Charity Management
MA, PGDip, PGCert

Modules

• Charity Governance and Legal Principles Core

Charity Governance and Legal Principles (Core)

Good governance is a key contributor to a charity’s success. It both enables and supports a charity’s compliance with law and together work to support fulfilment of a charity’s vision. This module offers the opportunity to gain insight into core governance models and application in charitable organisations. Key legislation and frameworks are introduced that contribute to governing charities successfully, as well as supporting a broader understanding of how legislation fits in with strategic, financial and management components.

• Develop a comprehensive understanding of the critical governance models and their application to charitable organisations.
• Build an understanding of the essential requirements of good governance and its effect on the standing, accountability and credibility of the charitable organisation.
• Become aware of relevant legislation and possible implications for charitable organisations
• Understand how the legal, strategic, financial and managerial components of a charity interact and integrate to provide a framework for the organisation
• Develop and understand organisational policy development and implementation in response to impending new legislation
• Use data and resources to respond to legislative requirements

The governance report allows students to prepare a written report for a board of trustees which requires analysis of a charity to determine how trustees function and to carefully analyse the situation and to combine the course learning with their analysis develop tailored recommendations to improve the situation. The presentation focuses on providing students with an opportunity to present to a Board of Trustees by introducing the latest law about key legislation relevant to charities, and to detail what a charity does, or is recommended to do, to improve on the current policies or practices in compliance with the law.

Credits: 20

• International Strategy Core

International Strategy (Core)

The module has a strong international component, it explores strategies, strategy processes, and strategy concepts associated with multinational organisations. The module helps students to develop an understanding of strategy formation in business organisations, as well as non-governmental organisations and other organisational forms.

The module will provide students with a comprehensive appreciation of strategy formulation and implementation from both an organisational and individual perspective. Themes like strategic decision making, organisational structure, organisational learning, and the organisational environment will feature on this module.

Credits: 20

• Responsible and Ethical Leadership Core

Responsible and Ethical Leadership (Core)

This module is concerned with the behaviour of managers and leaders when they are held responsible and accountable by standards other than shareholder value maximisation. The module is designed to ensure students understand how to reason ethically and how to approach ethical decision making within business and other management contexts, such as non-profit and third sector organisations.

Students will understand how unethical or reckless leadership of organisations can give rise to malpractice, undermine organisational viability and lead to reputational collapse whilst also harming wider society. In relation to business corporations, models of governance and frameworks that emphasise the primacy of shareholders will be considered as well as alternative models, and the importance of corporate purpose. In analysing how the principles of responsible decision-making should operate through management, ownership and governance, students will apply ethical thinking to real-life business and leadership situations thus helping them to become ethical decision makers and ethical leaders in the context in which they work.

The module will include a particular emphasis on tools to evaluate ethical behaviour in organisations.

The module will also address ethical and legal obligations in relation to personal data, the treatment of employees and environmental issues.

Assessment focuses on the development of a reflective personal leadership plan and the development of a case study.

Credits: 20

• Digital Marketing Strategy Optional

Digital Marketing Strategy (Optional)

This module provides a digital approach to traditional marketing concepts, tools and techniques. It develops the necessary knowledge to enable you to understand the different ways digital marketing can contribute to the overall marketing strategy of an organisation.

More specifically, the module engages students with the process of marketing planning, analysis, design and implementation of marketing campaigns on digital platforms in order to achieve and enhance competitive advantage.

Credits: 20

• Human Rights and Migration Optional

Human Rights and Migration (Optional)

Justice systems at a national, international and transnational level exist to mediate rights for individuals and groups. In an age of migration, border control, trafficking and governance of migration are emerging themes in criminology. What are the limitations of the sovereign state? What are the limitations of international legal instruments to protect human rights? How can security be achieved for all? Building on these questions, students will critically examine the governance of migration and how European states deal with problems of law, order and inclusion. The study of human rights institutions, processes and practices will enable students to address current dilemmas associated with migration such as state sovereignty, security, inclusion, inequality and citizenship.

• Issues in Education and International Development Optional

Issues in Education and International Development (Optional)

The module aims to provide students with an awareness of the political, social, cultural and economic contexts in which young people live their lives and educational governance, policy-making, planning, provision, teaching and learning take place within low and middle-income countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. 

The module will be particularly relevant and helpful for students interested in working within the education and non-profit sectors in both domestic and international settings (e.g. Government, NGOs, bilaterals, multilaterals, charities). 

Credits: 20

• Financial Management and Fundraising Core

Financial Management and Fundraising (Core)

The contemporary finance space within the third sector is increasingly complex. Within charities, the need to critically examine and report on charity obligations remains, whilst also being aware of effective approaches to managing finances and fundraising. Increasingly, across the entire third sector, organisations are also expected to be able keep track of income, ensuring projects stay within budget and that investments performance is desirable.

Good financial management goes well beyond compliance elements and supports the maximisation of organisational impact across third sector entities. Effective fundraising strategy is critical to reducing barriers to sustainable fund acquisition and promotion of mission. Developing an appreciation for the theoretical underpinnings of carefully designed fundraising strategy, and its execution is central to charity success internationally.

Credits: 20

• Independent Project Core

Independent Project (Core)

This module has two parts: a taught element and an element of independent work.

The taught element enables students to develop their understanding of research skills and their practical applications in investigating managerial and business problems and covers the details of a research proposal.

The second part (independent work) builds on the developed research skills and provides students with the opportunity to undertake an independent research project and requires the development of a substantive piece of work (dissertation).

Students demonstrate their ability to manage a research project from its conception to completion. Throughout this journey, supervisors are available to provide guidance and support to the students. Depending on the circumstances and availability, students can research challenges in specific organisations (consultancy project).

Note: This module starts in Semester 2 with classes throughout the term, and then carries on with their individual project. Students commencing the programme in September submit in August and students joining the programme in January submit the following January. 

Credits: 60

• Sustainable Social Enterprise Optional

Sustainable Social Enterprise (Optional)

The global need for entrepreneurial acumen has grown as a mode to address social challenges and inequalities. As such, the range of organisational models have expanded to the extent that charities are increasingly likely to adopt social enterprise approaches.

Simultaneously, blended models in business have grown to encompass ‘business for good’ structures, such as growth in non-profit certifications.

Across the breadth of social enterprise increasing concern exists for how we can be support organisations to sustain long-term success.

This module supports students to critique and explore these shifts and to develop an entrepreneurial mindset in strategising how social entrepreneurial endeavours for the common good, particularly in the UK and in low resource economies in the global south.

This module will help develop knowledge of social enterprise, including its role in the current and emergent climate across international settings. The module will require students to gain an understanding of the key concepts that are particular for social enterprise and sustainability.

Credits: 20

• International Non-Governmental Organisations Optional

International Non-Governmental Organisations (Optional)

This module is designed to prepare students to understand the unique culture and characteristics of international NGOs, looking at what an INGO does, how they operate, and what challenges they face. In essence, this module focuses on building knowledge across primary standards, theories & concepts in relation to the INGO / third sector as well as the trends and challenges facing the international development and humanitarian aid sector. This includes exploring aspects such as:

• Primary tools and concepts used to manage and run an INGO (organisational structure, project management, practical tools).
• The complex relationships between INGOs / Governments / Private sector and how to navigate those relationships in the field.
• The importance of the collaboration with local NGOs / charities and communities (and how to collaborate with those actors).

Credits: 20

• Security Studies Optional

Security Studies (Optional)

This course examines enduring and contemporary questions of security and insecurity in the international system.

Security has traditionally been defined in terms of strategic state politics and the use of military force to counter external military threats. The end of the Cold War and the ensuing conflicts of the late-20th century raised questions about the continued relevance of traditional theories of security. New security threats have been defined both in the academic literature and by state security strategies.

This course critically evaluates these developments using IR and security studies theories, supplemented by practical case-studies. Students investigate the definition of the term security and threats to security, questions about the referent object of security, the root causes of insecurity and the methods of eliminating or lessening such threats.

The course evaluates traditional and contemporary security concepts such as national security, conventional weapons systems, nuclear non-proliferation, human security, responsibility to protect, the poverty-security nexus in a post-Westphalian context.

It also analyses whether security is best achieved through traditional ‘hard power’ or through the promotion of ‘soft power’ including development, good governance, and a Human Rights values agenda, and the place of ‘smart’ power.

Credits: 20

• Global Governance Optional

Global Governance (Optional)

This course investigates cooperation and discord in international organisation. While evaluating theoretical debates and examining a selection of inter-governmental organisation, the focus is on broader questions of how the global system is organised, and whether there can ever be international consensus on ‘values’ and approaches to issues such as Human Rights given differing national interests and different cultural backgrounds (for example within the UN system).

Students interrogate the role that power and coercion play, the inequalities and marginalisation in the international system, the nature and role of non-state actors, and the content of the global political agenda.

The course critically evaluates different forms of governance from grassroots to regional governance, from global multilateral negotiations to economic crisis management. Questions about the continuity and change of global governance are addressed both holistically and in the case of specific institutions.

Credits: 20