CNP study plan

Map the five exam domains against your current knowledge and rate your confidence in each governance subtopic on a 1–5 scale

Define the board's fiduciary duties (care, loyalty, obedience) and give one nonprofit scenario illustrating a breach of each

Distinguish governance from management by listing which decisions belong to the board and which belong to the executive director

Compare three board structures (officer-led, committee-heavy, policy governance) and note one strength and one risk of each

Draft a board recruitment and orientation checklist covering skills matrix, term limits, and conflict-of-interest disclosure

Explain the difference between a conflict of interest and an appearance of conflict, and describe the recusal process step by step

Identify the core legal documents every nonprofit board should maintain and state why each matters

Summarize the whistleblower and document-retention policy elements expected under nonprofit accountability standards

Build a case-for-support outline that links mission, need, program evidence, and ask amount for one fictional program

Compare annual giving, major gifts, planned giving, and institutional grants on cost per dollar raised and time horizon

Design a donor cultivation cycle (identify, qualify, cultivate, solicit, steward) with one concrete action per stage

Calculate donor retention rate and average gift from a sample donor file and interpret what the results imply for strategy

Draft a grant proposal budget narrative that ties every line item to a program activity and an outcome measure

Explain gift acceptance policy decisions for restricted gifts, in-kind donations, and gifts with unusual conditions

Reconcile a sample pledge schedule to projected cash receipts and flag timing risks

Describe the ethical boundaries around donor influence, quid pro quo gifts, and acknowledgment requirements

Read a sample statement of financial position and statement of activities and compute the current ratio, program expense ratio, and operating reserve in months

Distinguish unrestricted, temporarily restricted, and permanently restricted net assets and classify five sample transactions

Explain the purpose and limits of an independent audit, a financial review, and a compilation

Identify internal controls that prevent misappropriation in cash handling, purchasing, and payroll

Build a program budget that separates direct costs from allocated indirect costs and justify the allocation method

Draft a logic model (inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes, impact) for one program and test each link for plausibility

Select two outcome measures and define their data source, collection frequency, and target

Explain how variance analysis between budget and actuals should trigger a board-level conversation

Design an evaluation plan that combines process and outcome measures and states how findings will be used

Write three survey or interview questions that avoid leading language and explain how you would pilot them

Summarize the reporting obligations tied to restricted grants and the consequences of failing to meet them

Describe how to communicate evaluation results honestly, including negative findings, to donors and the community

Complete a timed 100-question mixed practice set and score each domain separately

Review every missed item and write a one-sentence rule or concept for each error

Re-rate confidence per domain and compare against your week-1 self-assessment

Build a final-week review sheet of the ten concepts you are least confident about