Since 1995, Slippery Rock University has offered an undergraduate degree in philanthropy and nonprofit management giving the next generation of nonprofit managers a formal education.

According to The Urban Institute, a national organization that analyzes the size, scope and performance of nonprofits, nonprofit sector growth surpassed that of both the business and government sectors between 2001 and 2011.

This has created a growing need for more trained managers and executives.

SRU is Pennsylvania’s only public university to offer such an undergraduate program and one of only two in Western Pennsylvania, according to SRU nonprofit management professor Alice Del Vecchio who created the curriculum.

“The private sector isn’t growing. The nonprofit sector is the fastest growing employer in the world,” Del Vecchio said.

“In 1946, there were 1,500 registered nonprofits in the United States. Today, there are 1,149 in Butler County. So that gives you some perspective.”

As baby boomers serving as nonprofit managers leave the sector, it is predicted there will be a deficit of leaders, according to a study conducted by The Bridgespan Group, a nonprofit adviser to organizations and philanthropists.

The study found that starting this year, nonprofits will need almost 80,000 new senior managers per year over the next decade.

“The sector is concerned about how they’re going to fill that gap,” Del Vecchio said. “You have people who have been working in the sector, but you don’t have a lot of pipelines for people who are academically prepared and come in at that mid-level or lower-level management.”

As part of the SRU Department of Interdisciplinary Programs, students can major in nonprofit management while having a second major in another field.

Students take core nonprofit management classes such as fundraising, marketing and recruiting, while majoring in other fields of study such as public relations, education, or the arts.

Del Vecchio explained that the dual major gives students an edge in the job market.

“If I’m an employer at the YMCA and somebody comes to apply for a program position working with children and they have a degree in education, but they haven’t gotten a public school teaching job, I’m happy to have them,” she said.

“But if they come with a degree in public education and they come with a degree in nonprofit management, that tells me not only do they know children, but they know my organization and I don’t have to teach them that culture.”

Mary Krewduk is a senior with a double major in nonprofit management and public relations. Krewduk started at SRU undecided about a major, but took a civic engagement class that helped her to realize that she could make a living working in the nonprofit sector.

As she continued to take classes in both majors, she soon understood that she could combine the two into a career.

Unlike other public relations students, the dual major has prepared her differently giving her an overall knowledge of nonprofit operations.

“For me to go into a nonprofit now, I know the structure of it and how the whole organization operates which will allow me to focus on what I want to do and not have to worry about keeping up and learning about the business side of it,” she said.

Michael Nowland is a senior majoring in community development for Americans with disabilities and nonprofit management. When he was first enrolled at SRU, he was majoring in special education while working with special education students at a school in the Pittsburgh area.

He said that he enrolled at SRU to earn a degree to get a better paying position in a special education school. But once he switched his major to nonprofit management, he realized that the program was helping him think about all facets of operating a nonprofit organization.

“We had to talk about risk assessments for different organizations. We focused on everything that could potentially harm the organization,” Nowland said.

“As I was doing these assignments in class, I realized I need to start thinking about this because if I don’t, the clients I’m going to be working for could potentially lose their services.”

While most students come into the program feeling overwhelmed by the responsibilities of managing a nonprofit, Del Vecchio said she often reminds them that they can’t help people without proper management.

“In my class, I talk about how everybody wants to feed the babies, but nobody wants to get the money to feed the babies. Nobody wants to do the planning to get the program to feed the babies. Nobody wants to evaluate how the babies were fed. The fun part is feeding the babies,” she said.

“We talk about how every dollar you spend has a face behind it. You have to find the face to give you the dollar, but you also have to figure out how to get that dollar because if you don’t, the person that you’re trying to help, you can’t help.”

Nonprofit management students are also getting many opportunities both in and out of class to work directly with nonprofits that are seeking help in creating a mission statement, creating a logo, creating a brand or developing an annual campaign.

“I think what’s best about this program is that the students end up with products when they get ready to leave and not just academic grades and scores,” Del Vecchio said.

One such opportunity began last year when students decided to create an annual campaign for their student organization, the Nonprofit Student Alliance, which provides students with professional development opportunities and academic and internship scholarships.

“You can help ensure a rock-solid future for the nonprofit sector” became the theme for the campaign. The students created a trifold brochure with information about the student alliance.

The brochure and a letter requesting donations for the alliance was sent to SRU alumni, former faculty and alliance board members’ families and friends.

The students set a goal of $10,000, although they thought it wouldn’t be possible to reach. By the end of last semester, the organization had exceeded that amount.

Now the alliance will be able to give students $1,200 scholarships starting this semester and a $250 scholarship for an incoming freshman planning to study nonprofit management. The money will also go toward a professional development trip to Houston this month where 10 students will become certified nonprofit professionals.

Del Vecchio said the bonus is that students have had another hands-on experience with an aspect of nonprofit management.

“Now they’re managing the distribution of $10,000,” she said. “You don’t get a chance to do something like this when you’re 20 years old.”