Nonprofits relying more on volunteers—and screening

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/nba.30309
• Published date: 01 May 2017
• Date: 01 May 2017

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IU offering online master’s

program for philanthropic studies

For the rst time, the Indiana University Lilly

Family School of Philanthropy is making its Master

of Arts in Philanthropic Studies degree program

available online, starting with the fall 2017 semester,

enabling professionals and students with a serious

interest in philanthropy to earn a master’s degree

from the world’s rst school of philanthropy without

leaving home. According to the school, the master’s

degree is based in the liberal arts, and focuses on the

history, culture and values of philanthropy, exploring

the “why” of philanthropy as well as the “how to.”

Students in the M.A. program learn to identify

and anticipate social, cultural, political and economic

factors that affect and are affected by philanthropy

and nonprot organizations. They gain a deeper un-

derstanding of the eld to further their career goals

and their organization’s mission, the school said.

Students can choose from a variety of options for

pursuing the master’s degree. They can complete the

degree entirely online. They can attend classes full-

time on campus. And working professionals have

the option to take most classes online but come to

campus in the summer for some courses so they can

interact in person with faculty and peers.

The various options also can be combined to t

the student’s preferences. For example, students can

choose the online degree program but also elect to

take some courses on campus or in the summer, the

school said.

For more information on the program, visit https://

philanthropy.iupui.edu. ■

Nonprots relying more on volunteers—

and screening

Q: Your new report notes that the use of volunteers

by nonprots is growing. What’s driving this? How are

these new volunteers being put to work?

A: Overall, the number of volunteers is staying

relatively at at 64 million volunteers in the United

New research shows that nonprots are relying

more and more on their volunteers to ll critical

stafng gaps in their organizations. Accompanying

that is an upswing in the use of background checks,

which are eating up an increasing share of charities’

budgets as a result. But according to experts, the

expense is well worth the peace of mind that comes

with knowing your volunteers are on the up-and-up,

and is now even less of a concern in light of the tight

labor market that leaves nonprots little choice but

to draw on volunteers to keep pace with demands

for their services.

Nonprot Business Advisor recently spoke with

Katie Zwetzig, executive director of background

screening company Veried Volunteers, about the

organization’s research report, Volunteer Screening

Trends & Best Practices Report: 2017, and what it

means for volunteer-reliant charities.

Vol. 332 May 2017