Develop a Real Non Profit Project. Learn more about program fees and how to enroll here:

6 weeks. Courses are offered every two months. Current dates are in the column to the right.
To enroll, simply go to the bottom of this page.

Prerequisite for this course:
OL 202
Why are there prerequisites?

203. Designing and Funding Non-profit Projects What are the clear definitions of the problem at the community level? What practical tools are available today for communities to use in solving their challenges? For practitioners who wish to begin working now at the community level to successfully solve the challenges that face us.

To see a syllabus, learn about course fees and to register please go to the bottom of this page.

Designing and Funding Non-profit Projects The Community Focus
This pair of courses, OL 203 and 204, are a continuation of OL 201 and 202 where course participants worked with communities to develop real projects.

Students have developed very interesting non-profit projects. For example, there are student projects in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

They have worked on projects as varied as food banks, animal welfare, teen drop-in centers, homeless shelters, day care centers, arts & culture, education, health, human services, community development, and environmental restoration.

Students are bringing projects such as these that they developed in 201 and 202 for further development and refinement in this course.

For many field staffers it may feel overwhelming to launch a project. It might the lack of know-how: where do you begin, where is information available, what practical tools are working, how do you convey this concept to the community?

We supply two levels of mentoring. Each week’s assignment will be accompanied by a clear, professional example of what we want you to achieve that week. We will also provide comments, suggestions and encouragement for each one of your assignments individually. We want you to develop high quality outputs, and we also want you to understand the hows and whys.

The classes are designed to be fun and interactive: you will not only be working with your community, you will be collaborating with colleagues from North America and Europe.

Course Syllabus OL 203

	Week 1: Design a Participatory Community Workshop to share information, collect local knowledge and to learn about community vulnerability, assets and traditional strategies; develop a Baseline Survey to better understand pressing local needs. Download and adapt a Workshop Lesson Plan.
	Week 2:  Community. Lead the participatory workshop. Present a range of potential community -based activities. Encourage feedback: What needs and perceptions did community members express? Start the buy-in process. Conduct the Baseline Survey.
	Week 3: Project Refinement. Use the community feedback & baseline results to incorporate activities into your project designed to strengthen the community. Research scientifically-based best practices and solutions to the community’s special problems. Can these work alongside and/or support local strategies?
	Week 4: Feedback and Ownership. Incorporate your refined strategies into your project logframe, budget and schedule. Return to the community for feedback on your design. Show how your strategies can work to solve their special challenges.

Week 5. Sustainability. Plan and organize a workshop to develop a community-based project team. Prepare a presentation that uses appropriate knowledge transfer techniques. Partner with experts in the specialties you intend to offer to the community.

Week 6. Leadership. Team Building Workshop. Develop a community-based planning and oversight committee – the community team that you will partner with. Examples could be a committee on activities for the elderly, alternative transportation, bicycle paths, business skills training for immigrants, community development, conservation, elderly care facilities, financial literacy, recycling, or youth employment.

The next course, OL 204, will continue with project implementation:
OL 204: Designing & Funding Nonprofit Programs 4: Sustainable Implementation.
1. Project management with a community perspective.
2. Engaging the community in project launch.
3. Skill Sets: A family of workshops on the solutions your community will use in the project.
4. Learning tools: Monitoring and evaluation.
5. Community Empowerment: Project hand-over.
6. Sustainability: Post activity follow-up, support, and mentoring.

The Course also Provides the Following Resources

Documents on course topics by contemporary experts.
Books, posters and manuals available online for download.
Internet development links organized by sector.
Class forum for posting questions to your classmates.
There are no books to buy—all course materials can be linked to, or downloaded from the course site.

To enroll:
There is a prerequisite for taking this course: OL 202. Please don’t sign up for this course if you haven’t successfully completed the prerequisites.

Choose which price fits your profile
Course Fees:
1. The 6-week course is $150.00.

Enroll by clicking on “Enroll Now” at the bottom of the page.

We will send you a confirmation letter upon receipt of payment and Login information the Monday before the course begins.

The online course will be led by Tim Magee, CSD’s Executive Director, who has over 30 years experience in both working with nonprofits and leading training workshops. Mr. Magee is the author of A Field Guide to Community Based Adaptation published by Routledge/Earthscan.

If you have a question don’t hesitate to contact us at: Online.Learning@csd-i.org .

Space is limited.