This flagship program will provide you with a strong foundation in nonprofit management, taught by a seasoned instructional team with extensive real-world nonprofit experience.
Nonprofit Management Institute
Nonprofit Management Certificate
8 courses
for this certificate
100% virtual
through Zoom and online assignments
$354
average cost per course
Nonprofit Management Certificate
Transform your career and your community with the Nonprofit Management Certificate. This online and expert-led certificate program is designed for professionals who want to lead with impact in the nonprofit sector, whether you're a seasoned nonprofit professional ready to advance or a career switcher seeking purpose over profits.
You'll learn how to maximize a nonprofit organization’s staff, resources and day-to-day operations and add value to your professionalism through certified competency from the ASU Lodestar Center's Nonprofit Management Institute.
Our nonprofit knowledge experts provide engaging, practice-oriented learning experiences that focus on best practices and proven methods, skills and techniques that can immediately be implemented in a nonprofit organization.
Why choose the Nonprofit Management Certificate
Here is why other participants have chosen the NMI Nonprofit Management Certificate:
- Tailor-made for the professional: You can enroll and start at any time. It is possible to begin and complete this engaging, interactive, adult-learning certificate within 12 months. Enrollees have three years from the start of their first course to complete all required courses.
- A strong foundation in nonprofit management best practices with topically relevant courses
- Immediate and accessible tools that enable and affect strategic change and efficiency within organizations.
- Awareness of emerging trends affecting the nonprofit sector.
- The reputation and prestige of ASU and the Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation's 25-year track record of success.
- A robust network of established knowledge specialists and cohort colleagues that share best practices and offer guidance and support. All instructors have extensive nonprofit experience and work within the nonprofit sector.
- Increased credibility and marketability within the social sector.
Required courses
NMI 102: Maximizing Human Potential in Nonprofits
NMI 103: Effective Financial Management Principles
NMI 104: Engaging and Developing Volunteers
NMI 105: High Impact Leadership
NMI 106: Optimizing Nonprofit Resource Fund Development
NMI 108: Analyzing for Program Impact
NMI 111: Impactful Board Governance
NMI 112: Emerging Marketing and Social Media Strategies
Testimonials
Professional growth
I have benefited a great deal from my NMI classes. The classes helped expand my knowledge of the nonprofit sector and gave me great strategies to use in my own organization. I feel what I learned helped me professionally as I was promoted to a director-level position while going through the program.
Lloyd Hopkins Executive Director and Founder, Million Dollar Teacher Project
Worth the investment
The instructors were masters in their field of expertise and provided insight into real-life applications. The information was so valuable I could not take the courses fast enough! The nonprofit sector has long awaited a certification program of this caliber. It was well worth the investment of both my time and money.
Becky Miller Executive Director, Arizona Transit Association
Career change
NMI has enabled me to re-direct my career from the corporate world to a nonprofit organization with confidence. I have gained valuable knowledge and insight through class discussions with colleagues who have shared their organization's experiences, concerns and achievements. Attending this ASU Lodestar Center program is one of the best decisions I have made!
Nan Pfauser Team Lead, Feed My Starving Children
Format and cost
Convenient format and schedule
The Nonprofit Management Certificate includes eight asynchronous (self-paced study) online courses. Each online course is supplemented by instructional sessions over Zoom, facilitated by an NMI Knowledge Specialist. NMI courses are two weeks long and require a total of approximately 15-20 hours of study/participation per week.
Nonprofit Management Certificate seekers may register for individual courses on their own, or sign up for the full certificate and work with an NMI staff member to create a course calendar that best fits your individual schedule. Registering for the full certificate up front is the most cost-effective way to earn this certificate.
All courses are offered multiple times each year, and certificate seekers can complete the program within a year. All eight courses must be completed within three years to qualify for the certificate.
Affordable and flexible tuition
There are several ways to enroll in the full certificate.
Option A: $2,649 – One-time payment in full
This option is the most cost-effective with the price reduced to approximately $331 per course! (Payment must be made in full before the start of the first course.)
Option B: $2,809 – Staggered payment plan
This option secures our Early Bird discount on all required courses in this certificate program, with four affordable payments of $702.25 as you progress through the program.
Option C: $2,887 – À la carte plan
In this option, participants must be motivated to track their own course schedules online, sign up for their required courses in advance of discount deadlines and notify NMI staff that they intend to graduate from the certificate program. This plan is calculated at the presumed Early Bird discount rate of $349 to $359 per course with an administrative fee of $75 to verify course requirements have been met and issue the certificate upon completion.
Early Bird pricing applies if registration is completed 10 business days before each course start date.
Methods of payment
ASU Lodestar Center accepts these methods of payment:
- Credit and debit cards
- Purchase Orders from qualified companies and governmental agencies registering for individuals
- Segal AmeriCorps Education Awards
Graduation
All NMI courses are competency based. Upon successful completion of all required courses within the certificate program, graduates are presented with a Professional Development Certificate in Nonprofit Management by Arizona State University's Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation.
Career opportunities
Graduates of the Nonprofit Management Certificate have achieved executive roles and director-level positions at nonprofit organizations, while some have used the program's knowledge and networks to start their own nonprofits.
Nonprofit employment has increased by 39% since 2010, outpacing the for-profit and government sectors. The U.S. now has nearly 2 million nonprofit organizations. With this growth, 24% of Arizona nonprofit CEOs were recruited from outside of the nonprofit sector.
| Nonprofit position | Median U.S. Salary* | Median Arizona Salary** |
|---|---|---|
| Chief Executive Officer | $132,077 | $126,351 |
| Chief Development Officer | $160,000 | $90,000 |
| Chief Financial Officer | $140,000 | $134,450 |
| Chief Operating Officer | $162,000 | $114,000 |
Specific salaries will depend on locality, organization size and type of nonprofit, among other factors.
* National salary data obtained from the 2024 Nonprofit Compensation Report produced by Candid. Note that some executive positions have higher median salaries than the CEO because they only exist at large organizations that generally provide higher compensation.
** Arizona salary and executive data obtained from the ASU Lodestar Center's 2024 Nonprofit Compensation and Benefits Report for Maricopa and Pima counties, Arizona.
Explore career opportunities on the ASU Lodestar Center's Nonprofit Job Board.
Register for full certificate
| Title | Program date | Course delivery |
|---|---|---|
| Nonprofit Management Certificate (Next Start Date: 1/5/2026) | Online |
Register for individual courses
| Title | Program date | Course delivery | Qualifies for certificate(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| NMI 106: Optimizing Nonprofit Resource Fund Development (January 2026) | - | Online | Nonprofit Management Certificate, Fundraising and Sustainable Financial Management Certificate |
| NMI 105: High Impact Leadership (January 2026) | - | Online | Nonprofit Management Certificate, Nonprofit Marketing and Strategic Communications Certificate, Nonprofit Operations and Program Impact Certificate |
| NMI 103: Effective Financial Management Principles (February 2026) | - | Online | Nonprofit Management Certificate, Fundraising and Sustainable Financial Management Certificate |
| NMI 112: Emerging Marketing & Media Strategies (February 2026) | - | Online | Nonprofit Management Certificate, Nonprofit Marketing and Strategic Communications Certificate |
| NMI 111: Impactful Board Governance (March 2026) | - | Online | Nonprofit Management Certificate, Fundraising and Sustainable Financial Management Certificate |
| NMI 104: Engaging and Developing Volunteers (March 2026) | - | Online | Nonprofit Management Certificate, Optimizing Human Resource Strategies in Nonprofits Certificate |
| NMI 108: Analyzing for Program Impact (April 2026) | - | Online | Nonprofit Management Certificate, Nonprofit Operations and Program Impact Certificate |
| NMI 102: Maximizing Human Potential in Nonprofits (April 2026) | - | Online | Nonprofit Management Certificate, Optimizing Human Resource Strategies in Nonprofits Certificate |
| NMI 112: Emerging Marketing & Media Strategies (May 2026) | - | Online | Nonprofit Management Certificate, Nonprofit Marketing and Strategic Communications Certificate |
| NMI 105: High Impact Leadership (June 2026) | - | Online | Nonprofit Management Certificate, Nonprofit Marketing and Strategic Communications Certificate, Nonprofit Operations and Program Impact Certificate |
Flexible online learning
The ASU Lodestar Center's Nonprofit Management Institute offers courses in an interactive online format with multiple enrollment sessions throughout the year.
Program contact information
If you have questions related to this program, please complete an interest form and a program manager will get in touch with you directly.