Standards for Excellence® Institute partners with Social Venture Partners Dallas to assist nonprofits achieve the highest governance and management standards. August 16, 2023Contact: Amy Coates Madsen, Director, Standards for Excellence InstitutePhone: 443-438-2314   Email: acmadsen@standardsforexcellence.orgBaltimore, MD ̶  The Standards for Excellence® Institute, a nation-wide initiative dedicated to promoting the highest standards of ethics and accountability in nonprofit governance,[…]

Introducing: Standards for Excellence Institute® Licensed Consultants Class of June 2023 Baltimore, MD – July 27, 2023 The Standards for Excellence Institute, an initiative dedicated to promoting the highest standards of nonprofit ethics and accountability, announces the June 2023 class of Licensed Consultants. Through a partnership with the Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organizations, the Institute held an exclusive, comprehensive training, graduating five new licensed professionals[…]

Nonprofit Leaders – it may not feel like it yet, with many days being marked with cooler weather, but spring is here. When the days finally get consistently warm, you’ll want to be outside, attending events and reconnecting with colleagues. So now is the time to get that spring cleaning done!For many of you, spring cleaning involves focusing on the fundamentals of your organization, intentionally dusting off your policies and procedures, checking in on your organization’s health, and putting[…]

Contact: Amy Coates MadsenDirector Standards for Excellence Instituteacmadsen@standardsforexcellence.org Introducing: Standards for Excellence Institute® Licensed Consultants Class of June 2021Baltimore, MD – August 11, 2021 The Standards for Excellence Institute, an initiative designed to help nonprofit organizations operate more ethically and accountably, recently licensed a new group of Licensed Consultants from across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Through a partnership with the[…]

This has certainly been an interesting year, filled with all kinds of challenges and issues that we never thought possible at the start of the year in January 2020.  One thing that I’ve held onto is this idea that the Standards for Excellence Institute would create a series of 52 Tips over each of the 52 Tips in 2020.  With this latest post, I am happy to say that we met this goal.  With the world changing so quickly, it was not difficult to come up with topics of relevance and interest to[…]

During 2020, my family and I have taken some extra time to sit down in our home to watch movies.  One of the movies I enjoyed most in this year was the 2019 movie A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood starring Tom Hanks. I just loved this movie – just as I adored watching Mr. Rogers and his neighborhood as a young girl.  In these times, I find myself reflecting on the quote from Fred Rogers, “when I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the[…]

Contact: Kat LaTourMarketing and Communications Assistant, Standards for Excellence Institute®klatour@standardsforexcellence.orgBaltimore, MD – December 18, 2020 The Standards for Excellence Institute, an initiative designed to help nonprofit organizations operate more ethically and accountably, announces its 2020 Class of Licensed Consultants. Twenty-nine class members hailing from various regions of the country completed the intensive, five-day virtual training seminar and can assist[…]

Last night I sat on my couch with my laptop considering my year-end charitable giving. Where to give this year?  Should I stick with those I gave to last year or give to organizations I haven’t supported in the past? Can I make all of my gifts online? Or will I have to find my checkbook and stamps? Apparently, I am not alone. According to research from the NP Source, 30 % of nonprofit giving occurs in the last month of the year. Wow! That is a bit breathtaking!I was talking with a friend earlier[…]

While I get most of my news directly from the pages of my daily newspaper, I was so saddened to wake up Monday morning to a tweet on my phone from a local television news show sharing the sad news that Senator Paul Sarbanes had passed away. I didn’t know Senator Sarbanes personally, but I had tremendous respect for his work, especially where it intersected with nonprofits. How many times have we uttered the phrase “SOX” or “Sarbanes-Oxley” over the years? More than I can count! In my mind,[…]

I was intrigued by an article in the New York Times last week entitled, “Demand on Nonprofit Groups Rose in the Pandemic, Even as Volunteering Fell.” The article cited a recent study by Fidelity Charitable which found that two-thirds of all volunteers had either decreased or stopped their volunteering because of the pandemic. This is breathtaking to say the least. Certainly, it is not surprising that in the midst of these trying times volunteers are not able to engage in the same way that they[…]