challenges

Suggested Time Needed to Complete:
60 days or less

Identifying the programatic focus and activities of your nonprofit or community organization based on community input, planning and launching the program.

Key Themes:

• Effective program design
  • Start small and recognize your limitations
  • Start with why
  • Determine your guiding values
• Conducting community assessments
  • Understanding needs and assets
  • Practicing various data collection methods (forums, surveys, focus groups, interviews, etc)
  • Mapping the community's needs and assets
• Identifying the community's felt needs, its root causes and critical effects (a problem and solution analysis)
• Creating a business plan
  • Mission and vision statements
  • Program descriptions
  • Program objectives
  • Target market analysis
  • SWOT analysis
  • Program operation plans
  • Client marketing and communications
  • Human resources acquisition
  • Expense budgets
• Complexities in planning and program execution
• Program launch strategies

Suggested Time Needed to Complete:
90 days or less

Understanding the culture of your potential donors and supporters.

Key Themes:

• American cultural norms, beliefs and practices
  • Individualism, matters of time, self-reliance, views on the goodness of humanity.
  • Matters of time and money, professionalism, communication styles, prioritization of data and paperwork. 
  • Building trust through transparency and accountability.
• Understanding American philanthropic history and context
  • History of philanthropy, American wealth and poverty, matters of faith and politics.

* Cultivate's training is for anyone, anywhere. However, we understand that most nonprofit and community development leaders want to be able to receive donations from American donors or donors from Western countries. We offer this course to help our international trainees better understand the culture of their potential donors.

Suggested Time Needed to Complete:
30 days or less

An introduction to finding potential donors through online campaigns, crowdfunding, events, and fundraising through individuals, businesses, faith groups, and others; making the ask; donor stewardship.

Key Themes:

Part 1:

• Fundraising best practices and income generation.
• Principles of fundraising
  • Relationships, impact, trust, clarity, urgency and social connection.
• Principles of storytelling
• Understanding the different types of funders
  • Individuals, businesses, religious organizations, civic groups, foundations
• Creating a diversified funding strategy
• Networking, research and finding donor prospects
• Crowdfunding and events
• Donor stewardship and retention
• Fundraising with individuals - meetings, online campaigns, appeals, and other means. 
• Understanding American expectations and laws for charities.

Part 2:

• Creating an income budget and plan
• Fundraising with businesses and other organizations. 
• Grant writing.

Suggested Time Needed to Complete:
120 days or less

* This course is currently being revised and updated, therefore part 1 is currently available and part 2 will be finalized in the coming months. Anyone who enrolls in this course will have access to both parts, regardless of when they enroll.

This course offers training on financial management for nonprofits, NGOs and community organizations. In this introductory course, trainees will learn how to manage and use donated funds within established best practices of financial management. This course also offers an Excel template for nonprofit accounting which you can use in your initial bookkeeping, before upgrading to another accounting and financial management software program. 

Key Themes:

• Understanding key financial management terms
• Basic bookkeeping (using Microsoft Excel)
• Cash flows and budgeting
• Financial reporting
• Designated funds
• Ethical considerations of financial management
• Security, privacy, accountability, and internal controls
• Working through contingencies and establishing reserves
• Establishing financial procedures and policies
• Financial accountability and transparency
• American expectations and cross-cultural dynamics in financial management
• Fiscal sponsorship

Suggested Time Needed to Complete:
60 days or less

Download the Course Info Sheet Here.

How good communication can help you, and what methods are available to fundraise, raise awareness, connect with supporters, and gain a following for your work.

Key Themes:

• Principles and best practices of communications for nonprofits and community organizations
• Storytelling and focusing on impact
• Donor cultivation and stewardship
• Mailings and newsletters
  • Using MailChimp for electronic newsletters
• Annual Reports and Publications
  • Using Canva for graphic design
• Blogs and websites
  • Creating a free website for your program
• Social Media – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn
  • Using social media calendars and scheduling software
• Creating a communications strategy and calendar
• Using a Customer Management Database (or CRM) in Excel (we provide a free template to get you started)

Suggested Time Needed to Complete:
90 days or less

Understanding the importance of measuring your program's impact on the community, and how to measure your impact in simple yet effective ways. 

Key Themes:

• How evaluation helps you in fundraising, program design, strategic planning, etc.
• Cultural implications and expectations of evaluation
  • Western views of the value of data (builds trust and accountability, proof of programmatic activity)
  • Evaluation reports for foundations  (pre and post grant award)
• Principles and best practices
  • Plan and don’t change metrics often, engage and motivate clients, minimize bias from clients, anonymity, comparison of data sets across sectors and time, separate data collectors from program managers, ethics (client safety, consent and privacy), collecting data throughout the program cycle.
• Determining what to measure. Creating a logical framework analysis, theory of change, and logic models.
• Understanding the difference between outputs and outcomes/impact.
• Differentiating between client satisfaction/feelings/beliefs, client learning, client skills development and client behaviors.
• Methods of evaluation - surveys, focus groups, interviews, large group forums, observations, case studies,  within programmatic activities,
• Using the Most Significant Change method - what it is, its value, how to use it.
• Understanding the difference and value of qualitative and quantitative data.
• Timeline of data collection.
• Analyzing data - finding averages/means, other mathematical calculations, comparing client data across time, using spreadsheets, finding trends and outliers.
• Reporting data - formal reports, stakeholder communications (clients, wider community, staff, donors, etc), program changes, grant reports. 

Suggested Time Needed to Complete:
90 days or less

* This course will be available by July 2023. Click here to be notified when the course is available.