Development 101, fully funded.
Development 101 is an approved course in the Massachusetts Workforce Training Fund Express Program. If your nonprofit has 100 or fewer employees, the Commonwealth will reimburse up to 100% of your team's tuition after the course. You have been paying into this fund with every unemployment insurance payment. This is how you get it back.
of tuition reimbursable for eligible organizations
live, instructor-led hours across eight sessions
net cost once your reimbursement arrives
Eight Sessions.
For the organization ready to formalize its fundraising: eight sessions that turn scattered good instincts into a professional development function, with a system your whole team shares.
Eight live, instructor-led 90-minute sessions: two a week for four weeks (course C-16203), or one a week for eight weeks (course C-16230, pending approval). Your team learns each framework on realistic composite nonprofits, practices asks with standardized donor personas, and leaves with a take-home workbook for building your own case, calendar, and plan.
Foundations of Development
Philosophy, language, and the case for support.
The Donor Continuum
The five-stage relationship cycle behind every gift.
Prospect Research & Identification
Find who is ready and able to give more.
Cultivation & Moves Management
Deepen relationships on purpose, not by accident.
Solicit with Confidence
Ask with confidence, never apology.
Stewardship & Donor Retention
Keep donors, and grow them, for the long term.
Annual Fund & Individual Giving
A sustainable, repeatable base of individual giving.
Major Gifts: High-Capacity Donor Strategy
Cultivate and close transformational gifts.
Who should attend: W-2 employees of your organization who share responsibility for raising support: executive directors, development staff, program managers, administrative staff who touch gifts, or staff members hoping to grow into a development function. Board members may attend too; they would pay for their own seats, since the grant covers employees only.
Priced to be fully covered.
Tuition is $3,000 per person: 12 instructional hours at $250 per hour. The Express Program reimburses up to $3,000 per person per course, so an eligible organization gets the whole thing back.
The annual cap is $15,000 per organization, enough to send five people in a calendar year. We do not invoice until your award is approved. Then you pay tuition, your team completes the course, and you submit one reimbursement form. We hand you everything that form needs.
Four boxes to check.
Most Massachusetts nonprofits with fewer than 100 people qualify without doing anything special. Not sure about the third box? Ask us, and we will show you how to check it in about five minutes.
1. You are a Massachusetts employer with a physical location here
An office, a program site, a warehouse; owned or leased, either is fine. Nonprofits absolutely count. Most of our Express cohorts are nonprofits.
2. You have 100 or fewer employees
Counted as people on your Massachusetts payroll, full and part time.
3. You contribute to the Workforce Training Fund
This is the box worth checking first. Nonprofits get to choose how they finance unemployment insurance: if you chose the contributory method, you pay into this fund with every payroll and you are eligible. If you chose the reimbursable method, you never paid in and cannot draw from it. Your DUA Certificate of Compliance answers it in one line, and we will send you the exact clicks to find it.
4. Your participants are W-2 employees
The grant funds training for your staff. Contractors and board members are not eligible participants.
Seven steps, and we walk them with you.
The application is short, and we prepare the course details, the numbers, and a step-by-step guide with screenshots. Most organizations finish it in under an hour.
Confirm eligibility
Five minutes on the state's unemployment services site confirms your organization contributes to the fund. We send the exact click path.
Pick your cohort
Choose a start date with us at least four weeks out, so your application lands comfortably ahead of the deadline.
Create your account
Register your organization on the Express Program's online portal. One form, once.
Apply at least 21 days before day one
The 21-day rule is firm. Your application names the course exactly as listed: Development 101 - Nonprofit Fundraising Fundamentals, course number C-16203 (or C-16230 for the weekly schedule, once approved). We give you every field, ready to paste.
Sign the grant agreement
When your award is approved, the Commonwealth sends an agreement to sign electronically before training begins.
Take the course
Eight sessions, over four weeks or eight, whichever schedule you picked. Your team shows up; we handle the rest.
Get reimbursed
Within 30 days of your last session, you submit the reimbursement form with the invoice and course record we provide. The Commonwealth pays you back directly.
Asked and answered.
Is Nonprofit Fundraising Fundamentals the same as your tailored Development 101?
Same curriculum, same instructor, same frameworks. Nonprofit Fundraising Fundamentals is the standardized eight-session arc of Development 101, which is what qualifies it for the grant: every cohort works the same composite cases and practice materials, and your team applies each framework to your own organization through short guided exercises and the take-home workbook. If you want an engagement built around your organization from day one, that is our tailored version.
What if we're not sure we pay into the fund?
If you pay standard unemployment insurance contributions, you almost certainly do; it is the default for Massachusetts employers. We will send you the five-minute check before you apply, so there are no surprises.
Can our board members join?
Yes, board members may attend. The grant covers W-2 employees only, so a board member's seat is paid rather than reimbursed. Boards are wonderful fundraisers, and board training is also one of the first things we build into a tailored engagement.
What if we miss the 21-day window?
You join the next cohort. We run them on a rolling basis, so the wait is short, and we would rather you have the funding than rush the date.
Where is your team trying to go?
Start with a free conversation. No pitch, no binder. We will check your eligibility together and, if it fits, pick a cohort date and get your application moving.
Ask the Turtle LLC is an approved training provider in the Massachusetts Workforce Training Fund Express Program, administered by Commonwealth Corporation. Reimbursement decisions rest with the program, and we help you put your best application in.