Cohort (Professional Development) Grants

Understanding that highly-engaged people are the key to effective organizations, The Forbes Funds supports training and education for Pittsburgh-area nonprofit personnel. Through a mix of financial assistance, curricula planning, and program design, The Forbes Funds links training programs with applied research and other knowledge-building efforts.

Following an analysis of education needs in Pittsburgh’s nonprofit sector, The Forbes Funds adopted a “cohort” strategy for its professional development grantmaking. In this context, a cohort is a group of nonprofit executives, staff, trustees, and/or volunteers who have in common certain educational needs and objectives. A cohort may come from a single agency but more frequently will include representatives from multiple agencies. For example, The Forbes Funds provided multi-year support to the Urban League of Pittsburgh and Duquesne University’s Nonprofit Leadership Institute to prepare and match young African American professionals to local nonprofit boards. By further example, The Forbes Funds has provided scholarships for outstanding local executives to attend educational programs at Harvard Business School and Stanford University. The Forbes Funds has also awarded cohort grants to support, among other things, advocacy training, evaluation strategies, executive coaching, neighborhood leadership training, and planning for individual donor campaigns.

Our Cohort Grant Guidelines ( PDF 58K ) provide information about application procedures.