Nonprofit Cybersecurity Readiness is a three-month learning program designed to significantly advance the functional security of nonprofits while building cybersecurity leadership, management, and confidence for nonprofit staff. The 3-month, fully-funded, closed-cohort program works with 20 organizations per cohort to provide peer engagement and professional development as a group alongside individualized security assessments, priority planning, and service implementation.
Evolved from NTEN’s Nonprofit Tech Readiness program—which has served 1,500+ organizations since 2010—Nonprofit Cybersecurity Readiness builds on a proven model with consistently high results, including a 98% net promoter score.
Why this matters
Cybersecurity is nonprofits’ weakest tech area.
For 20 years, NTEN has tracked how nonprofits use technology. In our Tech Accelerate assessments, security consistently ranks lowest across organizations of all sizes and missions. Weak security isn’t just an internal risk—it can expose sensitive community data, disrupt services, and erode trust.
The threat landscape is escalating.
Nonprofits, especially those serving marginalized communities—such as LGBTQ+ groups, immigrant rights organizations, reproductive justice advocates, and racial justice movements—are increasingly targeted. Threats include government surveillance, politically motivated cyberattacks, doxxing, and subpoenas demanding sensitive beneficiary data. Civil society cannot thrive if organizations fear their clients’ data will be compromised, their staff doxed, or their communications intercepted.
The Nonprofit Cybersecurity Readiness program supports organizations facing immediate privacy concerns while building capacity for long-term protection.
“This program has impacted how I approach training, risk assessment, and technology integration. It provided insights that directly shaped our Technology Roadmap. The Cybersecurity Assessment and Planning workshop, in particular, highlighted the vulnerability of our physical server. This motivated our move of our accounting and HR documents to cloud-based software, effectively transferring some of the burden of security to external, more specialized IT departments.” – past NTR participant.
Cohort highlights
Certification pathway
You have the option to extend your training and earn a professional development milestone – an NTEN professional certificate.
Learn more about certificates
Tailored learning
Participate in a structured, three-month curriculum through the NTEN Training Center – designed for nonprofit contexts - and speak to expert advisors onboard.
Topics you could cover
- Building your security mindset
- Understanding the cybersecurity landscape
- Foundational security: accounts, devices & malware
- Staying safe online: browsing, social media & online harassment
- Building a culture of security
- Secure messaging & communications
- Secure data storage
- Introduction to data minimization
- Incident response planning
- Physical security, travel security
Questions?
Ask our Chief Program Officer, Ash Shepherd, any questions you have about this opportunity.
Apply
Eligibility
• Global applicants
• U.S. based applicants
This program is ideal for professionals working in nonprofits interested in advancing or implementing security and privacy initiatives in their nonprofit. Applicants may hold any role or title. Board members or volunteers are not eligible.
Timeline
• Application deadline: August 26
• Notifications sent: August 28
• Program start date: September 8
Applications are accepted year-round. If you miss the current deadline, you can apply anytime to be considered for future cohorts. We’ll notify you when spots open and confirm if you’re selected.
