Our approach to professional development

Team FP

In everything we do at For Purpose, our aim is to support people and organisations with their professional development. Whether it’s delivering training or coaching or facilitating strategy development or preparing information on our website – we always have a focus on learning and capacity building.

The way we approach professional development is flexible and acknowledges that there are many ways that people learn.

As the way people learn changes, we evolve to meet people where they’re at – whether its supporting people online or through working alongside teams on a project inside their organisation.

Over the past 10 years, we’ve delivered 136 courses to 2,776 people. We’ve also worked directly with 82 organisations to support them with strategy, projects or targeted professional development.

For Purpose includes a network of people who have experience working in not-for-profit organisations, acknowledging the many diverse skills needed to be part of a sector that works in so many areas.

Some of the ways that we support organisations professional development are:

• Open face to face training – We hold face-to-face training that is open to anyone working for purpose.
• Open live online training – We hold live online training via Zoom that is open to anyone working for purpose.
• Open semi structured online training – We deliver self-directed online training which includes a combination of videos, readings, online chat and live sessions.
• Coaching – We provide one-on-one coaching, which is becoming increasingly popular. The reason for this is that it is flexible, allows people to share confidential information and is specific to people’s learning needs and existing challenges.
• Communities of practice – We are establishing communities of practice for people who attend courses to enable networking and information sharing.
• Alumni networking and development webinars – We host webinars to connect people who have attended a For Purpose training to enable continued connection and information sharing.
• How-to articles and guides – Our website has a range of articles that provide information on how to engage in advocacy, communications, policy and other key skills for people working in the not-for-profit sector.  
• In house training – We work with organisations to develop tailored and targeted training that is delivered face-to-face or online.
• In house support – We work with organisations to support strategy development and other projects, while also supporting capacity building. Our aim when supporting organisations through consulting is to empower and enable them to continue the work well beyond the engagement.
• Case study modules – We create case study modules based on our experience working across the not-for-profit sector. This usually takes the form of preparing a video on a project (eg. strategy development, communications, advocacy) that is shared as part of a conference, sector event, training or in house session.
• Bite sized training modules – We create bite sized training modules on a range of topics. These are created for our online learning courses, conferences and in-house training.
• Learning navigation – We support people and organisations to develop professional development programs and connect them with effective and impactful training opportunities to support their development.

There are a range of topics that we provide professional development in, including:

• management and leadership
• governance
• project planning
• advocacy
• policy development
• communications
• government relations
• measuring impact
• time management
• media engagement.

We understand that working in not-for-profit organisations can be challenging and making time for professional development is always difficult. This is why we focus on ensuring that our support meets the needs of the people or organisations that we are working with.

Often what you see about our work is just the tip of the iceberg. Reach out if you want to discuss how we can support you and your organisation with professional development.

16 October 2025