Postgraduate Diploma Leadership Development: NPO | PGDip Course Skip to main content

Help to professionalise the social sector by acquiring leadership skills: Stellenbosch Business School’s Postgraduate Diploma Leadership Development for NPOs will equip you with the leadership skills to help professionalise the social sector. This PGDip taps into the Business School’s vast leadership expertise, enabling you to learn how to lead yourself, others and your organisation in ways that are ethical, responsible and sustainable.

Strengthen your NPO’s performance: All over the world, research confirms that it is the right kind of leadership that makes a difference in organisational performance. This also applies to organisations in the social sector. This programme acknowledges responsible leadership as the prime differentiator that drives sustainable performance, and impact. That is why it focuses on the development of personal leadership, team leadership, organisational leadership and societal leadership.

Make an impact by consciously developing your leadership skills: Most people ‘slide into leadership’ without being fully prepared for this. Discovering and growing your leadership skills over the period of one year will give you the grounding you need to confidently lead your NPO to fulfil its social purpose.

Invest in your career path: This qualification will serve you well if you want to acquire leadership skills without doing a comprehensive degree like an MBA. At the same time, should you wish to grow your skills set, this PGDip can give you access to a Master’s degree because it is presented at NQF level 8, the equivalent of an Honours degree.

Study while you work: The study format allows for dedicated, focused block weeks to immerse in the learning experience. In-between the blocks, learning is continuously reflected upon and applied in the context of your work environment.

Postgraduate Diploma

Postgraduate Diploma Leadership Development for NPOs


Applications: Closed
Start Date:
Application Closing: 19 January 2024
Fees:
R109 640 (2024)
Duration:
1 Year
Apply Now

Blended

Dates for 2024

  • Block 1: 12 – 17 February (on campus)
  • Block 2: 15 - 20 April (remote)*
  • Block 3: 3 – 8 June (on campus)
  • Block 4: 12 – 17 August (remote)*
  • Block 5. 21 – 26 October (on campus)

 

  • 3 blocks on-campus and 2 remote blocks, plus
  • A number of online masterclasses

*Remote classes from 08:00-18:15 daily for blocks 2 and 4.

Key purpose

Shifting from manager to responsible leader who can:

  • Lead as a resilient, resourceful and confident person
  • Enhance your ability to build organisational capacity
  • Create public value and social impact
  • Ensure social return on investment
  • Benefit from network knowledge and peer learning skills

What you need to apply

  • A relevant Bachelor’s degree, Higher National Diploma or Recognition of Prior Learning
  • Proven relevant working experience of five to seven years
  • Application fee
  • Certified copies of your academic records
  • Certified copies of your degree certificates
  • Copy of your ID/Passport
  • Copy of your CV
  • Verification consent form

Duration of Course

Duration

3 on-campus and 2 remote block weeks spread over 1 year

Formats of Course

Drive performance

Research shows leadership is the key driver of sustainable high performance in both the for-profit and social sectors

How to apply

Language of tuition

English

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Gateway to Master’s degree

This PGDip can give you access to a Master’s degree because it is presented at NQF level 8 (same as Honours degree)

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2023 application deadlines

South African applicants: 19 January 2024

SADC + rest of world applicants: 19 January 2024

Recognition of Prior Learning applicants: Closed

Course Structure and Content

Learn how to lead value creation in society

All over the world, research confirms that it is the right kind of leadership that makes a difference in organisational performance. This applies to organisations in the for-profit as well as social sector. This Postgraduate Diploma Leadership Development for NPOs acknowledges responsible leadership as the prime differentiator that drives sustainable performance, and impact. Using the framework of Me, We, Work and World, it focuses on the development of personal leadership, team leadership, organisational leadership and societal leadership to strengthen your capability to grow as leader.

This programme is aimed at those who want to lead non-profit organisations (NPOs) towards fulfilling their social purpose. The programme taps into the Business School’s legacy of transformative leadership learning where you will learn how to lead yourself, others and your organisation in ways that can be described at ethical, responsible and sustainable. The programme pays special attention to the unique demands of leading in the face of complex social and environmental issues guided by a clear strategy, maintaining integrity and quality, and practising accountability to all stakeholders.

An investment in this programme as an individual, organisation or donor to an NPO is an investment in the development of resilient, resourceful and confident leadership. It is an investment in social impact as NPOs have become our channels for services and support to the causes that we are passionate about. In NPOs we find people from all walks of life working together to take care of the most marginalised in society, to preserve endangered plants, animals and ecosystems, and to fight against corruption, human rights abuses and climate change impact.

If leadership in an NPO context resonates with you then consider enhancing your leadership skills through participating in this PGDip Leadership Development for NPOs.

Programme format

This PGDip is delivered via five on-campus blocks and a number of online masterclasses. The blocks are spread over the course of one year, and run from Monday to Saturday from 08:00 to 18:15. The five on-campus classes are presented at our campus in the Tyger Valley business district in Northern Cape Town. In-between these blocks, students attend online masterclasses. The two-hour masterclasses are presented on Monday afternoons from 16:00 to 18:00. Students need to select six of the eight masterclasses offered.

This format allows you to start applying your newly acquired skills in your workplace right from the start while receiving support throughout your studies.

This one-year programme is presented at NQF level 8, the equivalent of an Honours degree.

  • NPO leaders and managers who want to improve their personal leadership competencies
  • Career changers who are in the process of leaving the corporate or government sphere in exchange for a leadership role in the social sector
  • Members of NPO boards who want to improve their understanding of NPOs and their role in society, and who want to ensure that they are sufficiently capacitated and well governed
  • People working at foundations and who have oversight responsibilities over funded NPOs
  • Corporate social investment managers in companies or corporate foundations with a responsibility to work with NPOs
  • People with an interest in establishing a social sector organisation.

Modules

You need to complete seven modules. Students enrolled for the PGDip Leadership Development for NPOs will follow Modules 1, 2, 3 and 7 together with students enrolled on the Generalist PGDip Leadership Development. For Modules 4, 5 and 6, the NPO students will follow these NPO-focused modules:

Personal Authentic Leadership: This module is about leveraging the strengths and development opportunities of the leader in relation so self, others and the context.

High-Impact Leadership and Teaming: In this module the focus is on leadership in relation to team composition, dynamics and development.

Leading High-performance Organisational Culture: This module deals with leadership in relation to organisational culture, change and performance.

Leading Strategy in NPOs: This module covers strategic leadership in non-profit organisations through civic-driven processes that add public value to society.

Quality and Integrity in NPOs: This module covers the leadership role in NPOs in relation to quality and integrity management frameworks and practices.

Management Control in NPOs: This module is about understanding the leadership implications of developing a suitable management control system for NPOs in a specific context: combining goal setting, processes, and financial and non-financial data into a performance and accountability model.

Integrated Personal Leadership Development: In this module students develop the competencies of the leader-as-a-learner by mastering a range of adult learning processes.

Electives

Electives are confirmed at the beginning of the year. You need to complete one elective. These are examples of electives presented in the past:

  • Negotiation and Conflict Management: This elective offers comprehensive knowledge and understanding of conflict theory to analyse the origins and manifestations of conflict and conflict behaviour.
  • Advanced Technology Leadership: This elective enables participants to analyse and describe developments in advanced technologies and their impact on people, relationships, leadership and the organisation.
  • Leadership and Coaching: This elective is about mastering and applying a range of skills required to coach others, specifically reflective listening, non-directive dialogue, and providing coachees with the capacity to create a personal development programme.

Stellenbosch Business School provides additional access to its programmes through its Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) process, as recommended by the Council on Higher Education (CHE). The purpose of the Council on Higher Education’s policy on Recognition of Prior Learning is to develop and facilitate the implementation of RPL across the higher education sector and to base this on the principles of equity, access, inclusivity and redress of past unfair discrimination with regard to educational opportunities.

In line with the requirements of the Council on Higher Education, the Business School may admit up to 10% of its student body per programme under RPL.

Candidates who wish to be admitted under the RPL policy will firstly have to submit all the documentation as required for all prospective students. In addition, prospective students applying for this PGDip need to adhere to the following:

  • Have at least an NQF 4 qualification.
  • Have at least 10 years of working experience after obtaining a school leaving certificate, of which at least 5 years s
  • Should have been in a management or related professional position.
  • Submit a comprehensive CV, indicating detailed areas of responsibility as well as information of activities outside the work environment.
  • Provide the Business School with the names and contact details of at least two persons who can testify about the candidate’s managerial or related professional abilities (typically current or former line heads). These persons will be required to give a detailed personal reference about the candidate on forms provided by Stellenbosch Business School.

The RPL selection process entails the following:

  • The Business School’s Admissions Committee (programme head and another academic) will conduct an in-depth interview with the candidate and make a recommendation about admission.
  • The Admissions Committee will consider the full application including the interview recommendation and the inputs received from the references for admission.
  • A notice of admission is sent via the Business School’s Academic Planning Committee to the Board of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences at Stellenbosch University.
  • RPL candidates need to apply by 31 October of each year to allow sufficient time for the assessment process.
  • Note that the learning acknowledged in terms of RPL cannot also be used to grant exemption of credits within the same programme.
This programme is for those who want to improve their understanding of what it takes
to lead NPOs towards fulfilling their social purpose.

Programme Fees

Application fee for 2024

Application fee (non-refundable; applicable to all students):
R850

Tuition fees for 2024

South African
2024
Total
Provisional Quote
Deposit payable on acceptance of admission (Included in tuition fees)
R12 000.00
Generate Quote
PGDip Leadership Development- Blended
R109 640.00
Southern African Development Community
2024
Total
Provisional Quote
Deposit payable on acceptance of admission (Included in tuition fees)
R55 703.00
Generate Quote
PGDip Leadership Development- Blended
R111 405.00
Non-Southern African Development Community
2024
Total
Provisional Quote
Deposit payable on acceptance of admission (Included in tuition fees)
R55 703.00
Generate Quote
PGDip Leadership Development- Blended
R111 405.00
Rest of the world
2024
Total
Provisional Quote
Deposit payable on acceptance of admission (Included in tuition fees)
R72 890.00
Generate Quote
PGDip Blended
R145 780.00
Stellenbosch Business School reserves the right to change the fees at any time.

Important:

  • Payment of full programme fees for South African students: Students can pay the full programme fees upon registration, or they can pay 80% of the annual fees by the end of May and the balance of 20% by the end of September.
    Payment schedule (calculated on outstanding fee after deposit payment):
    28 February - 31 May - 20% x 4 months (80%)
    30 June - 20 September - 5% x 4 months (20%)
  • Payment of full programme fees for international students: International admitted students pay 50% of the annual fee as deposit. The remainder is due one month before commencement of the programme. The South African exchange rate favours international students.
  • Deposit: All students pay a deposit on acceptance of admission. South African students must pay a set deposit on admittance. International admitted students pay 50% of the annual fee as deposit. The deposit payable is non-refundable and will be deducted from the total programme fees.
  • Application fee: The application fee must accompany the application. The application fee is non-refundable.
  • Additional fees for international students: International students pay an International Registration Fee (IRF) per academic year. Students from countries other than those in the Southern African Development Community also pay an International Tuition Fee (ITF) (i.e. students from SADC countries are exempt from the ITF).
  • Study materials: Fees include books and study materials.
  • Travel and accommodation: Students are responsible for their own travel and accommodation arrangements and costs.
  • Fee changes: Stellenbosch Business School reserves the right to change the fees at any time.

Please use your Student Number as Reference | Email proof of payment to [email protected] | Quote your student number in all correspondence.

Financing

Capitec’s credit for education solution

Capitec offers credit for education at a discounted rate, which allows prospective students, or their parents or guardians, to apply for a loan of up to R500 000 and pay it back over 84 months.

Applicants must be permanently employed and have a valid SA ID. A provisional quote or admission letter from Stellenbosch Business School is needed to process the credit application. Apply for credit at Capitec’s credit solution through the Business School

Initiation, service fees and T&Cs apply. Capitec Bank is an authorised financial services provider (FSP 46669) and registered credit provider (NCRCP13).

Admission Requirements

Academic qualifications and work experience

  • A relevant Bachelor’s degree, Higher National Diploma or Recognition of Prior Learning
  • Proven relevant working experience of at least 5 years

What if you don’t have the academic qualifications to apply?

You can still apply based on your management experience. You need to submit all the documentation and assessments as required for all prospective students, plus additional requirements as explained under Recognition of Prior Learning elsewhere on this page.

International students

International students require a South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) evaluation certificate to evaluate their degrees according to South African standards. Students need to complete the online application and upload all certificates with their application. The Business School’s International Affairs Office will, as part of the application process, conduct an in-house credential evaluation after you have submitted your application.

Before you start

  • The online application form consists of various sections. In order to progress to the next section, all the information in the current section must be completed and accepted by the information management system.
  • You will be able to complete the form in steps without losing information (i.e. you do not have to complete the application form in one sitting).
  • The application process is the same for South African and international students.
  • International students require a South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) evaluation certificate to evaluate their degrees according to South African standards. The Business School’s International Affairs Office will first handle the credential evaluations of international students free of charge. Students need to complete the online application and upload all certificates with their application. The International Affairs Office will, as part of the application process, conduct an in-house credential evaluation after you have submitted your application. However, should the International Affairs Office be unsure about the status, recognition or accreditation of your qualification, we reserve the right to refer you to SAQA before we consider your application further.
  • Applicants can go back to their applications and check the status of their applications.
  • All degrees undergo a formal vetting process to eliminate fraudulent applications.
  • It is best to use Google Chrome as web browser when completing your application.
  • See Apply for your PGDip Leadership Development in 7 steps

The application process

Click on the APPLY NOW button and complete the online application form by completing each of the required sections. You also need to upload the following supporting documentation:

  • Completed and signed application form
  • Certified copies of all academic records and degree/diploma certificates
  • Detailed CV
  • A copy of your ID (or passport for non-South African students)
  • A marriage certificate (where the applicant’s new surname does not match that on the degree certificates)
  • Consent form to verify your qualifications (please download, complete and upload the form in order for Managed Integrity Evaluation (Pty) Ltd to verify your qualification documents)
  • Signed declaration form

Payment of your application fee can be done online:

  • Bank details: Bank: Standard Bank; Type of account: cheque account; Account name: US Business School; Account number: 073003069; Branch name: Stellenbosch; Branch code: 050610; Beneficiary name: Stellenbosch University; SWIFT code: SBZAZAJJ.
  • Enquiries about payments: Please send an e-mail to [email protected].

What happens next?

Your application can only be assessed by the selection panel if it is accompanied by your completed online application form and all the supporting documents, and if you have paid the application fee. The outcome of the selection process will be made known within 30 days or as soon as possible thereafter. If you are uncertain whether your application is complete and is being processed, contact [email protected] for assistance.

Deadlines for PGDip Leadership Development for NPOs applications: 

  • 20 January for applicants from South Africa
  • 20 January for applicants from visa-exempt SADC countries, and the rest of the world
  • 31 October for Recognition of Prior Learning applicants.

Also note the following:

  • Deadlines for RPL applicants: Note that application deadlines for Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) applicants are earlier than those for South African students.
  • Study permits for international students: Obtaining a study permit (study visa) from the South African authorities can take up to 12 weeks from the date of being offered a place on a programme at the Business School. An early start with the application process is therefore recommended.

Multiple-entry visas: Students from non-SADC African countries and other countries with visa requirements who need to apply for study visas can obtain a letter from Stellenbosch Business School confirming the duration of registration at the Business School. This will help students to obtain multiple-entry study visas in case of modular studies

Study visa requirements for international students

All residential students who are non-South African citizens and are studying at Stellenbosch Business School require a study visa. Prospective students should contact their nearest South African Mission (South African Embassy, Consulate or High Commission), normally in their country of origin, to enquire about the requirements for study visas for South Africa. Applicants are required to present themselves in person so that biometric data may be captured. All international students can contact the Business School’s International Affairs Office at [email protected] for assistance. All international students must hold a valid visa for their intended activity prior to entering South Africa.

Notes on obtaining a study visa

  • Obtaining a study visa from the South African authorities takes approximately 12 to 16 weeks from the date of application. However, some missions may process applications sooner. Sufficient time should be allowed for study visa applications to be processed.
  • Your study visa application should include a copy of the letter offering a place on the Business School’s study programme. This letter will be provided by our Academic Administration once the application has been approved. A place on the programme must be confirmed before a study visa application can be considered by the South African Department of Home Affairs. Students should not proceed to Stellenbosch University or its Business School without a valid study visa.
  • Although applicants are expected to determine exactly what they require to apply for a study visa, they can be expected to provide the following, among others: a police clearance certificate, proof of medical insurance recognised in South Africa, a radiology report, proof of sufficient funds, and an admission letter from Stellenbosch Business School. Your nearest South African Mission will be able to advise in this regard. The onus falls on the student to make sure that he/she submits a complete application pack.
  • All documents should be certified and translated into English before submission (in order not to delay the outcome of the application).

Contact Us

Please contact us if you need more information on this programme or the application process:

Programme enquiries and support with the applications process
Henry Booysen
Telephone : +27 (0) 21 918 4243
Email: [email protected]

Admission and registration enquiries
Joanne Sleigh
Telephone: +27 (0) 21 918 4239
Email: [email protected]

Contact Us

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Frequently Asked Questions

You may know how to manage well. But to lead, calls for a journey of personal development. That is one of the reasons why this postgraduate degree starts with leadership of the self (me). You cannot lead others (we) if you cannot lead yourself (me). You cannot lead society (world) if you do not know how to get smaller groups or teams to work together (work). It is a daily choice to show up as a leader. This requires a level of consciousness, courage, discipline and strong values. As one PGDip Leadership alumnus said, “Taking this one year to really get to know your own leadership strengths, and where they come from, will bring a sense of clarity and groundedness that nobody will be able to take away from you.”

Most people “slide into leadership” rather than consciously develop leadership competencies. This PGDip Leadership Development for NPOs gives you an opportunity to really “dig deep” to find out what drives you to lead a particular way and what your blind spots are. This leadership development journey can make a significant impact on your way of leading and your company’s performance, brand perception and employee engagement. You will get exposed to the latest thinking on leadership – like neuroleadership, strategic leadership and societal leadership. So, even if you already in a leadership position, this postgraduate degree will provide you with a better underpinning to consciously show up as a leader every day.

blended learning classes (the masterclasses), allowing you to study while you work. This also enables you apply your newly acquired skills in your workplace right from the start. It is better to work consistently and to manage your time well. To keep up and really enrich your experience of the PGDip Leadership Development for NPOs you should be doing between 10 and 12 hours of work a week. Like with all worthwhile things in life, what you put in is what you will get out.

You will qualify to apply for an MBA. However, you still need to meet the additional entrance requirements in order to be accepted for an MBA. You will also qualify to apply for the MPhil Management Leadership Coaching.

Main Campus at Stellenbosch University will be in a position to provide you with more information: http://www0.sun.ac.za/pgstudies/postgraduate-funding-and-support.html

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