Many non-profits and charities are facing a difficult reality: rising community needs, increasing costs, growing pressure on staff and systems, and funding models that often do not provide enough flexible capital to support long-term growth. This course helps organizations understand how financing can become part of a stronger, more resilient financial mix.
Understand When Financing Makes Sense: Learn how financing differs from traditional fundraising, and when tools like loans, flexible debt, community finance, and blended capital can support growth, social enterprise, asset purchases, or cash-flow needs.
Learn to Think Like a Lender: Understand how lenders assess risk, repayment capacity, cash flow, governance, and organizational readiness so you can communicate your capital needs with clarity and confidence.
Build the Systems to Grow Responsibly: Develop practical skills in risk assessment, cash-flow planning, financial forecasting, and financing management to support long-term sustainability and impact.
Learn on your schedule with six focused modules that combine video lessons, interactive exercises, and downloadable board-ready tools. As a Learning Lab participant, you also get access to the Thriving Non-Profits community forum and resource library.
Most non-profits and charities rely heavily on grants and donations, but financing and social finance can support growth and long-term impact. Understanding the capital continuum helps organizations explore how different forms of capital can support different needs at different stages of growth.
This course explores the capital continuum, explains when financing makes sense, and helps organizations identify the right financial mix for their goals, repayment capacity, and risk tolerance.
INCLUDED TEMPLATES AND WORKSHEETS
Take the course individually or select one of our team packages to support your whole leadership team.
Perfect for solo learners.
Best value for your whole board
Train your full leadership team
This course is perfect for non-profit leaders, board members, finance staff, and social enterprise leaders who want to better understand financing, strengthen investment readiness, and build confidence accessing and managing capital.
GOT QUESTIONS?
Have questions about this course? Our FAQ section addresses a few of the key things you might need to know.
This course is designed for non-profit and charity leaders, board members, finance staff, and social enterprise leaders who want to better understand financing, strengthen investment readiness, and build confidence accessing and managing capital.
No prior financing experience is required. The course introduces financing and social finance concepts in practical, non-profit-focused language while helping organizations build confidence understanding financing, lender expectations, risk, and investment readiness.
You’ll leave with a practical understanding of how financing and social finance work for non-profits and charities, when financing makes sense, how lenders assess organizations, and how to prepare for and manage financing responsibly. You’ll also gain access to practical worksheets, exercises, and investment readiness tools that can be applied directly within your organization.
All learners who complete the course receive a numbered certificate of completion to showcase their achievement and gained knowledge.
The course is structured into four modules that can be completed at your own pace. Most learners spend 1–2 hours per module, including time to complete exercises and apply the worksheets and planning tools to their organization.
This is a self-paced online course, containing video lessons, text lessons, worksheets, exercises, and quizzes. You’ll also have opportunities to join live learning events and connect with peers in the Community forum for shared learning.
Yes. Many organizations find it valuable to learn together across leadership, finance, and board roles. Group access helps organizations build a shared understanding of financing, investment readiness, risk, and financial planning. Choose one of our group options from the pricing menu on the page to enroll multiple staff or board members.
Yes. You’ll retain access to the course content for 365 days from the date of enrollment. You will retain permanent access to the Thriving Non-Profits platform, community forum, and resource library.
We are confident in the value this course provides, but if you are not satisfied, we offer a 7-day money-back guarantee.
Please refer to our refund policy within our Terms of Use for more details.
This course was developed through collaboration and partnership. We want to acknowledge and thank Vancity Credit Union, the Definity Insurance Foundation, and Boann Social Impact for their support and partnership in designing and developing the learning content.
We respectfully acknowledge that the offices of Scale Collaborative are located on the unceded, ancestral, and traditional territories of the lək̓ʷəŋən-speaking peoples, and the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations who have historical relationships with the land that continue to this day.
Build the foundation for understanding financing and social finance in the non-profit sector. Learn how mission, capacity, and money work together, explore the capital continuum, and understand how financing can support growth, sustainability, and long-term impact.
Key learnings include the difference between fundraising and financing, when financing makes sense for non-profits and charities, the pros and cons of different capital streams, core social finance concepts like blended finance and catalytic capital, and how to begin assessing your organization’s investment readiness and financial mix.
Learn how to define your organization’s capital needs and prepare for financing with greater clarity and credibility. This module explores the barriers non-profits face in accessing capital and helps you understand how lenders and investors assess organizations through the “Five Cs” of financing.
Key learnings include the common internal and external barriers to financing, the “Five Cs” lenders use to evaluate organizations, strategies for overcoming collateral and track-record challenges, how to organize a lender-ready deal room, and how to assess and communicate risks as part of a strong financing plan.
Learn how to look at your organization’s financials through a lender’s eyes. This module helps you understand how lenders assess repayment capacity, operating performance, and financial readiness, and how to present your financial information in a lender-ready way.
Key learnings include understanding margins and EBITDA, using ratios like DSCR and Loan-to-Value to assess repayment capacity and lending risk, building forward-looking cash-flow forecasts, understanding the role of financial modelling and scenario testing, and connecting these concepts back to your financing and repayment plans.
Learn how to manage financing, risk, and growth so capital continues to support your mission over time. This module explores how organizations assess and manage risk, monitor financing obligations, and build the systems needed to support sustainable growth.
Key learnings include understanding risk, reward, and impact in financing decisions, distinguishing between real and perceived risks, using practical risk-assessment and mitigation tools, understanding loan documents and covenants, managing investor relationships and reporting requirements, and strengthening financial management practices to support long-term sustainability and growth.
