This course is designed for nonprofit executives, senior leaders, board members, and emerging operational leaders who are navigating organizational growth and increasing complexity. The course focuses on what it truly takes to scale a nonprofit organization successfully—not just expanding programs or revenue, but building the leadership, systems, culture, governance, and operational discipline required to sustain long-term impact.
Participants will learn how to assess organizational readiness, avoid common scaling pitfalls, strengthen execution capacity, and lead effectively through periods of growth and transformation. The course is highly participatory and will use an evolving case study to guide discussion, encourage peer learning, and help participants apply course concepts to challenges within their own organizations.
Course Objectives:
By the end of the course, participants will be able to:
- Apply tools and frameworks to assess organizational readiness for sustainable growth.
- Recognize common operational, cultural, governance, and leadership challenges associated with scaling organizations.
- Understand how leadership, organizational structure, decision-making, and accountability must evolve as organizations grow.
- Develop strategies to lead change, strengthen collaboration, and build sustainable operations.
Course Themes:
The course consists of five in-person classes, each 3 hours in length, held over 5 consecutive weeks.
Class 1 Scaling Readiness: Assessing Organizational Readiness for Growth
Class 2 Professionalizing the Organization: Structure, Change and Resistance
Class 3 Scaling Leadership: Structure, Accountability and Organizational Design
Class 4 Sustaining Growth: Governance, Culture, and the Next Operating Model
Class 5 Wrap up and Applied Learning Project Presentations
The final class will synthesize key learnings from the course and provide participants with the opportunity to present an Applied Learning Project focused on a current organizational challenge within their own institution. Participants will apply course concepts, frameworks, and discussion themes to develop practical recommendations and strategies relevant to their organizational context.