Nonprofit leadership, management go professional as LBS introduces certificate course

Nonprofit organisations or non-governmental organisations (NGOs) today are increasingly important to the health and well-being of society, with a growing number of its organisations focused on social services, the environment and education.

With growth comes the need for sophistication in such areas as financial structure and dealing with government mandates. The Lagos Business School (LBS), in partnership with the Ford Foundation, has introduced a Certificate course designed to support young operators of nonprofit organisations strengthen their leadership and management skills.

The Nonprofit Leadership and Management Certificate course comprises detailed modules that are designed to cultivate three pillars of competencies required to develop and grow NGOs – leadership effectiveness, business fundamentals and social innovation. The course is highly practical, experiential and interactive in approach.

Nonprofits are organisations that are established for the purpose of social and political impact or to render needed services in society. According to Chris Ogbechie, Director of Lagos Business School’s Sustainability Centre, “nonprofits are key actors in enabling government and businesses achieve the sustainable development goals.” Their primary goal is not to make profit, hence, they are saddled with the responsibility of finding innovative ways to fund and empower themselves, and deliver services that are essential to society.

Leadership and structure, funding, strategy implementation, and performance measurement are some of the biggest challenges nonprofits face. These challenges need to be tackled early on in the life of a nonprofit to ensure that goals are not impaired or the organisation discontinued, and this is one of the reasons the programme is targeted at nonprofit leaders.

“The impact of a leader is what he causes other people to do,” Akin Oparison, a member of Faculty at the Lagos Business School stated during a session at the Programme’s Opening Day February 12. “It takes leadership to stimulate the minds of people to share their thoughts, ideas, and activities that translate intent and goals into output.”

The programme is targeted at young and emerging nonprofit leaders, and is a response to challenges and gaps identified in the sector, including continuity/survival of nonprofit organisations and inability to achieve their social missions. The programme will help participants gain deeper understanding of nonprofit leadership, including how to define strong mission statements, manage operational and financial controls, and strengthen fundraising and revenue generation efforts.

“This Certificate Programme aims to give young nonprofit leaders a platform on which to think about their work in a professional way and develop tangible leadership skills and knowledge around governance, structures and processes that will enable them build global organisations that would outlast the founders” Ijeoma Nwagwu, Faculty at the Lagos Business School and academic director of the course. “What you see happening in many parts of the world is the emergence of social enterprises, that is, people with a social mission but using principles and practices of business to drive impact and achieve results,” Nwagwu added.

The increase in the activities of nonprofits is in part a mechanism for bottom-up social action and civic participation, but also an important provider of much-needed services that government and private sector organisations alone cannot deliver.

STEPHEN ONYEKWELU