Non-profit management: is an MBA worth all the hype?

Natalie Grant was chosen by the Resource Alliance to receive a scholarship from the International University of Geneva to study its International Organisations MBA. Here she explains how it has helped her in her career.

MBA students are often easy to spot with their expensive power suits, shiny laptops and hi-tech mobiles into which they practice shouting ‘Buy! Buy! Sell!’. Considering this average profile it may not seem the most obvious choice for fundraisers, but there is a host of reasons why the right, tailored MBA makes sense for us.

I am at the age where many professionals return to university to obtain a Masters degree. After a lot of consideration I opted for the University of Geneva’s International Organisations MBA.  But why did it stand out for me?

Prior to fundraising I followed a graduate management programme. While the calling of the development sector ensured I did not stay there long, ti showed me the power of great management. When I moved on, I began working with committed colleagues and volunteers for inspiring causes. Yet I could not understand why private companies could get their staff more excited about selling turkeys than charities could about transforming lives.

How could ‘doing it for the money’ produce more effective organisations? I had two choices: either jump ships to the corporate sector for many years and risk losing sight of my development focus, or find the right MBA. Finding the right MBA was more difficult than it sounds and seemed to be impossible – looking for a programme that offered the sharp business skills of strategy and finance applied to non-profit work.

The IOM BA combines business skills with non-profit heart and soul. Classes are held right next to the UN Palais des Nations in Geneva, putting students a few minutes away from one of the UN’s major nerve centres.

The 10-month academic programme offers traditional business modules in strategy, HR, finance and economics: indispensable topics for any non-profit manager. Every subject demands intense group work, research, analysis and problem solving. There were 34 students of 20 nationalities on the course with a wide range of experience.

Most importantly the course brings the two worlds of business and non-profit together. With so many UN agencies – plus other organisations such as the Red Cross – based in Geneva, you take the business skills you learn and put them into practice in the development field. Faculty included current and former UN staff, with case studies and projects included HR at the International Committee for the Red Cross, change management at the World Food Programme, and innovative funding tools for the UN High Commission for Refugees.

So why do I think it is so important to bring business skills not just to fundraising specifically, but to the development sector in general?

The pressure is rising for charities and non-profit organisations. The giving (and non-giving) public are demanding greater impact, more effectiveness, and increased transparency and accountability, while increased competition for resources is squeezing out the non-performers. These pressures damage our capacity to attrat and retain support, staff and volunteers. And ultimately, we cannot provide the best service to our beneficiaries.

We are all aware that we need to build stronger organisations that provide better services with bigger impact. In order to do that I believe that we need inspirational management, better strategic decision-making and creative implementation of business models, skills and concepts that have made giants out of for-profit companies. However, I also believe that passion is our greatest asset. Maximising the power of this passion in the workplace will lead to extraordinary results: NGOs should lead instead of trying to copy for-profit organisations.

Of course, there is one other crucial aspect of the MBA that cannot be undervalued: a strong network of contacts. As any fundraiser knows, personal relationships are crucial. The people I met on the IOMBA course are not only lifelong friends. They are people who will read high levels in the development, private and government sectors – exactly the kind of contacts a successful fundraiser needs.

Armed with my new business toolkit, I am now in Nairobi, Kenya, completing my final project and considering exciting options with NGOs, international organisations and social enterprises. The MBA has opened up all kinds of new career paths that were not open to me before. All I have to do now is choose which one to take.