Essentials of NGO Management (5 days)

How to manage and lead an NGO

Next course

• 11 – 15 November 2013, Geneva, Switzerland

Registration and course fees*

Registration and payment deadline: 4 November 2013. Early bird fee available for payments until 11 September 2013.

Early bird fee /Full fee:

• Non-OECD: CHF 1220 / 1420
• OECD: CHF 1510 / 1760

*This course is subsidised with CHF 750 by the Chèque Annuel de Formation (CAF), available for individuals living and paying their taxes in and around the canton of Geneva. CAF students benefit from the Early bird fee at any time of the course registration. More info here.

Above fees are in Swiss francs (CHF) and include tuition, training materials and handouts, lunch and coffee breaks, and a course certificate.

Online currency converter: CHF to USD CHF to EUR CHF to GBP. These are indicative rates, provided by XE Currency Converter.

10% discount for returning students (within 12 months since the last course) or additional course participants from same organisation.

To register, please fill in the online registration form, or download the form and send it to us by email. For further inquiries, please contact us.

Course overview

Click here to download the course leaflet (PDF format).

Successful NGOs provide high quality services to beneficiaries. Competition among NGOs in the delivery of services and in the acquisition of donor funding is rising. To achieve success, NGOs have to continually improve and professionalise their work, which puts more and more demands on the management and leadership of an organisation.

This comprehensive introductory course provides you with core knowledge, practical skills and tools to manage and lead effectively a non-profit organisation. All course modules are presented by experienced specialists with both field and headquarter experience with many organisations in numerous countries.

On day one, you first learn about the history and principal types of development cooperation and humanitarian aid, the main actors involved and their different approaches to development. You will then discuss perspectives and challenges of sustainable development.

Day two focuses on the strategic management of non-profit organisations, including an introduction to strategic and operational planning.

Day three is dedicated to fostering good communication, skilful leadership and professional human resource management – management is, in the end, "the art of getting things done through people" (Mary Parker Follet).

Day four in an introduction on how to prepare successful fundraising approaches and grant proposals.

On day five, the focus is on Results-Based Management, which is the dominant management approach of most organisations and donors, and on the project cycle. You learn the basics of how to make a need assessment, how to design and plan a project, and how to assess whether the project is on track and what is has achieved. This course includes short lectures, many exercises, group work on case studies and facilitated discussions.

Who should attend

The course will benefit in particular:

• Newly appointed directors
• Project and programme managers
• Team leaders
• Newcomers to the non-profit sector
• Consultants who carry out assignments for NGOs

How you and your organisation will benefit – Learning Objectives

The overall objective is to facilitate participants in understanding the importance and practice skills needed for strategic planning and organisational development within the context of the development sector.

On this course, participants will be able to:

1. Become familiar with the history of development cooperation and humanitarian aid, learn about current international trends and challenges
2. Describe the principal types and instruments in international development cooperation
3. Understand the role and challenges of NGOs vis-à-vis the development concerns of the community
4. Understand why strategy is important to the success of an NGO
5. Learn what is involved in strategic planning
6. Understand how to translate a strategic plan into an operational plan
7. Learn the basics of how to develop and lead a team and how to resolve conflicts
8. Gain insight into key criteria for successful human resource management.
9. Become familiar with the principles of good communication and negotiations
10. Understand how to select marketing tools for fundraising
11. Describe the different criteria of donor agencies in supporting a project
12. Learn how to structure and prepare a grant proposal
13. Become familiar with Results-Based Management
14. Learn the basics of project management: How to make a needs assessment, how to design and plan a project, and how to integrate monitoring into the project plan
15. Learn about the process of internal assessments and about the use of and main criteria for external evaluations

Course programme

Day 1

Sustainable Development: Concepts and Perspectives

• Development cooperation: From the Second World War to today
• Principal types and instruments in international development cooperation: Development aid, humanitarian aid, grants/donations, loans, budget support
• Main actors in cooperation: States, UN, NGOs, bilateral and multilateral organisations, business companies

Day 2

Strategic Management: From Strategic Planning to Implementation

Introduction to Strategic NGO Management

• Identifying strategic challenges facing NGOs
• Using strategy and strategic thinking for NGO management

Strategic Planning: Achieving your Vision

• Identifying the key elements of a strategic plan (Vision, Mission, Objectives, etc.)
• Prerequisites for successful strategic planning: Where you are now? Where you want to go?
• Selecting appropriate strategy frameworks and strategic planning tools
• Formulating a strategic plan

Operational Planning: Translating Strategy into Action

• Identifying strategic challenges facing NGOs
• Using strategy and strategic thinking for NGO management

Day 3

Communication, Leadership Development and Human Resource Management

Communication

• Principles of good communication
• Successful negotiations

Leadership Development

• Building and leading a team
• Conflict resolution

Human Resource Management

• Human resources policy, staffing and salaries
• Staff development

Day 4

Fundraising and Grant Proposals

Fundraising Readiness

• Identification of fundraising needs and budget lines
• Identification of potential donors and targeting
• Development of a coherent fundraising mix (channels
• Development of a coherent fundraising mix (channels and tools)

Grant Proposals

Day 5

Introduction to Project Cycle Management: Concepts and Main Elements

Key selected elements of Result-Based Management (RBM)

• Introducing the RBM concept
• The result chain

Project Cycle Management: Overview and Phases

• Result-Based Management
• Needs Assessment
• Planning & Programming
• Monitoring and Evaluation

Individual consultation

As a participant, you can obtain an individual consultation from one of the trainers during the course on how to further develop a project of your own.