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Fundraising Certificate (Online) | Oregon State University

Unlock the secrets of successful fundraising—watch the 10-minute intro video free. 

Learn proven fundraising strategies from nationally recognized experts.

Customized and group training available. 100% online, self-paced.


Raise More Money for Your Nonprofit

“How do I raise money for my nonprofit?”

It’s the question every nonprofit leader, board member, or development professional faces.

The Fundraising Certificate Program at Oregon State University provides the answers.

Developed and taught by five seasoned fundraising leaders with decades of experience, this online fundraising course equips you with the essential skills, strategies, and confidence to grow your organization’s funding base. Whether you’re new to development or seeking advanced nonprofit fundraising training, you’ll gain tools you can immediately put into practice.

Why Choose This Fundraising Certificate Program?

✔ Practical, results-driven training — From annual giving and major gifts to grant writing, board development, and corporate relations, you’ll learn strategies that work for organizations of all sizes.

✔ Led by nationally recognized experts — Learn directly from instructors who have raised millions and taught at top universities, including Columbia, NYU, Baylor, and UT Austin.

✔ Flexible, online format — Complete nine on-demand learning modules at your own pace, in about 7 hours.

✔ CFRE-accredited — Earn 6 CE points toward your Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) certification.

✔ Immediate career impact — Whether you’re a nonprofit staff member, social entrepreneur, board member, or higher ed professional, you’ll graduate with skills to attract more donors, secure larger gifts, and create sustainable fundraising strategies.

High-Impact Learning Modules

This professional fundraising training is organized into nine modules, each building on the last to give you a complete toolkit for success.

You’ll start with a Certificate Introduction, which gives you a clear overview of professional fundraising. From there, the Foundations of Philanthropy module explores the history of giving, the psychology behind donor motivation, and what truly inspires generosity.

Next, you’ll dive into Board of Directors, where you’ll learn how to engage board members, define their responsibilities, and activate them as fundraising partners. Building on that, the Annual Giving module covers donor segmentation, stewardship, and strategies to build sustainable giving programs.

When it comes to larger gifts, the Major Gifts module helps you master the development cycle—everything from relationship management to campaign strategy, event fundraising, and making the ask with confidence.

You’ll then expand into Planned Giving, gaining skills in gift planning, donor stewardship, and creating long-term giving strategies. Foundation Relations will show you how to strengthen partnerships with institutions and navigate best practices in foundation giving.

For those looking to sharpen their proposal skills, the Grant Writing module breaks down how to craft compelling proposals and secure essential funding support.

Finally, you’ll complete the program with Corporate Relations, where you’ll explore corporate social responsibility, sponsorships, and building successful corporate partnerships.

Meet Your Instructors

This fundraising training for nonprofits is taught by leaders who combine academic expertise with real-world success:

  • Marian Stern — Over 35 years in philanthropy; faculty at NYU, Columbia, and Rutgers; expert in board development and strategic fundraising planning.
  • Adrian Matthys — Assistant VP for Annual Giving at Oklahoma State University Foundation; 20 years’ experience building high-performing annual giving programs.
  • Leighton Wilson — Chief Development Officer at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, UT Austin; specializes in major gift fundraising and donor relationships.
  • Lily M. Cabrera, MBA — VP at 360 Philanthropy Partners; secured multimillion-dollar grants in academic medicine and higher ed; faculty at multiple universities.
  • Davida Isaacson — Nationally recognized planned giving expert; former Director of Planned Giving at WNET; 20 years teaching at NYU and Columbia.

Together, these instructors bring you one of the best fundraising certificate programs available online.

Who Should Enroll?

This nonprofit fundraising training is designed for anyone looking to strengthen their organization’s fundraising efforts and achieve long-term sustainability.

It’s especially valuable for nonprofit professionals who want to deepen their fundraising knowledge, as well as board members and volunteers seeking practical fundraising training for boards to make a bigger impact.

Executives and founders will gain strategies to improve financial stability, while higher education faculty, staff, and leaders can build development skills through this fundraising training for nonprofit staff.

It’s also an excellent entry point for anyone considering a career in nonprofit fundraising or philanthropy.

Learning Outcomes

By completing this online fundraising certificate program, you will:

  • Expand your donor base and increase donor retention through proven best practices.

  • Confidently ask for and secure major gifts with strategies taught by top professionals.

  • Develop successful grant proposals aligned with foundation and corporate priorities.

  • Activate and engage your board of directors in sustainable fundraising efforts.

  • Design and implement a comprehensive fundraising plan to support long-term growth.

Additional Information

This course is offered in partnership with Elective Learning LLC and is accredited through Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE) International.

Individuals who successfully complete the Fundraising Certificate will be awarded a digital proof of completion. 

calendar
On demand. Access any time.
location
Online
price (2)
$699 (+ $60 registration fee)
699
Additional Information: Certified Fund Raising Executive International (CFRE International): 6 CE points

Instructors

Marian Stern

Marian has over 35 years of experience in philanthropy and fundraising. As the principal of Projects in Philanthropy, she has worked with a wide variety of organizations, providing management and fundraising services, with particular emphasis on fundraising planning, board development and training, strategic planning, meeting facilitation, and professional coaching. She also works with funders to define and implement charitable giving policies. Marian has also been an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Heyman Center for Philanthropy and Fundraising at New York University, a faculty member in the Fundraising Management program at Columbia University and an Adjunct Professor in American Studies at Rutgers University. Marian has a Master’s in Public Administration from the Robert Wagner School of Public Service at New York University, and graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in American Studies from Rutgers University.

Adrian Matthys

Adrian Matthys is the Assistant Vice President for Annual Giving at the Oklahoma State University Foundation and has been working in higher education development for 20 years. In addition to his work at OSUF, Adrian has experience at both small private and large public institutions, as well as other nonprofit organizations outside of higher education. Adrian's skill sets include direct marketing, reunion giving, leadership annual giving, alumni relations, as well as many other best practices for building top-performing annual giving teams, tactics, and campaigns. Adrian has a passion for annual giving and a great appreciation for educating development teams about the importance of strong sustaining giving programs.

Leighton Wilson

Leighton has over 14 years of professional fundraising experience, focusing on major gift development. He is the Chief Development Officer for the LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin. He has worked for the College of Natural Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin, LSU Health Shreveport Foundation and Centenary College of Louisiana. Leighton has a Master of Science in Philanthropy and Fundraising from the George Heyman, Jr. Center for Philanthropy and Fundraising at New York University, a Master of Arts in Communication from Baylor University, and a Bachelor of Business Administration from the Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University.

Lily M. Cabrera, MBA

Lily is vice president for client partnerships at 360 Philanthropy Partners. She is an accomplished nonprofit professional and fundraiser with more than two decades of experience in academic medicine, healthcare delivery systems, higher education, and policy. Before joining 360 Philanthropy Partners, Lily held senior-level positions at the University of Texas at Austin and NYU School of Medicine working with leaders to secure six-figure to multimillion-dollar grants to improve health outcomes and advance biomedical research. She excels at developing and implementing innovative philanthropic strategies and achieving fundraising goals in complex,

multistakeholder environments. She has expert skills in grant writing; a proven track record of working with university presidents, academic deans, and faculty leadership; and has successfully fostered collaboration and led teams in the higher education, academic medicine, scientific research, and policy sectors.

Lily is on faculty with Elective Learning, an online education company with certificate offerings in Fundraising with the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, The Ohio State University, the University of New Mexico, the University of Tennessee, and others as partners, and a newly launching course for faculty fundraising. Lily holds a BA from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Seton Hall University. She completed professional coach training through Co-Active Training Institute (CTI), which is acclaimed as the “gold standard” for its grounding in evidence-based research. Lily hails from New York City and now calls Atlanta, Georgia home. In her spare time, she enjoys reading too many books simultaneously, tending to a vast herbal garden with her husband Jed, and spending quality time with her daughter, Sophie.

Davida Isaacson

After a successful career in trust and estate banking, Davida became the Director of Planned Giving and Endowments for WNET, the New York public television station. While at WNET, Davida produced training videos for distribution to the public broadcasting stations and began teaching planned giving at New York University. Her teaching career spanned 20 years until retirement in 2018 and included joining the faculty at Columbia University in addition to her being assistant professor at NYU. She has been a nationally recognized speaker on all aspects of planned giving. She served on the Board of the National Committee on Planned Giving and is now President Emeritus at the Philanthropic Planning Group of Greater New York (PPGGNY) from which she received an award for achievement in the planned giving community. In addition to continuing to present to development professionals, Davida is the Senior Philanthropic Advisor for The Seeing Eye, Inc. in Morristown, NJ.

Past Students' Work

Take a look at some recent projects our students have created.