Courses |

Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity landscape

Nonprofits face 1,600+ cyberattacks weekly, yet 35% of leaders feel unprepared. This course demystifies cybersecurity, teaching you to identify risks, understand essential defenses, and recognize when incidents occur—all in plain language designed for resource-constrained organizations. You'll leave with a clear understanding of the cybersecurity landscape and practical first steps to better protect donor data and secure client information.

Your organization's valuable data—donor financial information, client records, program details—makes you an attractive target for cybercriminals who exploit trust and limited security resources. Through accessible threat modeling exercises, you'll learn to identify your specific vulnerabilities, understand how attacks happen through phishing and social engineering, and discover which security measures provide the best protection for your time and resources. We'll introduce essential controls like multi-factor authentication, password management, and data protection strategies.

This foundational course helps you understand what cybersecurity measures your organization needs and why they matter. You'll learn what to do if you suspect a security incident ("I clicked—now what?") and gain awareness of how to foster security-conscious behaviors across your team. This course benefits anyone seeking to understand organizational cyber risks: staff handling technology or sensitive information, executive directors, board members with oversight duties, and team leaders who need cybersecurity literacy.

Learning objectives

Threat awareness

Learn how cyber attacks happen, who targets nonprofits and how, and recognize common tactics like phishing and social engineering.

Security foundations

Build awareness of cybersecurity frameworks and understand the layers of defense that work together to protect your organization.

Risk assessment and controls

Identify and prioritize your organization's cybersecurity risks using threat modeling, then understand which foundational security measures—like multi-factor authentication and password management—provide the best protection for your resources.

Curriculum outline

• Why cybersecurity matters for nonprofit organizations
• How attacks happen—threats and adversaries
• Understanding your risks
• Layers of defense that work
• Next steps—building a security-aware organization

Anticipated time to complete

NTEN courses typically require about 60 minutes of video content to complete, while optional content varies by course.