The Cochise College Center for Lifelong Learning celebrated the completion of its first Non-Profit Management Certificate Program this past week on the Sierra Vista Campus.
The Robert Wick Foundation and the Legacy Foundation provided additional funds that helped make the program more affordable to the local Cochise County nonprofits.
Students of the first Non-Profit Management Certificate Program, 2015.
Sharon Gilman, Director of the Center for Lifelong Learning, said, “The Legacy Foundation provided tuition funding for everyone in the program; if we hadn’t had the Legacy Foundation, the tuition would have been higher. We also had the Wick Foundation provide scholarships to students through an application process. All of these partners help make this a success.”
Becky Smith, a representative from the Legacy Foundation, spoke at the ceremony: “Our communities could not function without the support of the nonprofits out there… Being a class with a bunch of other students who are learning nonprofit is a great way to start because nonprofits depend on communing with each other and networking with each other, and having those relationships is going to be so important as you go on in your nonprofit career path.”
The program consists of four Friday/Saturday class sessions over a period of four months. The sessions were: Non-Profit Management Theory and Practice, Development and Fundraising, Board Effectiveness and Strategic Planning Basics, and Non-Profit Marketing and Communications.
The instructor, Ann Morrison, who is a non-profit consultant, said, “The program is a kind of seal of approval for non-profits.” It’s an extra step to help local non-profits ensure that they are healthy and well managed with training that would otherwise only be accessible in Tucson or Phoenix.
The participants represent non-profits from across Cochise County, such as Willcox, Bisbee, Sierra Vista, and Hereford. Represented non-profits include faith-based, veterans, animals/pets, health and human services, low-income services, and the arts.
Demetry Simonton, a graduate of the Nonprofit Program and a representative of the nonprofit SVAAC, said, “[The program] brought perspective in the sense that -don’t get caught up in the galas and the different fundraising aspects because overall we are trying to help people.” The class helped bring focus to the nonprofit’s true mission.
The Cochise College Center for Lifelong Learning was granted additional funding for a new cohort and will offer the Certificate Program again in the spring. Registration begins December 1.