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Provide Quality Professional Development on the Cheap |
| Written by Rosetta Thurman, on February 25, 2008 |
photo by pinkbelt
 So many of us would love to provide top-notch training for our already talented staff, but because of limited budgets it’s a far-off luxury for most organizations. And what a sad shame that is. Paying for or providing ongoing professional training for staff benefits your organization in four important ways:
* Boosts employee morale
* Improves retention and keeps good people on staff
* Motivates employees to work harder and produce better results
* Helps employees obtain the specific skills they need to do their jobs more competently
We can see how nonprofits can actually fulfill our missions better by ensuring that staff get ongoing professional development even though it may not be normal practice for us. The corporate world, on the other hand, has long had this all figured out and with the money
available to spend on tuition assistance and in-house training programs, they do it very well. But most nonprofits in Greater Washington and all over the country just can’t afford to put a line item for staff development in our shoestring budgets. What to do? Well, let’s not throw up our hands just yet. Because even with very modest budgets, many nonprofits have instituted a professional development stipend for their employees. Grab anyone from Fair Chance, Bread for the City, or Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, and they will surely tell you that one of the best parts of working at their respective organizations is the ability to engage in ongoing learning within their field of work. Professional development stipends are available for employees to take classes, join professional associations, or attend conferences relevant to their work. If your organization can’t provide a small annual stipend, here are some other resources and options that will definitely give you bang for your buck!
* Broad offering of classes on important management areas at the Center for Nonprofit Advancement’s Learning and Leadership Institute Class costs range from $49-$99. Become a member and all of your staff receive reduced training rates!
* Affordable evening courses at The Social Action & Leadership School for Activists. Classes range from $30-$50 each.
* Learning opportunities on various management issues in Maryland at Maryland Nonprofits. Classes are $50-$200 with reduced rates for members. They also offer affordable consultant services to help with immediate organizational needs.
* Specific fundraising courses and proposal writing seminars at the Foundation Center. Now offering partial scholarships for full-day trainings. Average course costs $125-$295.
* Training and discussion forums especially for nonprofits in Prince George’s County, but relevant to nonprofits in general – at the Human Services Coalition of Prince George’s County. Fees are $10-$45.
* Advanced fundraising training and conferences provided by the Association of Fundraising Professionals. Events range from $25-$495 with scholarships available for annual conferences.
*DC Fundraisers offers monthly brown-bag sessions with fundraising experts on advanced topics. Completely free! Sign up for the list-serv through Chris Pabon.
*Nonprofit Roundtable’s Tables for Ten for Executive Directors, Development Directors, Communications Directors, and other staff. Completely free!
Now don’t say I never gave you anything! We all can and should be offering our employees the opportunity to grow and improve in doing the work of fulfilling important missions. Through ongoing professional development, not only do people get better at their jobs, but they feel motivated to stay with our organizations for the long haul. Does anyone know of other free or cheap resources out there that folks can take advantage of?
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