Profile of a Nonprofit Center Certificate Student
Robert Madonna: A Corporate Leader’s Perspective
As a partner
and executive VP of Sales and Marketing for McCoy Enterprises, a leader in
corporate education, Bob appreciates the need to constantly be learning and
growing professionally. Currently in his third career,
Bob is studying for his Certificate in Nonprofit Management from the Nonprofit
Center at La Salle University’s School of Business.
Why would an experienced and
accomplished corporate executive commit his limited time to enhancing his knowledge
of nonprofit management?
“I’ve spent 10 years as a ‘serial
board member,’” Bob says, “currently serving on four different nonprofit
boards.” Speaking frankly, he says, “The average board member doesn’t really
understand what his or her role is. And
nonprofits need to do a better job of both recruiting and educating board
members.”
Despite his extensive experience
as a nonprofit board member, Bob wanted to be formally educated in the best
practices of nonprofit management and enrolled in the Certificate Program to
achieve that goal.
“The Nonprofit Center’s classes
have given me a systematic way of looking at things,” he explains, “I’ve
learned how things should and should not be done in a nonprofit; I understand
the importance of measurement and evaluation and about the culture of
nonprofits.”
He adds that he’s gained insight
as a Board Member about how boards should operate and feels strongly that Board
Members need to spend time at the organizations they serve and not just
“meeting four times a year and concluding that things are ok.”
“Too many individuals join boards
for their egos and too many nonprofits bring on board members assuming they’ll
get money from them.”
Bob is disappointed by the lack
of board members who pursue nonprofit education to enhance their skills.
“There’s arrogance among some board members that because they’re been
successful in the for-profit world they know everything they need to about
nonprofits -- and that’s simply not true,” he asserts. He also values the credential of a
certificate from the La Salle University School of Business and urges fellow
board members to consider their significance in today’s competitive
environment.
Bob also invested in his
Certificate in Nonprofit Management to prepare him for what he hopes will be a
fourth career in the future – working for a nonprofit. And he plans to bring
his same commitment to continuing education and skills development in the
business world to work in the nonprofit sector.
