Description
In this virtual training and certification program, nonprofit leaders and staff will learn how Lean tools and techniques successfully implemented by many for-profit organizations can be adjusted and successfully applied to nonprofit and not-for-profit organizations. These methods will better engage staff and volunteers, reduce time to complete tasks, reduce rework and delays, and have a bigger impact on the mission of your organization. Participants will learn ways to methodically approach problems in their organization to improve their problem solving skills and better help their organization reach those in need. With more consistent and reliable processes, staff and volunteers will be able to improve their work-life balance and reduce stress.
What is the cost?
Nonprofits and not-for-proft organizations do not have to pay any money to attend at this time. This is a service we are providing to support our sustainability initiatives and part of our mission to help nonprofits and government agencies better solve societal and environmental challenges.
Note: You must be associated with a nonprofit (in the US it would be a 501(c)(3) or similar) or nongovernmental organization (NGO) organization or charity (in other countries) in order to register. You must be employed at the organization or work as a consistent volunteer with the ability to get approval to work on an improvement project within the organization.
If you are not a nonprofit, please check out our Lean Project Coaching Program
What is the time commitment?
There will be 5 training sessions (1 hour), 3 coaching sessions (1 hour each) and 1 presentation day (2 hours) for a total of 9 hours of live sessions. In addition, you will be asked to complete online training of 2-4 hours per week at your own pace (estimate 12 hours). Each person will be asked to complete an improvement project with their nonprofit (estimate 20-30 hours). Total commitment will be 50-60 hours over 3 months (about 20 hours per month or 5 hours per week).
All sessions will take place virtually over Zoom from 3:00PM – 4:00PM EST (12″00PM – 1:00PM PST) on Mondays
Training and Review Sessions – review training videos and how it applies to your work
- Aug 31, 2026 – Week 0 Kickoff Meeting – Explain program, set up with online training platform, explain requirements for certification, review your nonprofit organization (mission statement, products and services and processes) and answer questions
- Coursework: Intro to Lean Principles and Concepts, 8 Wastes, Gemba Walks, Kaizen
- Sep 14, 2026 – Week 1 Review – Review course assignments and content from previous week, discuss upcoming coursework and discuss application to your current work
- Coursework: 5S workplace organization and Visual Controls, Process Measurements, Data Collection Methods, Selecting a Project, A3 and PDCA
- Sep 21, 2026 – Week 2 Review – Review course assignments and content from previous week, discuss upcoming coursework and discuss application to your improvement project
- Coursework: Value, Value Stream Mapping (VSM), Process Mapping, Data Analysis Methods, 5 Whys, Fishbone Diagrams, Capacity Analysis (OEE), Theory of Constraints (TOC) and Continuous Flow Methods (One piece flow, Heijunka, SMED or setup reduction, Standardized work, Single-stall)
- Sep 28, 2026 – Week 3 Review – Review course assignments and content from previous week, discuss upcoming coursework and discuss application to your improvement project
- Coursework: Pull and Kanban, Mistake Proofing, Team Decision Making, Testing and Validating Ideas, RACI, Kaizen Events, Standard Work and SOPs, Behavior Change, Daily Management System (huddles) and Yokoten
- Oct 5, 2026 – Week 4 Review – Recap the entire training program and ensure everyone is making progress on their improvement project
- Coursework: Complete remaining training and continue project work
Coaching Sessions – check-ins every 2 weeks to keep your project on-track
- Oct 19, 2026 – Coaching Session #1 – Review project status and get questions answered
- Nov 2, 2026 – Coaching Session #2 – Review project status and get questions answered
- Nov 16, 2026 – Coaching Session #3 – Review project status and get questions answered
- Dec 14, 2026 – Final project presentations – Present your project A3 and receive your certification
What is the requirement for the certification? To receive a Lean certification, you will need to:
- complete the online training
- complete your improvement project
- present your project on April 29th.
What do you mean by a project? This program is more than just training. It’s about practicing what you learn on a real-life problem at a nonprofit or not-for-profit organization. We will walk you through a series of steps to improve the process that is contributing to the problem.
Here are some problems you might consider:
- Reduce time to train volunteers
- Reduce time to receive donations
- Reduce time to reply to donors
- Reduce risk of issues at fundraising event
- Reduce time to check-in attendees at fundraising event
- Increase volunteer experience and satisfaction
- Reduce setup time for volunteer events
- Increase volunteer attendance %
- Reduce turnaround time and total labor hours to write grant proposal
- Analyze opportunity to increase staffing to increase sales
- Optimize email marketing content to maximize donations
- Increase meeting attendance across chapters
- Increase capacity and total volume of work towards mission
- Reduce recurring expenses and budget allocation
- Other issues you have in your nonprofit (ideally something measurable)
The steps involved in the project will consist of the following tools you will learn in the training:
- Gemba walk to identify wastes
- Process map to document the current process
- Data collection of the current process
- Root causes of the current problem (data analysis, fishbone diagram or 5 Whys)
- Kaizen to improve the process (5S, flow, pull, remove waste, reduce setup, mistake proof, etc)
- Data collection of the new process
- Document results into A3 template and present
Questions? Contact us for more information
Testimonials
“Thank you so much, Brion! What an incredible and valuable experience that was. I’m so lucky I was one of the folks who got to be in this program! I’m excited to bring my new knowledge to my new role, and keep practicing these skills both at work and at home. You’re doing a great service to the world by offering this at no cost to non-profit staff. Huge kudos to you, your skills and knowledge, and your generous heart.” – S.S.
