The Standards for Excellence Institute® is a national initiative established to promote the highest standards of ethics, effectiveness, and accountability in nonprofit governance, management, and operations, and to help all nonprofit organizations meet these high benchmarks. Our program is a system of nonprofit sector self-regulation and replicated by state, regional, and national associations and support organizations. The centerpiece of the Institute’s program is the Standards for Excellence®: An Ethics and Accountability Code for the Nonprofit Sector. The Institute also publishes comprehensive educational resources to nonprofit organizations to help them strengthen their practices. Accreditation and recognition is available to organizations that submit to a thorough third-party review. What makes the Standards for Excellence Institute unique is that we don’t just talk about accountability. We provide nonprofits with a common sense approach to achieve the highest standards in governance and management, while at the same time staying focused on the people and communities they serve.
Funding
The Standards for Excellence Institute gratefully acknowledges corporate and philanthropic supporters of the Standards for Excellence initiative. We have received support from the following institutions:
We are also grateful to local supporters of the Standards for Excellence program who invest in Standards for Excellence initiatives and programs offered by Standards for Excellence replication partners around the country. For more information on local funders, please visit websites of licensed Standards for Excellence replication partners.
Maryland Nonprofits
The Standards for Excellence originated as a special initiative of Maryland Nonprofits in 1998 and has since expanded into a national program to help nonprofit organizations achieve the highest benchmarks of ethics and accountability in nonprofit governance, management and operations.
Maryland Nonprofits is one of the nation’s largest nonprofit associations and serves as the collective voice for over 37,000 nonprofit organizations in Maryland. Maryland Nonprofits helps develop and support a nonprofit’s ability to engage communities by educating their boards, staff, and volunteers through professional development opportunities; group savings on services; addressing government and legislative issues; and providing key information on how to start and operate a nonprofit. With over 1,616 members* across the state, Maryland Nonprofits promotes the Standards for Excellence Institute, a nationally-replicated accreditation program that enhances governance, management and the public’s trust in the nonprofit sector.
*Numbers updated 2022
Research Supporting Accreditation
An April 2014 study of 102 nonprofit organizations that have been accredited through the Standards for Excellence program compared with peer organizations of similar size and industry examined the impact of acquiring the accreditation. Significant findings include:
Overall, the results in this paper provide supporting evidence of the positive impacts of the comprehensive accreditation program offered by the Standards for Excellence Institute and its licensed partners.
Total numbers as of October 2022