Spring is here! Are you ready?
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 plans in place. Plans to ensure you have the right set of board members who are working together effectively. Plans to spend time focused on your finances and budgets. Plans to truly look closely at diversity, equity, and inclusion in your organization.
The perfect way to start this process is with the Standards for Excellence self-assessment.
Doing this free, online assessment will help you clear out some cobwebs, allow you to focus on best practices, and start you on a clean path to building capacity, accountability, and sustainability in your organization.
After completing the assessment, you will have a detailed, actionable, professional, polished report, with links to resources, to share with your leadership and guide you forward.
Start your spring cleaning now with the free Standards for Excellence online self-assessment.
More information:
Standards for Excellence code
Standards for Excellence accreditation
Start your FREE online self-assessment NOW
About the Author: Amy Coates Madsen
Amy Coates Madsen is the Director of the Standards for Excellence Institute, a national initiative to promote the highest standards of ethics and accountability in nonprofit governance, management, and operations, and to facilitate adherence to standards by all organizations. The Standards for Excellence Institute is a program of the Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations where Amy has served for more than twenty-two years. Amy is responsible for coordinating all aspects of the association’s comprehensive ethics and accountability program and efforts to replicate the program nationally. She serves as a frequent trainer and writer in the areas of board conduct, program evaluation, program replication, fundraising ethics, and nonprofit management. She has taught courses on nonprofit ethics and accountability at the Johns Hopkins Institute for Policy Studies Certificate Program on Nonprofit Management. She has held positions at the Trenton lobbying firm of the Princeton Public Affairs Group, and the Public Policy Liaison Unit at the world headquarters of Catholic Relief Services. Amy received her Master of Arts in Policy Studies degree from the Johns Hopkins University – Institute for Policy Studies in Baltimore, Maryland; and her Bachelors degree from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia. Amy is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Amy serves on the Internal Revenue Service Advisory Committee on Tax Exempt and Government Entities (ACT). Amy is a former member of the Disaster Action Team of the Central Maryland Chapter of the American Red Cross and is qualified to provide disaster preparedness training to children and adults. She has also served as the former President of Central Maryland CAN TOO and was a member of the Board of Trustees of the largest United Methodist Church in Baltimore City. She serves on the board of her children’s preschool PTA and is a volunteer with the Girl Scouts of Central Maryland. Amy is currently leading an effort to establish an endowment for the Virginia Tech University Honors Program.