1. Topic-
Understanding the Nonprofit Sector
 
2. Content-
Scope, Impact, and common pain points for nonprofits and their leaders
 
3. Goals: Aims/Outcomes-
1.Understand the scale of nonprofit sector
2.Hear from classmates and leaders why they are are doing the work
3.Identify common nonprofit pain points
4. Learn about the practices of successful nonprofit leaders including the role of innovation
5. Elevate the work and talent in the nonprofit sector
 
4. Objectives-
1.Fellows will understand the scope and impact of the nonprofit sector locally and nationally
2. Fellows will understand the basic structure of 501c3 organizations (legal) and other 501c organizations
3. Fellows will identify the similarities and differences between for-profit and nonprofit organizations
 
5. Materials and Aids-
1. TED Talk (Pre-work)
2. Worksheets or PPT with question prompts for group discussion
3. Worksheet that details types of 501c organizations
4. Guest addresses and notes for saying thank you
5. Snapshot of previous Community Action Projects if they correlate to common challenges
 
6. Procedures/Methods-

A. Introduction-

1.We are about to begin part of your Fellows experience that focuses on nonprofit organizations. Next time we meet, you will hear from (most likely all) nonprofit leaders looking for your help and expertise to help better meet their mission through a Community Action Project. Some of you all are experts in this work and will be content experts and teachers along the way. Some of you are less familiar with this.
 

B. Development-

1.Slides/questions re: "What is a nonprofit?"
2. 501c3 orgs, specifically focus on...
3. Where does the $ come from?
4. Why do people work in the nonprofit sector? How do they know what success looks like? Key challenges?
4. How many nonprofits are there nationally? locally?
 

C. Practice-

Group Discussion:
1. Defining success in both sectors
2. Obstacles to success

Review scale of sector - how many nonprofit organizations there are locally and nationally, number of applications submitted to IRS annually. Is that a lot? Too many? Too few?

Debrief what Dan indicated as the 5 common pain points.

Connecting Community Action Projects to common obstacles

Forced choice to explore our feelings about nonprofit organizations and giving
 

D. Independent Practice-

Group Analysis:

1. Commonalities in how groups defined success?
2. Differences in how groups defined success

1. Common obstacles
2. Different obstacles

How do you think your Community Action Projects might reflect some of these common obstacles?
 

E. Checking for understanding-

1. How can you support the nonprofit sector aside from working for a nonprofit?
2. How can we support nonprofit's work to solve some of our most pressing challenges?
3.
 

F. Closure-

1. Next session - CAP presentations from nonprofit leaders. They were asked to answer 4 questions.
 
7. Evaluation-
1. Advance understanding of the sector
2. Help you explore the way we give to, support, and empower nonprofit organizations
 

This Lesson Plan is available at (www.teacherjet.com)