Digital Badges for Learners
Digital badges encourage professional development, greater participation and cohort completion rates, increased organizational awareness and marketing, and communicate grant readiness and organizational sustainability to stakeholders and organizational funders.
Completion of individual learning/capacity building tracks, attending specific learning events, participation in social innovation learning cohorts and scenario planning and sustainability will provide you with a digital badge.
The Forbes Funds will provide digital badges and certifications for learning cohorts, special events, and participation in various programs. Two levels, silver and gold, will be offered, where applicable. Beginning in 2021, The Forbes Funds website will have a page dedicated to digital badging. This webpage will be built out as the digital badge program grows and include the learning outcomes for each digital badge.
Process
The Forbes Funds will provide digital badges and certifications for learning cohorts, special events, and participation in various programs.
Two levels, silver and gold, will be offered, where applicable. Beginning in 2021, The Forbes Funds website will have a page dedicated to digital badging. This webpage will be built out as the digital badge program grows and include the learning outcomes for each digital badge.
Delivery
Upon completion of a badge program, learning cohort, or event, The Forbes Funds will deliver the digital badge via email. The email will include:
- The digital badge in PDF and online versions
- Language that explains the badge and learning outcomes
- Instructions to use the badge via LinkedIn
- Instruction to use the badge electronically (email, social media, website)
- Instructions to use the badge in print materials
Sharing Your Digital Badge
Leveraging technology from partner developers at Carnegie Mellon University to boost access and engagement across communal decision making.
Frequently Asked Questions
Launched in the Fall of 2020, you can review some of the courses that will receive badging below (this is not a complete list). Please get in touch should you have any additional questions.
What are the benefits of a badge?
The Forbes Funds’ digital badging will encourage participation in learning cohorts, events, completion of individual learning/capacity-building tracks, increase awareness of these programs, promote scenario planning and sustainability, and communicate organizational collaboration capacity and grant readiness to stakeholders.
Past and Present digital badges
Scenario Planning (Gold)
Scenario Planning cohort participants attended 18 weeks of advanced learning in Risk Management, Financial Sustainability, and Strategic Crisis Communication. Students learned how to identify potential challenging situations and create organization plans to respond.
Academy for Community Engagement and Cause Leadership (ACCEL)
In partnership with the Benter Foundation and INFLUENCE|SG, The Forbes Funds’ offers ACCEL programming yearly.
ACCEL Fundamentals
ACCEL Fundamentals participants participated in three months of virtual coursework led by Derrick Feldmann at INFLUENCE|SG. Students attained knowledge for effective marketing and fundraising; learned end of year campaign best practices; and learned how to develop marketing and fundraising plans.
Advanced ACCEL
Advanced ACCEL participants participated in three months of virtual programming with Derrick Feldmann of INFUENCE|SG. Students learned how to increase the number of constituents and supporters and how to develop a personalized marketing and fundraising plan with vetted strategies.
Hi, I am Dr. Hannah Karolak and I lead learning & education programs at The Forbes Funds. Our learning programs support current and future nonprofit leaders through coaching, mentorship, technical assistance, and professional development. Through partnerships with local universities, we are creating access to higher education for nonprofit professionals. Let me and our team of coaches support you in your journey to securing career mobility and greater leadership capacity.
Vision: The Forbes Funds learning and education programs support leaders as they navigate the changing demands of nonprofit work. Each of our learning programs include an aspect of coaching or mentorship, technical assistance, and professional development certification through digital badges, university credits, or continuous education credits. We use rapid prototyping to develop cohorts quarterly that respond to real-times needs of the sector. Through partnerships with our funders, we continue to offer these opportunities at low or no cost.