Christian Nonprofit Leadership (Ed.D.)

Program Overview

The Doctor of Education in Christian Nonprofit Leadership prepares those who lead mission-driven organizations: relief and development agencies, Christian schools, ministry networks, camps, rescue missions, and foundations. These organizations fail in predictable ways — founder dependence, weak boards, mission drift toward whatever funders will pay for, programs nobody has evaluated, and burnout dressed up as sacrifice. The remedy is not more zeal but competence joined to conviction. The program is built around the disciplines a Christian executive actually needs. Students study governance and the working relationship between board and executive; strategy and theory of change; program design and honest evaluation; financial stewardship, audit, reserves, and the ethics of restricted funds; fundraising and donor communication that tells the truth; human resources, supervision, and staff formation; and the legal and regulatory frameworks that apply to religious nonprofits. Running through the curriculum is the question of organizational discipleship: whether the way the organization treats its people, its beneficiaries, and its money bears witness to what it says it believes. The applied research project addresses an organizational problem with evidence: a governance redesign, an evaluation framework, a succession plan, a compensation study, a program redesign following honest assessment. Graduates serve as executive directors, chief operating officers, board chairs, consultants, and faculty teaching nonprofit leadership.

Core Courses

• CNL 801 — Theology of Organizational Stewardship (6 credits)
• CNL 812 — Governance and Board Development (6 credits)
• CNL 824 — Strategy, Program Design, and Evaluation (6 credits)
• CNL 836 — Financial Stewardship and Fundraising Ethics (6 credits)
• CNL 848 — People, Culture, and Compliance (5 credits)
• CNL 860 — Applied Organizational Research Design (4 credits)
• CNL 899 — Doctoral Research Project in Nonprofit Leadership (24 credits)

Admission Requirements

• Master's degree in education, theology, ministry, leadership, or a related field
• Experience leading educational or formation programs, staff, or institutions
• Statement of purpose describing the institutional problem your research will address
• Current resume or curriculum vitae
• Official transcripts from prior institutions when available
• Writing sample, curriculum sample, or program evaluation when requested