Humanitarian Academy

Mini MBA

Humanitarian Mini MBA: leading a humanitarian organisation

Exactly three months to learn how to lead: strategy, finance, compliance, resource mobilisation, supply chain, HR, risk and governance. Demanding, numerical, free.

  • 3 months · 12 weeks · 144 hours
  • 3 exams · 2 certificates + 1 diploma
  • 3 numerical case studies
  • Verifiable diploma
Start the course
  • Free, unlimited access
  • 12 weeks of in-depth lessons
  • 60 quiz questions and a bank of 90 exam questions
  • 3 numerical case studies and 3 demanding exams
  • Diploma in your name, verifiable online

What you will learn

  • Lead humanitarian teams and organisations with clear, evidence-based strategic choices.
  • Master the functions that hold an organisation together: finance, compliance, resource mobilisation, supply chain, human resources.
  • Govern risks, negotiate at high stakes, lead change and present a complete, defensible strategic plan.

Course information

Level
Advanced: month 1 (strategy and programmes), month 2 (resources and operations), month 3 (leadership and diploma)
Study time
144 hours over exactly 3 months (12 weeks: lessons, worked numerical exercises, case studies)
Format
Online, at your own pace, free and unlimited access
Assessment
Months 1 and 2: 25 questions + case study, 50 min, 80%; diploma: 30 questions on the whole programme + case study, 75 min, 85%
Credential
Named, numbered certificate of achievement, verifiable online (QR code)
Reference frameworks
ALNAP (M. Buchanan-Smith and K. Scriven) · PM4NGOs · CHS Alliance, Groupe URD and the Sphere Project

Enrol in the Mini MBA

Choose your pace. Your enrolment sets your start date: each monthly exam opens at the end of the corresponding month, and the diploma at the earliest exactly 3 months after you start.

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Three months, three exams, one diploma

Each month has four weeks of lessons and ends with a timed exam including a numerical case study. A month's exam only opens at the end of that month after you enrol: the diploma is awarded at the earliest exactly 3 months after you start.

Month 1

Exam: 33 questions · 50 min · 80% to pass

Month 1 certificate

By the end of this level, you will be able to:
  • Lead a humanitarian team by adapting your style to the phase of the crisis and to each person.
  • Formulate an organisational strategy based on a diagnosis, a theory of change and explicit choices.
  • Design and steer a project with a solid logframe and earned value indicators.
  • Build a rigorous MEAL system and real accountability to people.
  1. Week1Humanitarian leadership and managing teams in crisisManager, leader, head of mission: what is really expected of you · Choosing your style: situational leadership and emergency context · Building a high-performing team under pressure · Conflict, diversity and intercultural communication · Deciding under uncertainty and taking care of the team
  2. Week2NGO strategy: mandate, theory of change and positioningWhy an NGO needs a strategy (and what a strategy is not) · Analysing the environment: PESTEL, stakeholders and SWOT · The theory of change as a tool for rigour · From strategic plan to portfolio decisions · Positioning, partnerships and localisation
  3. Week3Project cycle: design, planning and performance managementThe phases of the cycle and the decision gates · From the problem tree to the logframe · Planning: breakdown, critical path and resources · Steering with earned value and burn rate · Managing changes, stakeholders and closure
  4. Week4Strategic MEAL: accountability, evidence and decisionsMEAL as a decision system · Indicators, sampling and data quality · Evaluating: criteria, attribution and contribution · Accountability to people and the Core Humanitarian Standard · From data to organisational learning
  5. Graded case study : Taking back control of the Bassara mission Bassara, eastern province of a fictitious country in conflict · 33 questions including a case study · 80% to pass
Month 2

Exam: 33 questions · 50 min · 80% to pass

Month 2 certificate · Opens at the end of the month, after the Month 1 certificate

By the end of this level, you will be able to:
  • Build and defend a complete budget, and steer an NGO's financial health.
  • Design proportionate internal control, handle a suspicion of fraud and prepare for an audit.
  • Build a diversified resource mobilisation strategy and competitive proposals.
  • Steer an efficient and compliant supply chain: strategic procurement, stock, total cost.
  1. Week5NGO finance: donor budgets, indirect costs and financial managementThe economics of an NGO: what senior managers must master · Building a defensible project budget · Indirect costs and full cost recovery · Budget monitoring: variances, forecasts and cash flow · Cost per beneficiary, cost-effectiveness and value for money
  2. Week6Compliance, internal control, fraud and auditInternal control: principles and architecture · Understanding fraud: triangle, schemes and red flags · Handling a suspicion: reporting, investigation and sanctions · Donor audits and ineligible costs · Sanctions, counter-terrorism and partner vetting
  3. Week7Fundraising and donor relations: strategy, proposals and diversificationThe humanitarian funding landscape · Resource mobilisation strategy · Writing a winning proposal · Managing the donor relationship · Private funds, cost of fundraising and ethics
  4. Week8Humanitarian supply chain: strategic procurement, stock and total costWhy the supply chain is a leadership issue · Procurement strategy: Kraljic and framework agreements · Stock management: formulas and decisions · Transport, Incoterms and total cost of ownership · Risks, localisation and sustainability of the supply chain
  5. Graded case study : Financial crisis and suspicions at Horizon Entraide National headquarters and two bases of a fictitious national NGO · 33 questions including a case study · 80% to pass
Diploma

Exam: 40 questions · 75 min · 85% to pass

Diploma certificate · Opens at the end of the month, after the Month 2 certificate

By the end of this level, you will be able to:
  • Manage people strategically and guarantee duty of care and safeguarding.
  • Govern organisational risks and lead security and crisis management.
  • Negotiate at high stakes, lead advocacy and carry weight in coordination.
  • Lead change, work with a board and present a complete strategic plan.
  1. Week9Strategic human resources, duty of care and safeguardingHR as a strategic lever · Developing people and preparing succession · The employer's duty of care · Safeguarding and PSEA: the responsibility of leaders · Organisational culture, well-being and diversity
  2. Week10Organisational risk and security managementOrganisational risk management · Security risk analysis · Strategies: acceptance, protection, deterrence · Critical incident management · Business continuity and reputation
  3. Week11Strategic negotiation, advocacy and coordinationPrincipled negotiation applied to humanitarian leaders · Access negotiations: the CCHN method · Designing an advocacy strategy · The coordination architecture and how to carry weight in it · Influence, communication and organisational diplomacy
  4. Week12Change management, governance and final projectLeading change: models and realities · Responsible innovation and digital transformation · Governance: the role of the board · Leadership ethics and accountability · The final project: your strategic plan
  5. Graded case study : The diploma: leading Solidarité Sahel Action through the storm Headquarters and five regions of a fictitious national NGO in the Sahel · 40 questions including a case study · 85% to pass

Who is it for?

Managers and future managers of national and international NGOs, UN agencies and the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement: project managers, coordinators, base managers, heads of support functions (finance, logistics, HR, MEAL), country directors and board members. Demanding level: at least two years of professional experience is strongly recommended.

The certificate

With at least 80% in the month 1 and month 2 exams, then 85% in the final exam, you receive the Humanitarian Mini MBA diploma in your name, with a unique code recruiters can check on Humanitaires Jobs. A free Humanitarian Network account is needed to take the exams.

Key concepts

The vocabulary you need to master for this course and the exam.

Theory of change
An explanation of how a set of interventions produces change, with its causal assumptions and evidence.
Earned value
Budgeted cost of the work actually done; compared with planned value (schedule) and actual cost (costs).
SPI and CPI
Schedule performance index (EV / PV) and cost performance index (EV / AC).
Difference-in-differences
Estimated effect = change in the assisted group minus change in a comparison group.
Indirect costs
Costs of headquarters and central functions, covered by a flat or negotiated rate.
Full cost recovery
Having each project fund its fair share of all the costs needed.
Fraud triangle
Pressure, opportunity and rationalisation, the three conditions for fraud (Cressey).
Three lines
Operations, control and compliance functions, independent internal audit.
Weighted pipeline value
Sum of the amounts of the opportunities multiplied by their probability of success.
Reorder point
Average consumption × replenishment lead time + safety stock.
Total cost of ownership
Purchase price plus all costs up to use: transport, duties, storage, losses.
Duty of care
The employer's obligation to take all reasonable measures against foreseeable risks to its staff.
Risk appetite
The level and types of risk the organisation accepts to fulfil its mission, set by the board.
BATNA
Best alternative to a negotiated agreement.
ZOPA
Zone of possible agreement between the two parties' limits.
Fiduciary duties
Care, loyalty and obedience to the mission, owed by board members.

References and recommended reading

The official texts and sector reference works on which the course is based.

  1. ALNAP (M. Buchanan-Smith and K. Scriven) (2011). Leadership in Action: Leading Effectively in Humanitarian Operations. www.alnap.org
  2. PM4NGOs (2020). Project Management for Development Professionals (PMD Pro). pm4ngos.org
  3. CHS Alliance, Groupe URD and the Sphere Project (2024). Core Humanitarian Standard on Quality and Accountability (CHS). www.corehumanitarianstandard.org
  4. OECD DAC (2019). Better Criteria for Better Evaluation: revised evaluation criteria. www.oecd.org
  5. COSO (2013). Internal Control – Integrated Framework. www.coso.org
  6. Institute of Internal Auditors (2020). The IIA's Three Lines Model. www.theiia.org
  7. GISF (2020). Security to Go: a risk management toolkit for humanitarian aid agencies. www.gisf.ngo
  8. IASC (2019). Six Core Principles relating to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse. interagencystandingcommittee.org
  9. ICRC and Brussels Privacy Hub (2020). Handbook on Data Protection in Humanitarian Action, 2nd edition. www.icrc.org
  10. R. Fisher, W. Ury and B. Patton (1981). Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In. www.pon.harvard.edu
  11. CCHN (2019). CCHN Field Manual on Frontline Humanitarian Negotiation. frontline-negotiations.org
  12. R. Rumelt (2011). Good Strategy, Bad Strategy. www.goodbadstrategy.com
  13. J. P. Kotter (1996). Leading Change. www.kotterinc.com
  14. IASC (2016). The Grand Bargain. interagencystandingcommittee.org/grand-bargain