Everything you upload is due Sunday, 11:59 PM, of the week it belongs to. One day, every time, so you only have to remember the week. In-class work is the exception: it’s earned in the room on its own session day.
The 3-3-3 rule: 3 absences · 3 late submissions · each within 3 days, all free and no questions asked. The full rule covers what happens after that. The schedule can change in the event of extenuating circumstances; any change is announced in class and on Canvas.
Weekly rhythm. Each week page lists the readings and ends with a Looking ahead heads-up for heavy work 1–2 weeks out. From Week 3 on, Wednesday closes with an ungraded progress check-in: flag anything going sideways while there’s still time to fix it.
| Wk | Dates | Topic | Due (component · deliverable) |
| | | M0 · What even IS this, and how do we work? | |
| 1 | Aug 24 · 26 | How the course works (Mon); naming the sector and the data-tool tour (Wed) · Review slides | Ungraded look-up warm-up |
| 2 | Aug 31 · Sep 2 | Why Bloomington has so many nonprofits; teams form; the AI-process-log · Review slides | Rail A · A1 On-Ramp (Sun Sep 6) · 5 pts |
| | | M1 · What does the sector do, and how big is it? | |
| 3 | Sep 7 · Sep 9 | Roles & anatomy of the sector; first 3-sector comparison (Wed only, Labor Day) · Review slides | |
| | | M2 · Where did this come from? | |
| 4 | Sep 14 · 16 | Where American giving came from; Tocqueville, Addams & Carnegie; ethics launched · Review slides | Site-visit window opens (Sep 14 – Oct 2) |
| | | M3 · Why do nonprofits exist, and SHOULD they? | |
| 5 | Sep 21 · 23 | Market / contract / government failure; Putnam & social capital · Review slides | |
| 6 | Sep 28 · 30 | Field-notes clinic; theory-of-change studio · Review slides | Rail A · A2 Visit or booking evidence (Sun Oct 4) · 10 pts
Rail B · B1 Concept brief (Sun Oct 4) · 5 pts |
| | | M4 · Where does the money come from & go? | |
| 7 | Oct 5 · 7 | Government–nonprofit relations; funding models · Review slides | |
| 8 | Oct 12 · 14 | The 990 Lab; funding-model sketch studio · Review slides | Rail A · A3 990 comparison (Sun Oct 18) · 15 pts |
| | | M5 · What do nonprofits actually DO? | |
| 9 | Oct 19 · 21 | Subsector tour 1 + NTEE introduction; TA-led NTEE hunt & B2 clinic · Review slides | Rail B · B2 Funding lab, verified comparables + sketch (Sun Oct 25) · 10 pts |
| 10 | Oct 26 · 28 | Program studio & visit debriefs; subsector tour 2 + board studio · Review slides | |
| | | M6 · Who powers it, and why do people give? | |
| 11 | Nov 2 · 4 | Volunteers; volunteering vs activism; giving motivations (TBD) | |
| 12 | Nov 9 · 11 | Final-report clinic; staffing studio (TBD) | Rail A · A4 Final report (Sun Nov 15) · 20 pts |
| | | M7 · Is any of it fair, just & global? | |
| 13 | Nov 16 · 18 | Impact & the limits of measurement; AI in civil society; the live ethics debate (TBD) | Live ethics debate in class (Wed Nov 18, ungraded) |
| 14 | Nov 23 · 25 | No class, Thanksgiving break | |
| 15 | Nov 30 · Dec 2 | Global / INGOs / decolonizing aid; legal & hybrid forms; pitch rehearsal (TBD) | Rail B · B3 Assembled draft (Sun Dec 6) · 10 pts |
| | | M8 · Could YOU run one? | |
| 16 | Dec 7 · 9 | Capstone Showcase: live team pitches, split across both sessions (TBD) | Rail B · B4 Capstone Pitch (Mon Dec 7 or Wed Dec 9) · 10 pts
Rail B · B5 Final plan + appendix + peer evaluations (Sun Dec 13) · 15 pts |
Reading the Due column. Each entry links to its assignment page, where the full spec and rubric live. Bold marks a graded deliverable or a hard fieldwork gate; italic marks something ungraded. Every deliverable also appears in one date-ordered list on the Assignments page.
The term ends Wed Dec 9. There is no finals-week meeting: the Capstone Showcase runs during Week 16, and the last deliverable is due Sun Dec 13. Nothing is scheduled during the Dec 14–18 final-examination period.