Profile of a Nonprofit Center Certificate Student: Robert Madonna

As a partner and executive VP of Sales and Marketing for McCoy Enterprises, a leader in corporate education, Bob appreciated the need to constantly be learning and growing professionally. In his third career stage, Bob completed 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.

Epilogue – Bob is now in his fourth career, leading Surrey Services for Seniors.