HRNS 230A-1 Spring, 2015 Page | 3

HRNS 230A-1: Spring 2015

Managing Jewish Nonprofits

INSTRUCTOR:

David A. Mersky
Lown 108
(O) 781-736- 2985 (M) 617-834-5316
Office hours: By appointment

CLASS MEETINGS:

Mondays, 8:30-9:50 a.m., Classroom: Hell School G054

GOALS AND LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

Jewish Communal professionals increasingly find that they are called upon to function as managers as part of their work in creating and running programs and delivering services. A good heart, good ideals, and lofty aspirations are not enough; the professional needs to be in command of a variety of both technical and personal managerial skills. Hornstein students learn many of these as a regular part of our curriculum. This course will provide an introduction to additional key management skills in the context of Jewish communal services.

In this course, students will:

·  Begin to understand what managers do.

·  Learn about marketing and communication

·  Examine financial statements, budgets and understand the process

·  Be introduced to skills needed to manage the personnel process productively.

TEXTBOOK:

Heyman, Darian Rodriguez, ed., Nonprofit Management 101: A Complete and Practical Guide for Leaders and Professionals, San Francisco, Jossey-Bass, 2011. Available through www.amazon.com.

Throughout the semester, we will examine the case of InterfaithFamily, a nearly eleven year-old organization, that supports interfaith families exploring Jewish life.

Course Outline

January 12

Introduction

We will review the course goals and objectives and be introduced to InterfaithFamily—it’s history and growth.

Reading: Heyman, Part I, “The Big Picture—What the Field Is All About and Where You Fit In,” pp. 1-55.

January 26 and February 2

Governance and Leadership Development

We examine the critical component of success in nonprofit management is leadership.

Reading: Heyman, Chapters 30-31, pp. 495-532

Written Assignment #1—(Due February 9)

Create a leadership development plan for a InterfiathFamily.

February 9 and 23

Planning

Strategic planning is only the beginning; execution, assessment and evaluation are critical.

Reading: Heyman, Chapter 5, pp. 57-76

Written Assignment #2—(Due March 2)

Describe the four disciplines of plan execution.

March 2, 9 and 16

Financial Managment

We will explore nonprofit financial management including budgeting and analyzing financial reports.

Reading: Heyman, Chapter 13, “Nonprofit Financial Management,” pp. 197-215.

Written Assignment #3—(Due March 23)

Create a financial management dashboard for InterfaithFamily.

March 23 and April 13

Talent Management

Issues around hiring, supervising, evaluating and firing staff..

Reading: Heyman, Chapter 8, “Making Human Resources Work for You: Best Practices in Nonprofit Human Capital Management,” pp. 107-124.

Written Assignment #4—(Due April 20)

Describe the principles for providing employee feedback.

April 20 and 27

Marketing and Communications

Markets; media—social and otherwise; management of the exchange transaction face-to-face or on-line.

Reading: Heyman, Part Six, “Marketing and Communications,” pp. 407-494.

Written Assignment #5—(Due May 4)

Write a six-word story about InterfaithFamily.

Additional readings will be provided during the course of the semester and posted on LATTE.

Grading

Course grade will be based upon (1) completing two “Student Choice” writing assignments and (2) class participation.

Written Assignments (70%)

There are five opportunities for short written assignments. You will choose any two of these. Papers are due when noted in the syllabus. Grades will be based on the strengths of your ideas and the fluency and accuracy with which you present them..

Class participation (30%)

Class participation includes reading and preparation as well as active contribution to discussions and activities.

Considerations

If you are a student with a documented disability on record at Brandeis University and wish to have a reasonable accommodation made for you in this class, please see David Mersky at the beginning of the semester.

You are expected to be honest in all of your academic work. The University policy on academic honesty is distributed annually as section 5 of the Rights and Responsibilities handbook. Instances of alleged dishonesty will be forwarded to the Office of Campus Life for possible referral to the Student Judicial System. Potential sanctions include failure in the course and suspension from the University.