The Online Certificate in Fundraising requires three online courses, Proposal Writing, The Annual Fund and Major Gifts.
These courses teach participants the tasks needed for successful fundraising. Students leave the course having completed a proposal, an annual fund plan, and a major gifts plan for the organization of their choice.
“I really appreciated the level of involvement that the teachers had. Though it was an online course, I felt that I had more direct and efficient communication with them than I did with most of my other professors at Columbia. I felt their criticisms and observations on my writing and style were also very helpful and now think about clarity in my writing much more often.”
Courses are presented in a variety of mediums including interactive online discussions and course blogs, podcasts, streaming videos and articles. Faculty and students use the internet as a tool to communicate and express the course concepts. The online courses allow both traditional students and full-time professionals to have the flexibility to participate on their schedule, while still benefitting from interaction with their peers.
Grant Proposal Writing
The Grant Proposal Writing course presents the ABCs of grant proposal writing. Emphasizing the importance of matching your organization's mission to the mission of the grantor, the course teaches how to conduct research for proposals, and how to evaluate the readiness of an organization to solicit funders through proposals with a focus on the writing. Upon completion of the course, students will have written two grant proposals.
Annual Fund
In the Annual Fund Course, students will learn how to prepare their organization for the annual fund. Students will learn how to match donors and prospects with an organization's mission and values, set realistic fund raising goals, and plan a successful annual fund campaign that reaches fund raising objectives. Upon completion of the class, students will have designed and written their own annual fund plan.
Major Gifts
The Major Gifts Course will acquaint participants with the major gifts process. Emphasizing the benefits of major gifts and major gift vehicles, the class teaches the importance of matching an organization's mission with the interests of potential major donors as well as involving the major donor in the organization. Participants will learn how to identify the characteristics of prospects, conduct successful prospect research, plan for personal solicitation, and cultivate and retain major donors. Upon completion of the course, students will have prepared a Major Gifts plan.