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CAP®Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy®3 Courses: 3 Required / 0 Elective |
Specialized Training in Philanthropy
Become a Trusted Philanthropic Advisor to Donors and Clients
The Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy® (CAP®) provides you with the knowledge and skills needed to help clients and donors achieve their highest aspirations for self, family, and society. This credential helps to:
- Position you as a confidante to clients and donors as they plan for a better life in a better world.
- Integrate gift planning with estate planning, business succession planning, and investment advisory services.
- Integrate gift planning with a nonprofit's major gift
and planned gift programs. - Emerge in your community as a leader whose legacy — via clients and donors — will live for generations
These are graduate-level courses, and, in the process, you can earn credit toward a Master of Science in Financial Services degree.
The CAP® program is designed for self-study, leading to an objective exam in a local exam center. All courses include pre-recorded lectures in which the professor who created the course, Phil Cubeta, guides you through the material step by step. It is like having your own private tutor. And, you can review these lectures at your convenience, any time day or night.
Why Choose the CAP® Program
The Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy® (CAP®) is designed to bring advisors and nonprofit gift planners together with a common body of knowledge and a common credential to better serve the highest capacity donors and clients. By helping our donors and clients achieve their highest aspirations, including their vision of a better world, CAPs uplift the communities in which they participate. These are graduate-level courses, and you can earn credit toward a Master of Science in Financial Services degree.
The CAP® program consists of three courses. Each is designed for self-study, leading to an objective exam in a local exam center. In addition, weekly webinars are offered to bring CAP®students into conversation with each other about how the material can be used to help clients, donors, and our communities.
The program is offered at the graduate level, and is part of The American College’s Masters of Science in Financial Services program. (Any two CAP®courses can be counted as electives towards the MSFS degree). However, the courses are carefully written so that those coming to the program from fundraising or grant-making backgrounds do not need any prior credentials or training in tax or finance. Instead, you will bring the skills and passion that add your unique contribution to the mix. Advisors will learn from you, just as you learn from them, as you interact in the online conversation. For advisors, the courses provide an insight into the process of philanthropic planning, including but not limited to, tax, tools and techniques.
- Put your ideals to work
- Leverage your "heart" for giving by learning a process that subordinates estate planning and financial planning to meaning, purpose, and positive social impact
- Acquire a seat at the planning table when clients or donors make their legacy plans and their ultimate gift
- Become the sought-after trusted advisor of your community's highest capacity donors and clients
- Serve as the "link" between the client's or donor's aspirations and their technical planning team
Over 500 professionals from many disciplines have taken CAP®. The interdisciplinary diversity of our group is intentional. We are a growing network across the professions to help bring our respective “bodies of knowledge” into a practical synthesis for the benefit of those we serve. These professionals include:
- Attorneys
- CPAs
- Development officers
- Planned giving officers
- Financial planners/wealth advisors
- Insurance professionals
- Philanthropic advisors in family offices
- Philanthropic advisors working with wealthy families on strategic grant-making
CAP® in the News:
Article of Interest:
Click to read "The Secret of Giving Well in the Financial Crisis."
New Wallace Endowed Chair in Philanthropy:
Philip Cubeta, CLU®, ChFC®, MSFS, CAP®Click here to read his bio.
CAP® Curriculum
Course Name
Course #
Required
Focuses on how clients and donors can use financial planning, estate planning, and gift planning to advance their personal financial goals while also having a positive impact on their heirs and on their community.
Focuses on the tools and techniques of charitable planning in a financial, tax, and legal context.
Focuses on what nonprofits call “planned giving.” The course is designed to help board leaders, advisors and nonprofits collaborate to create, count, and steward significant gifts.
CAP® courses have been approved by The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University for credit in their graduate degree requirements.
CAP® Course Policies:
To apply for the CAP® designation, you must certify in writing that, for at least three of the five years immediately preceding this application, you have been:
- Actively involved in advising individuals or charitable organizations in any of the following areas: wealth and estate planning, financial planning, charitable planning, charitable giving, planned giving, nonprofit or foundation management or services, investment management of charitable trusts, funds or endowments, or accounting for nonprofit organizations as part of your regular practice or employment OR
- Employed in the nonprofit sector in a capacity related to nonprofit management, development, planned giving, or fundraising.
In applying for the CAP® designation, you also must subscribe to ethical standards, embodied by The American College Code of Ethics and Procedures (which includes the Professional Pledge and eight Canons) and additional ethical codes.
In addition to complying with these standards, you also must certify in writing that you meet professional codes, canons of ethics, or standards of practice of licenses or professional designations already earned AND have adopted at least one of the following codes of ethics or standards of practice applicable to fundraisers and charitable planners:
- The Code of Ethical Principles and Standards of Professional Practice of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP)
- The Model Standards of Practice for the Charitable Gift Planner adopted by the National Committee on Planned Giving (NCPG) and The American Council on Gift Annuities (ACGA).
You must also subscribe in writing to the provisions of The Donor Bill of Rights originally promulgated by The American Association of Fundraising Counsel (AAFRC), the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy (AHP), the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), and the AFP. Copies of these standards are provided to applicants as part of the application process.
As a CAP® designee, you are required to meet continuing education (CE) requirements every two years, beginning with the period after you earned the designation. The PACE Recertification Program administers the CAP® CE requirements. For each two-year period, you must earn at least 15 CE credits for continuing education within the areas of charitable giving, charitable planning, planned giving, nonprofit management, or any other area directly related to the field of philanthropy, through programs offered or approved by The American College.
You will be required to file a signed statement of compliance with this requirement and should be ready to verify credits independently upon request. (If you earned all 15 CE credits through The American College, you do not have to sign and file a statement of compliance. The College will record CE credits you earned at The College and notify you when you have met the requirements.)
All requests for refunds must be made in writing to the Office of Professional Education, The American College, 270 S. Bryn Mawr Ave., Bryn Mawr, PA 19010. We will refund your course tuition less a $165 cancellation fee for 30 days into the quarter for which you are registered. Textbooks do not need to be returned and no refund will be given for these textbooks.
Register Today
Online: Click Here to Begin
PDF: Mail or Fax a PDF Application
Phone: 888-263-7265
Hours: M–F 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. ET
Tuition & Fees
Tuition: $1,185 (per course)
Admission Fee: $140*
Shipping: $25 (per course)
Your tuition includes all required study materials, access to convenient online learning tools, and your examination. Supplementary study materials are also available for an additional cost.
*One-time, nonrefundable fee for new enrollees at The College.
The 5-Year Rule
In order to facilitate timely completion of a student's designation and as part of The College's pledge to offer the most up-to-date material and course offerings, all courses are subject to the 5 Year Rule.
Click here more information.
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Call: 610-526-1395
(M–F 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. ET)
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