MSc/PgDip/PgCert Charity Resource Management
Part-time
Location • City Campus
Subject area • Business and management
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Find out more about our Centre for Voluntary Sector Research.
Postgraduate certificate
Resourcing charitable organisations
The focus of this module is the range of approaches to fundraising and income generation for charities of all kinds. You explore the case for charitable funding, the constituencies of support, and you investigate a wide range of fundraising methods from statutory contracts to fundraising events to legacies.
Developing strategies for change
You explore the different approaches to organisational strategy, and alternative models by which organisations respond to change. You make a critical assessment of these issues, either in relation to your own charity or the charity sector more generally.
Charity structures, regulation, and accounting
Charitable status, legal structures for charities, and the detailed requirements of charity accounting and financial reporting are at the heart of this module. You learn how charities are formed and the role of the Charity Commission as regulator within the requirements of charity law. You also consider the roles of auditors and independent examiners in the charity sector.
Charity funding strategies and governance
This module focuses on the strategic issues of providing sufficient resources for a charitable organisation, and what that means in terms of management and governance decisions. It includes development of fundraising strategies, and legal and ethical issues related to various kinds of income.
Postgraduate diploma
Consultancy theory and processes
You explore and practice core skills such as listening and observation, making sense of client problems and giving effective feedback. These are key issues whether your work involves advising other charities, or whether you engage external support for your own charity. The module includes a major case study spanning the public, private and voluntary sectors. You also explore the boundaries between consultancy and research in preparation for your dissertation.
Third sector human resource management
You study employment law especially in the context of the issues affecting third sector organisations such as restricted funds and short term projects. You also study broader human resource issues including reward and motivation, volunteer management and supporting the development of staff to achieve their maximum potential.
Research methods
Many decisions on the use of charitable resources are influenced by research, but not all research is equally reliable. In this module you learn critically to evaluate and appraise published research and gain research skills ready for the dissertation.
Charity trading and social enterprise
Funding charitable work through fees, contracts or sale of goods is often suggested as a way to avoid 'grant dependency', but it has many complexities. You consider different understandings of social enterprise and legal structures, including trading by the charity itself, the use of trading subsidiaries, and non-charitable social enterprises. You also explore detailed tax and VAT issues affecting charity trading.
MSc
Dissertation
Your dissertation provides an opportunity to work in-depth on a topic of your own choice in the field of charity resource management, including a significant piece of research.
Part-time – typically two and a half years
It is also possible to take the course full-time over one year.
The PgCert and PgDip stages each have four modules. The taught classes for each module are in blocks, usually lasting four days from Tuesday to Friday. Each stage takes around nine months.
Starts January
Complete the application form available at www.shu.ac.uk/study/form
2013/14 academic year
Typically £3,060 a stage for PgCert, PgDip and MSc stages. Scholarships may be available for those in charities with limited resources.
The course fee may be subject to annual inflationary increase. For further information on fees and funding see www.shu.ac.uk/funding
By coursework assignments, apart from one examination. The assignments normally focus on issues in your own organisation, for example development of a fundraising strategy.
If you complete the eight modules to postgraduate diploma stage with an average mark of at least 50% overall and a minimum of 45% for each module, you are eligible to apply for the Diploma in Charity Accounting (DChA). The DChA is awarded by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. All award holders will receive the designatory letters, DChA, to use after their name and a free subscription to the ICAEW Charity and Voluntary Sector Group for up to 12 months (applies to new subscribers only). They will also have the opportunity to appear on the DChA award holders online register.
If you complete the module in charity structures, regulation and accounting (minimum 50 % mark) you gain the Association of Charity Independent Examiners (ACIE) Charity Accounting Certificate. This is an important step towards full membership of the ACIE.
The fundraising modules can also lead to qualifications with the Institute of Fundraising (final details of the IoF qualifications for 2013 are subject to confirmation). Professional membership of the IoF is a vital qualification for those working in charity fundraising.
For ACIE and IoF qualifications you need to be an associate member of the relevant professional body. You have the chance to join at the start of the course.
Sean Kelly
MSc Charity Resource Management
`I was delighted to arrive home from work this evening and receive the final results for my dissertation and Masters. It was very exciting to learn that I had achieved a mark that I felt was never attainable when I began the course.
`I would like to thank Gareth Morgan and Tracey Chadwick-Coule for all they have done to help me attain the distinction and for making my studies so enjoyable. I have to say that I really enjoyed the whole experience from start to finish and would happily recommend the course to anyone else I know looking to expand their knowledge of the third sector.’
Susan Parker
MSc Charity Resource Management
`The MSc Charity Resource Management has given me a whole host of skills and new understanding which I have been able to apply both in my work and volunteering. Many assume that working for the church is unlike the rest of the charity sector, but through this course I have been able to demonstrate the role the church has to play in the sector and how this compares to other charities.
The course was hard work, it took a significant amount of commitment to see it through, but finally graduating last year, and hopefully seeing a revised version of my dissertation being published in an academic journal this year, have made it all worthwhile!'
David Smith
MSc Charity Resource Management
`I have to say, the MSc certainly helped during my interview for the position of Chief Executive at the newly merged York Mind/Our Celebration. The competition for the role was between two Chief Officers and the knowledge and skills from the course helped support the evidence I had from my past achievements and work record.
The modules we covered fitted nicely with the questions they asked so all I had to do was think back to the assignments and I had ready made answers! Plus, the professional memberships, ACIE, IoF and CIM all helped.'
Profiles
Sean Kelly
MSc Charity Resource Management
Susan Parker
MSc Charity Resource Management
David Smith
MSc Charity Resource Management
Centre for Voluntary Sector Research
Sheffield Hallam is one of the UK's leading institutions for work on the charity and voluntary sectors. We have 13 staff active in our cross-faculty Centre for Voluntary Sector Research (CVSR).
Most of the staff teaching on this course are involved in CVSR and the course content draws extensively on their research experience. Read CVRS staff profiles for more information about their work or view examples of CVSR research reports.
