INOM Celebrates 20 Years
 Nearly 20 years after the USF Institute for Non-profit Organization Management (INOM) founded one of the country’s first master’s degrees in its field, it continues to pioneer new trends in the sector.
Started in the belief that private, charitable foundations need leaders with strong social values as well as practical skills, the College of Professional Studies’ INOM educates non-profit managers, develops curriculum for its courses, and does research on how non-profits can best serve society. Some of its current projects include creating curriculum on advocating for better public policy, researching the different ways ethnic minorities make donations, and compiling an information database on California’s non-profits.
“We provide applicable research of use to people in the sector that serves their values,” said Michael Cortés, INOM’s director. “It’s a chance for the university to strengthen organizations out in the world.”
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Michael Cortés has been director of INOM since 2000.
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As the federal government cuts funding of its welfare programs, non-profits are becoming more visible as care providers for society’s marginalized. That trend is impacting INOM’s enrollment as interest in non-profit leadership grows. Two years ago, the San Francisco campus began enrolling two cohorts of about 15 students each every year in the master’s program and this year it expanded its degree offering to USF’s Santa Rosa and Sacramento campuses. New curriculum focused on young professionals starting out in their careers may also be added in the future.
“People are beginning to recognize professionalism in non-profits, that we have to be better managers in order to provide the largest amounts of services with our resources,” said Marcia Hodges, a 1990 INOM graduate and development director at the Yosemite National Institutes.
The INOM staff of five also develops resources for professionals in the field by compiling research on topics such as President George W. Bush’s “Charitable Choice” proposal on welfare reform, which would give counties the option to use faith-based organizations to deliver services; what ways Californians give and volunteer; and trends in capital campaigns. “We’re also designing a non-profit lobbying and advocacy course because the sector is becoming a major player in tax-funded programs,” Cortés said.
That role also calls for preparing students to be heads of some of the most scrutinized organizations in the country. The recent scandal over San Francisco-based PipeVine’s misallocation of millions of dollars in charitable donations has prompted INOM to reinforce its curriculum on leadership by organizing symposia on leadership and ethics.
“We’re trying to better address the increased expectations of non-profits,” Cortés said. “We’re preparing our students for greater transparency and accountability.”
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