The Nonprofit Coordinating Committee of New York (NPCC) today announced a 25 percent jump in applications over last year for the 2014 New York Community Trust Nonprofit Excellence Awards, which recognizes outstanding management practices of nonprofits in New York City, Long Island and Westchester.
A total of 77 qualified applications were submitted, representing a wide range of nonprofit subsectors including human services; arts, culture, and the humanities; education, and youth development. The size of organizations varied as well—about a quarter reported budgets of less than $1 million dollars, with roughly the same at the $10-million-dollar-plus mark.
All applicants receive a 360-degree review with detailed feedback about their organization's management practices. Later this year, three winning organizations—to be selected by a group of 35 nonprofit experts—will receive a total of $60,000 in prize money, along with other noteworthy perks.
Applications came from organizations in all five boroughs and the suburbs. In comparison to last year's numbers, this year drew three times as many applicants from Long Island, and twice as many from Brooklyn and Queens.
"We're extremely pleased with the number and variety of applications we received this year," said Michael Clark, president of the Nonprofit Coordinating Committee. "Every participating organization benefits because of the intensive review they're given. Our selection panel of nonprofit professionals act as consultants, giving applicants the chance to step back and take stock of their strengths and areas that require more attention, and lending guidance in the incredibly difficult task of running an organization."
Now in its eighth year, the Awards program has received more than 630 qualified applications. Since the Awards' inception, 23 organizations have been recognized for management practices such as creating online outcomes tracking systems that make it easy for parents, teachers and community members to track the progress of students, and budgeting for financial stability and future growth while building significant liquid reserves.
Applicants were asked to consider eight key performance areas identified as crucial by nonprofit professionals nationwide: management focus on results; governance structure; financial management; diverse and responsive organizational practices; human resources; information technology practices; communications; and fundraising and resource development.
“There's a direct relationship between helping nonprofits hone their management skills and teaching effective management to the wider nonprofit community" said Lorie Slutsky, president of The New York Community Trust, one of the region’s leading funders of nonprofits. "Raising the bar for these organizations benefits New York’s nonprofit sector as a whole."
In early August, 10 semifinalists will be chosen and invited to submit a second application. Six finalists will be announced in early October and visited by the committee that month. In November, three winning organizations will be honored at an Awards presentation. Winners will receive cash awards of $30,000, $20,000 and $10,000, respectively. They will also be recognized in programming on WNYC, which co-sponsors the program, and receive tuition scholarships for the Programs in Social Enterprise in Executive Education at Columbia Business School.
“This program presents applicants with a terrific opportunity to improve their management, share best practices, and learn from other organizations," said Ronna Brown, president of Philanthropy New York. "Each year I am amazed by the applicants and the process. A lot of effort is put into round one applications and I applaud all those that applied.”
NPCC created the Nonprofit Excellence Awards in 2007, and serves as the program’s tax-exempt manager, in collaboration with The New York Community Trust and Philanthropy New York. Along with co-sponsor WNYC, the program is also supported by The Clark Foundation, Ford Foundation, Google, Taconic Foundation, McGladrey LLP, Fund for the City of New York, and Programs in Social Enterprise in Executive Education at Columbia Business School.
A list of past Award winners is available at http://npexcellence.fcny.org/
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Nonprofit Coordinating Committee of New York (NPCC) is an umbrella organization representing and serving some 1,500 member nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations throughout New York City, Long Island and Westchester. Established in 1984, NPCC informs and connects nonprofit leaders, saves nonprofits money, helps them manage and govern themselves better, and protects and strengthens the nonprofit community’s relations with government. (www.npccny.org)
New York Community Trust
With its donors, The New York Community Trust supports an array of effective nonprofits that help make the City and suburbs vital and secure places to live and work, while building permanent resources for the future. The New York Community Trust ended 2012 with assets of $2.1 billion in more than 2,000 charitable funds, and made grants totaling $137 million. (www.nycommunitytrust.org)
Philanthropy New York is the primary membership organization for private, family, corporate and public foundations based in the tri-state New York area. Its 285 member organizations—including some of the leading private, corporate, family and public grantmaking foundations in the world—recognize that a vibrant and well-managed nonprofit sector is fundamental to healthy communities. Collaborating in the Awards provides Philanthropy New York an important opportunity to celebrate management excellence among our members’ nonprofit partners, learn from their experience, and help build greater capacity in the sector. Philanthropy New York is the principal professional community of philanthropic foundations based in the New York City region with a mission of enhancing the ability of philanthropists to serve the public good. Philanthropy New York members recognize that without extraordinary grantees, there would be no effective grantmaking programs. (www.philanthropynewyork.org)
WNYC is the most listened-to public radio station in the country, reaching over 1.1 million listeners each week. Consisting of FM 93.9, AM 820 and wnyc.org, WNYC aims to inform the public locally and globally on current events, politics, and civic affairs; export New York’s arts and cultural riches to the rest of the world; and, give voice to diverse audiences. WNYC produces signature programs including The Brian Lehrer Show, The Leonard Lopate Show, and Radiolab, among others, and also broadcasts the best offerings from NPR, American Public Media, the British Broadcasting Company (BBC), and Public Radio International. With more than 100,000 members, the station operates as an independent non-profit and has one of the largest membership bases of any institution in the city. (www.wnyc.org)