The Impact of Nonprofit Academic Programs on the Practice of Nonprofit Leadership and Management

This presentation discusses measuring the impact of nonprofit academic programs through traditional research on alumni and community research on applied student projects. Traditional research found that a majority of alumni reported career changes after their degree program and high overall satisfaction. Applied projects enhanced leadership abilities for 93% of alumni and impacted careers for 84%. Community research aims to evaluate the type and duration of impact that student applied projects have on local nonprofit organizations. Over 300 projects have been completed for 130 organizations since 2002. Factors like the relationship between students and organizations and internal support for projects may influence their impact.