The Virage Foundations Course:
Everything you need to know about working at a nonprofit.
Our Foundations course empowers new leaders and middle managers to shift from reactive to effective leadership, even in demanding environments.
We’ve developed the Virage Foundations course as a one-stop shop for:
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Foundations looking to increase capacity building and organizational sustainability of their grantees through sponsoring a cohort.
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Nonprofits of all sizes that don’t have the capacity to support their leadership pipeline.
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New managers and staff aspiring to take a leadership role in nonprofit organizations
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Young professionals or experts who don’t have a formal education in management
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First-time managers who’ve been in the role for two years or less
The course at a glance:
A complete toolkit for
working in nonprofits
Available in English
and French
Canada-rooted
learning
Available online
and in-person
14 hours
Cohort-led
The Curriculum
WEEK ONE
Leading with Purpose
Stop "doing" and start leading. We move beyond day-to-day tasks to align your leadership with the bigger picture.
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Mission, Vision, & Values: Crafting the DNA of your leadership.
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Theory of Change: Mapping how your work creates real-world impact.
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Strategic Planning: Understanding SWOT and strategic frameworks that define your organization’s future.
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Role Clarity: Navigating your unique position within the workflow, vision, and strategy.
WEEK TWO
Grant Writing Essentials
Transform your funding approach from "asking for money" to "inviting investment."
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Funder Alignment: How to identify and vet partners who share your mission.
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The Logic Model Advantage: Using structured frameworks to build clear, actionable, and winning proposals.
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Building the Case for Investment: Mastering the “Pivot Technique".
WEEK THREE
Measuring What Matters
Learn to measure what your funders want and what your team needs.
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Outcomes vs. Outputs: Moving from "what we did" to "what we changed."
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The KPI Blueprint: Designing SMART goals and KPIs that prove your value.
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Evaluation Tools: Practical systems to track progress.
WEEK FOUR
Finances & Budgeting
Demystify nonprofit finance and turn your budget into a powerful advocacy tool.
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Full-Cost Recovery: Learning to fund your true overhead and avoid the "nonprofit starvation cycle."
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The Narrative Budget: How to use financial storytelling to strengthen your grant proposals.
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Avoiding the Doom Loop: Strategic oversight of restricted funds and program budgeting.
WEEK FIVE
Influencing with Integrity
Leadership isn't about the title; it’s about the ability to move a room toward a common goal.
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The VIA Framework: Using character-based assessments to lead authentically.
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Influence with Integrity: Mastering the art of persuasion across boards, teams, and partners.
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Values in Action: Ensuring your internal leadership matches your external mission.
WEEK SIX
How To Manage a Team
Build a team that is resilient, autonomous, and aligned.
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Management Rituals: Establishing the "heartbeat" of your team’s weekly and monthly rituals.
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The Feedback Loop: Integrating real-time feedback systems into your day-to-day management.
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Team Vitality: Practical tools to monitor energy, resolve tension, and build deep trust.
WEEK SEVEN
Management in the AI Era
Learn to lead your team through the most significant technological shift of our time.
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AI Literacy for Leaders: Demystifying the tech. Understand the landscape of generative AI and how to identify high-impact use cases for your specific team.
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The "Human-in-the-Loop" Framework: Master oversight. Ensure workflows where AI handles the data, while humans provide the empathy, ethics, and final judgment.
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Responsible AI Management: Build your "Rules of Engagement." Ensure team-wide standards for data privacy, bias-checking, and brand consistency.
How it works:
Over 7 weeks, you’ll get:
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Weekly live online or in-person sessions that are practical, focused, and immediately applicable.
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Canada-specific case studies and cohort discussions based on real challenges from ACTUAL non-profit leaders.
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Eye-opening exercises and frameworks that you can apply immediately to your work.
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Spotlights on issues from expert guest instructors.
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Small cohorts (12 or fewer) with other nonprofit workers. Bring your questions and real-world experiences—we love learning from each other!
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Presentation slides, weekly reading lists, and a library of supplementary material.
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Access to our alumni community in a private LinkedIn group where you can connect with other cohorts, see our job board, and get details about upcoming industry networking events and news.
Is it for me?
In nonprofits, where stakes are high and margins are tight, gaps in leadership skills don’t just slow you down. They can lead to real risks:
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Reputational damage
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Burnout
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Broken trust
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Financial losses
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Staff turnover
And while directors may care, they don’t always have the time to train or explain. That’s why the Virage Foundations course doesn’t offer random “tips.”
Every session is built to prepare you for the real-world challenges. We cover:
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How to decode the nonprofit world including governance, boards, and your real place in the mission
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How to connect your day-to-day work to big-picture strategy, vision, and impact
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How to make sense of nonprofit budgets, funding realities, and what success really looks like
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How to lead with clarity, even if you’re not “the boss”—from team trust to giving great feedback
your
instructor
Meet
Marie-Eve Levert
Having stepped into a leadership role early in her career, Marie-Eve recognized the gaps in support available to middle managers. Marie-Eve designed the Virage curriculum to provide the practical guidance and community she wished she had when starting her own management journey.
FAQs
"I created this course to equip new and junior managers—sandwiched between strategy and frontline—with the skills to be the strong link their organizations need. Virage provides all the necessary tools to anyone new to a leadership role to shift from being reactive to proactive."
Marie-Eve Levert
Founder, Virage and Organic Strategy