The Standards for Excellence program is an initiative dedicated to strenghening management and governance in nonprofit organizations.  The centerpiece for the program is a code of conduct for well managed, responsibibly governed nonprofits called the Standards for Excellence: An Ethics and Accountability Code for the Nonprofit Sector. The Standards program is designed to promote excellence and integrity in nonprofit management and to strengthen the public's trust in nonprofit organizations.

During this FREE introductory session you will learn how to use the Standards to assess and improve your organization's mission, governance, financial systems, personnel practices, fundraising and more. CDP staff will also discuss the upcoming Standards Clinic series and scholarship opportunities for organizations in ARC counties to participate in the Standards for Excellence training. Click  here to see slides from the Introductory session.

Standards for Excellence Clinic Series

The Clinic series will cover all of the eight major topic areas in the Standards for Excellence in detail.  These sessions are designed to help you learn how to use the Standards to assess and improve your organization's mission, governance, financial systems, personnel practices, fundraising, legal and compliance issues, conflicts of interest  and public policy and public affairs.

 

The sessions are designed for approximately 10-12 organizations who learn from each other over the series of three workshops that take place over a 6 week time frame.  A facilitated peer to peer exchange follows each topic overview.  Organizations are encouraged to send one representative who will attend all 3 full day sessions and one other member of the organization to each of the sessions depending upon their area of need or expertise.  Each organization may have up to two people at each session.  Because of the amount of “homework” that the organization must prepare prior to each session, the Clinic series will be held every two weeks in order to permit the organization time to utilize the training and prepare materials for the next session.  Organizations who participate in the training series will have many of the tools they need to meet the  National Standards upon completion.

 

Check the CDP training calendar for dates of all sessions.