Overview

This course is designed as a complete development programme for managers in charities and not-for-profit organisations. The programme was carefully and expertly developed in partnership with nine leading charities.

The Voluntary Sector Management course is intended for highly motivated graduate-level staff with three or more years of management experience. It delivers immediate management benefits to the charity organisation while providing valuable personal career development for the individual.

Significantly subsidised and therefore excellent value for money, the programme delivers:

  • A broad understanding of the full portfolio of major charity functions, as well as deeper direct experience in two specialist areas relevant to your organisation
  • Up-to-date skills and techniques to apply directly to your day-to-day work with minimal time spent away from the office
  • The opportunity to network, study and share ideas, with peers from different but related backgrounds, bringing deep and immediately relevant insights to charity management
  • Recognition with a City University Business School Postgraduate Diploma or MSc degree in Voluntary Sector Management

Course structure and content

Postgraduate Diploma

The Postgraduate Diploma is offered on a part time basis and is taught over a period of 12 months. The Diploma consists of five core modules plus three specialist pathway modules. The core modules are shared by all five Centre for Charity Effectiveness postgraduate courses.

All courses are taught at Cass Business School and will require attendance one weekend a month commencing on the Friday afternoon at 13:00 to 21:00 and finishing on Saturday at 18:00.

Additional times of attendance will be required:

  • On the Induction Day
  • For Action Learning Set meetings (usually alternate months on the Friday morning of the teaching weekend)
  • The Resource Management module exam

Term dates

October 2012 intake

Induction/Introduction to Learning

05 October 2012

Voluntary Sector Policy

06 October 2012
09-10 November 2012

Marketing & Fundraising

07- 08 December 2012

Resource Management

11 - 12 January 2013
08 - 09 February 2013
08- 09 March 2013

Exam*   12 April 2013

Specialist Pathway Modules

18 - 19 April 2013
17- 18 May 2013
14 - 15 June 2013

Shadowing

to be completed by August 2013

Strategy, Diversity & Governance

19 - 20 July 2013
06 - 07 September 2013

*All other modules area assessed by coursework

Module outlines

Introduction to Learning

This module aims to enables the student to:
  • Map out your learning and development needs for the forthcoming three years
  • Set these needs within the context of the Masters (or Diploma) Programme
  • Learn new learning and study skills
Syllabus:
  • The Theory of Learning
  • Assessing your learning style
  • Learning and polishing study skills
  • Making use of all the available tools
  • Drawing up a Learning Contract

Voluntary Sector Policy

This module aims to enable the student to:
  • Develop an informed and critical understanding of the public policy environments in which voluntary organisations operate, to which they variously respond or help shape
Syllabus:
  • Policy concepts and the contested nature of public policy
  • Developments in new public management and public policy trends - marketisation, modernisation, joint working, partnerships
  • Fissures, links and building blocks in public policy networks in and for voluntary organisations
  • Policy actors in governmental and voluntary organisations and models of governmental/voluntary sector relations in UK and international contexts
  • Structuring and restructuring policy problems; new and enduring responses (e.g. faith based provisions, cross sectoral working)
  • Reputational impact on policy advocacy; the impact of mergers, alliances, closures and scandal on organisations' policy roles
  • Policy outcomes - the voluntary sector as provider, evaluator and critics
  • Lesson drawing in public policy and forecasting public policy futures; the voluntary sector as provider of policy evidence, policy learner and policy leader and advocate
  • Sectoral policy contributions to the development of civil society

Resource Management

This module aims to enables the student to:
  • Provide students with an understanding of the principles of resource management within the specialist context of charities
Syllabus:
  • Definitions and the legal framework of charities and voluntary organisations
  • The role of the Charity Commission
  • Sources of finance for the charity sector
  • Introduction to general accounting principles
  • Charity accounts and regulatory framework
  • Understanding, interpreting and analysing charity accounting statements
  • Costing and budgeting in voluntary organisations
  • Risk assessment
  • Outsourcing
  • Appraising, appointing and dismissing auditors and other resource consultants and experts
  • IT Strategic appraisal and implementation
  • The nature of Human Resource Management
  • Human resource and personnel issues including training and development, reward and retention and effective selection and recruitment

Marketing and Fundraising

This module aims to enables the student to:
  • To provide students with the concepts, underpinning knowledge, skills and techniques to plan and develop marketing and operations systems
  • Enable students to analyse marketing needs, evaluate marketing plans, in the context of applying marketing concepts to their own organisation
Syllabus:
  • Effective Marketing Information Systems
  • Development of a marketing strategy
  • Product/Service policy and new product development
  • Role of communications
  • Branding
  • Pricing as a value-added marketing tool
  • Capacity planning - resources planning and allocation
  • Total Quality Management
  • Stakeholder/Customer care

Strategy, Diversity and Governance

This module aims to enables the student to:
  • To develop a broad knowledge and conceptual base in the field of strategy development, diversity and governance
  • Introduce practical tools to help improve the quality of an organisation's strategic response to the changing environment
  • Introduce practical tools to help improve the ability of the organisation and its managers and leaders to build a diverse workforce
  • Enhance appreciation of the constraints and opportunities offered by the changing governance and service-delivery frameworks which affect voluntary organisations
Syllabus:
  • Improving an organisation's strategic response by use of strategy and diversity management and theory
  • Approaches to developing strategy
  • Approaches to managing diversity
  • The changing environment of the voluntary sector
  • Case studies on the application of strategic planning and diversity

Shadowing

This module aims to enables the student to:
  • Develop a different perspective on the role and environment at senior management level in a different organisation
  • Consider the ethical and environmental issues faced by a senior manager
  • Look at optional and compulsory roles when overseeing an organisation
  • Provide the opportunity to study at close hand the way change is managed in another organisation
  • Provide the opportunity to apply theory in practice
Syllabus:
  • Design of Shadowing/Fieldwork Exercise proposal linked to Learning Contract and negotiation with senior manager of shadowed organisation
  • Five days shadowing senior manager or fieldwork consultancy exercise - observing and learning from the experience
  • Reflections using all the theories and models learnt on the programme
  • Preparation of reflective report containing analysis and recommendations for improved effectiveness

Organisation, Leadership and Change

This module aims to enables the student to:
  • Develop a broad knowledge and conceptual base in the field or organisation analysis, leadership and change
  • Introduce practical tools to help improve organisational effectiveness and individual performance in the management of change
  • Foster the development of analytical skills, the ability to apply theoretical models, and skills to understand, synthesise and evaluate the complexity of organisation functioning
Syllabus:
  • Theoretical models and frameworks for looking at organisations and management (macro and micro level, culture, structure, lifecycle, learning)
  • Frameworks for looking at organisational change and learning, and improving organisation performance
  • Leadership and management theory: trends, traits, definitions, skills and competencies

Managing People and Quality

This module aims to enables the student to:
  • Develop a broad knowledge and conceptual base in the field of quality management, people management and the management of multiple stakeholder needs
  • Introduce practical tools to help implement quality assurance systems in a non-profit organisation
  • Foster the development of project management skills and continue the process of developing communication and presentation skills
Syllabus:
  • Different models and approaches to quality management
  • Trends in human resource management - making the most of people resources


MSc conversion

Upon successful completion of the diploma, you will be given the option to continue to the MSc. This requires completion of the Research Methods for Managers module.

This can be followed by a further six months of personal, supervised research and the presentation of a 10,000-word dissertation.

Alternatively, you can opt to take a taught Masters which allows you to choose specialist modules from one of the other Charities programmes.

Term dates

Research Methods for Managers

January & February 2014

Dissertation or Taught Masters Option

completion by mid-September 2014

Our course professionals

The Course Director is Professor Paul Palmer, who is also the academic leader on the Charity Accounting and Financial Management course. The course team draws upon staff in the Centre for Charity Effectiveness like Caroline Copeman, Andrew Forrest and the wider Business School including Professor Jenny Harrow, Peter Grant (Grantmaking, Philantrophy and Social Investment academic leader), Professor Stephen Lee (Marketing and Fundraising academic leader), Professor John Hailey (NGO Management academic leader and Atul Patel (Voluntary Sector Management academic leader).

The internal course team is supported by leading sector practitioners, for example Geraldine Peacock, Stuart Etherington and Stephen Bubb together with professional firms, all of whom bring their skills to each of the courses.

Students

Students for all five courses will be highly motivated individuals who bring with them a wide range of professional competence, skills and experience from a wide range of charitable and not-for-profit organisations. Gender is evenly balanced across all the courses and there are no age barriers.

Students will normally have a good first degree, a related professional qualification or at least three years, wholly relevant experience. If you have more than three years relevant experience, two professional references are acceptable.

Course fees and expenses

Course fees

The fee for the Postgraduate Diploma is £5,500. A deposit of £250 is payable on acceptance of a place. The balance is payable in two instalments, the first on registration and the second in April. For those converting the Diploma to MSc a further £2,750 is payable in the second year.

Salary Sacrifice Scheme

Please note that self-funded students are able to gain substantial savings on the cost of course fees if they participate in a 'Salary Sacrifice Scheme' with their employer. Cass Business School cannot legally provide individual advice on how to benefit from this government scheme. For more information, see below.

Find out more about the Salary Sacrifice Scheme [pdf]

Course expenses

The weekend modules will incur additional accommodation and subsistence expenses for those participants living outside London.

Application deadline

There is no application deadline for this course. However, we advise you to apply well in advance, as competition for places is high and applications are considered on a continuous basis.