The mission of the MPA program Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Organizations and Community Governance at Auburn University is to prepare students to act as civic agents who possess the knowledge, skills, and abilities to enact change in communities through nonprofit organizations. My experiences associated with this Certificate has resulted in my understanding of the scope and significance of the nonprofit sector, voluntary action, and philanthropy; my ability to be a successful nonprofit leader; my ability to identify and secure resources for financial stability; and my ability to engage in strategic, innovative, and entrepreneurial behavior in nonprofit organizations. These capabilities are displayed in the coursework below. Of note, the assignments in this section are used with the permission of the Circles of Opelika and Our House.
In the resource development course, I had the opportunity to complete a grant application for a local nonprofit organization. I decided to work with Circles of Opelika. This organization is focused on reducing the poverty rate in the Opelika community by building the capacity of the citizens to build bridges out of poverty as well as connecting government officals, business owners, and citizens in an attempt to raise awareness and work toward a solution collectively. This grant activity challenged me to design a series of events, create a budget, and identify the indications of success in a well-articulated and precise way. After the completion of this assignment, I believe I understand how to identify, secure, and manage nonprofit resources in a way that facilitate financial stability. In this course, I also created a video for Circles to use in order to raise awareness about the organization on social media.
Developing the skills to organize voluntary action is imperative to a successful nonprofit leader. As a volunteer, prior to my internship at Our House, I created an application for their summer interns. By speaking with the director to create job descriptions, outline expectations, and formulate application questions, I was able to create a tool to assist the nonprofit in being managed more effectively.