Re: M.B.A.'s in the nonprofit world

[Ed Lewis]

Don't forget M.P.A.'s (master's of science in public administration).

[Stephanie Kimmel]

My M.B.A. has helped me immensely in the nonprofit sector. I currently work as director of corporate, foudnation, and government support at a large cultural institution. I use the skills I learned in school every day, including strategy, marketing, business writing, interpreting financial statements, tax issues -- the list goes on and on. In fact, among my peers from my business-school class who work in more traditional M.B.A. jobs, it seems that I use more of the "core curriculum" subject matter than they do.  I feel my credibility is also high with the corporate leaders with whom I interact on a regular basis.

My organization doesn't specifically recruit M.B.A.s. With the exception of a couple of positions, a candidate with an M.B.A. would not necessarily be appropriate -- the director of finance and director of marketing would be the only other positions where it would make sense.

[Eva Cabán]

I am so glad you published this article. Everything in it is true. For more than a decade I have been a consultant to many small businesses in the human resource and development field. During the past six years or so, I have preached to the nonprofit sector that they should also run their organizations as "profitable and successful businesses" in order to keep and develop the competitive edge very much needed to survive these days.

[Richard Potter]

I have been a professional fund raiser since 1985, and earned my M.B.A. while working as director of development for a private university (tuition remission is a good thing!).  As an M.B.A. student, I was able to apply what I was learning to the work I was doing for the university.

For the last six years I have been vice president for development and communications for a national nonprofit organization. I don't know enough about M.P.A. programs to compare them to the M.B.A., but I can say without question that what I learned in the M.B.A. program has been tremendously helpful in my work.

If I were to leave my position, the organization would probably look for another M.B.A. graduate. Other positions would require different educational background.

[Don Slobodien]

My perspective is that of an adjunct professor in a graduate-level program called Human Services Management (H.S.M.), which is supposed to be the equivalent of an M.B.A., only focused on nonprofit and government issues. Also, I was an executive director for nearly seven years.

Here's my view: Business skills are essential. So are people skills, management skills, human-resources skills, financial-analysis skills, information-technology skills, etc. An executive director of a sub-$1-million-per-year organization (about 80 percent of them) needs to know how to do all of these things and do them well. Many (most?) of the M.B.A. students I've taught are motivated by money; the H.S.M. students are motivated by doing good. The M.B.A. students are more motivated and more analytical than the H.S.M. students. Their writing and communication skills are superior. Who would I hire? The M.B.A. student. But it's unlikely I could afford one, especially for a program director's position. The H.S.M. students know the pay scale. So, are business skills and business degrees important? I think the achievement of earning an advanced degree says something positive about that person. Will it predict success? I doubt it.

[Rachel Jackson]

It's interesting, the onslaught of M.B.A. graduates who are finding limited opportunities in the for-profit world and are suddenly looking to the nonprofit world for employment. While I agree that the nonprofit sector needs professionalism and true management skills, many nonprofit gorups will be better served by hiring people with more specific degrees -- such as a master of nonprofit administration (or even an M.P.A., as Ed Lewis suggests).  These professionals are learning not only management, but also fund raising, working with a board and volunteers, strategic planning, etc.  M.B.A.'s do not typically offer this, and if they do, it is usually one or two courses.  Specialized programs for nonprofit professionals are the wave of the future!

[Nell Whitman]

My perspective is that of a financial administrator without an M.B.A., who is planning to apply to business school ASAP. I've been working in a small to medium-size ($500,000 budget) organization for the past five years. At my busiest, I was running both the financial and fund-raising side of the organization. Prior to that job, I worked in health-care advocacy for a year, and taught literacy classes part-time while in graduate school (in the humanities).

The sum of my experience is that I'm now convinved that I want to get an M.B.A., and I think it would be good to have more people with M.B.A. training (and an orientation toward  social justice) in nonprofit organizations. I need to increase my skills in financial planning, marketing, personnel management, and strategic planning. I also want to learn more about board management (recruitment, etc.), and learn more about recruiting and working with major donors.

I think that most mid-size organizations need someone who focuses on management, and not programs or policy--these can be left to program directors or the executive director.   Sadly, I see many organizations who have brilliant policy, advocacy, or direct-service programs who are hampered by lack of good management.

M.B.A. programs seems to address my central concerns, and those with a nonprofit concentration often have board-management and fund-raising courses. M.P.A. programs, on the other hand, seem to focus on policy and program-oriented issues, at the expense of program management.

I'd really like to see something in the middle, with a hard-core M.B.A. management program, as well as the program and policy emphasis of M.P.A. programs. At the same time, being 30 years old, I don't want to spend four years getting a double degree.

[Patrice T. Smith]

I am currently a student at Robert Morris Universtiy in Pennsylvania pursuing a master of science in nonprofit management. I do agree that there is a need for professionalism in the nonprofit sector and that was the reason why I chose the program. However, Robert Morris University does offer a M.B.A. with a concentration in nonprofit management and I did not feel that program was suited for me. The M.B.A program was not specific in such topics as fund raising and development and I wanted a more in-depth study into the nonprofit sector. If a potential student is interested in nonprofit organizations but they want the versitility that comes with an M.B.A., they should pursue an M.B.A program with the nonprofit concentration. The master of science in nonprofit management is for those individuals who want to do an in-depth study of the nonprofit sector and program management as well as other issues specific to the nonprofit sector. Going to Robert Morris -- a school that is well known for its business management degrees -- I am not lacking in management training and business practice.

[Eve]

I'm a worker bee planning to return to graduate school this fall, and when I started looking at programs for the nonprofit world, I quickly figured out one thing: An M.B.A. from a good school would cost me a whole lot more than an M.P.A. would, and at nonprofit salaries I'd spend the rest of my life paying the debt back. That made the decision about which degree to get pretty easy.

A lot of the M.P.A.s were too focused on government for me, but then nonprofit M.B.A.s spent a lot of time on subjects irrelevant to me as well. But I hear so little discussion of M.P.A.s in places like this board, I'm beginning to wonder -- this degree will be valuable, right?