Celebrating Excellence in the Central Texas Nonprofit Sector

As part of the 2011 Texas Nonprofit Summit, the Texas Nonprofit Awards reception featured Greenlights’ Nonprofit Excellence Awards and the OneStar Foundation’s Governor’s Volunteer Awards.

Key Dates

Nominations closed - The deadline for nominations was May 27, 2011
Winners notified - By July 1
Awards presented at the Texas Nonprofit Summit - September 8

Award Categories

• Collaboration - The Collaboration Award highlights a successful partnership that a nonprofit has made with another nonprofit, business, foundation, or other entity that has resulted in improved impact and achieved greater outcomes for both organizations because of their unique association. 
• Service Excellence - The Service Excellence Award honors a nonprofit organization, or one of its programs, whose notable performance and delivery to the community sets a high standard of quality. This organization, or program, values quality in its work and can demonstrate ways in which it continually seeks to measure and improve. 
• Innovation - The Innovation Award honors a nonprofit organization whose creation and application of new approaches to its work has advanced the organization and serves as a model for other nonprofits. This new practice or approach is being, or has been, incorporated into the fabric of the organization and makes an affirmative impact and improvement on its goals and mission.
• Learning in Action - The Learning in Action Award recognizes an organization that has gained and applied specific knowledge from a workshop, conference, book, etc. that resulted in a direct and significant enhancement to the operation or core activities of a nonprofit organization. This organization has gone beyond research and theory to real application of a best practice in the nonprofit sector for marked success.

Past Award Winners

Nomination Guidelines 

Download a PDF copy of the guidelines.

GENERALNOMINATION GUIDELINES & ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

• All nominations, including attachments, must be submitted through the nomination form.
• Deadline for submissions: May 27, 2011 by 5 pm
• Winners will be notified by July 1^st and will be asked to participate in a video about their award during the month of July (video to be shown at the event in September).
• Only one submission per organization will be considered.
• The Nonprofit Excellence Awards are open to 501(c)(3) public charities located in Travis, Caldwell, Hays, Bastrop, or Williamson County.
• The Executive Director, a Board Officer, or appropriate representative must attend the event on September 8^th to be considered for an award. Each finalist will receive two complimentary passes to the event.
• Self-nominations are welcome.

NOMINATION NARRATIVE
In the space provided (750 word limit) in the nomination form, submit a narrative that includes the following:

• A description of the specific program, activity, initiative or accomplishment for which the nomination is being cast.
• Briefly state the starting point from which results could be measured (i.e. what the organization, service area or constituent pool were like prior to the activity for which the nomination is being submitted).
• What measurable, positive results ensued.
• How the achievement can be a model of inspiration for other organizations.

REQUIRED ATTACHMENTS
The following are required in order for the nomination to be complete and capable of being submitted. Combined size of attachments must not exceed 5MB.

• 501(c)(3) IRS determination letter
• The immediate past year’s financial statements (balance sheet and income statement). Audited financials are preferred, but if these are not available, then please submit the organization’s most recent 990. If the 990 is not available, then internally-produced financial statements with a description of internal review and controls may be submitted.
• Letter of recommendation from someone who is not a staff or board member at the nominated organization or the person making the nominating, and who can corroborate or validate the information submitted about the program, activity, initiative or accomplishment being nominated.

How Nominations Are Evaluated

The Nonprofit Excellence Awards are selected by an independent panel comprised of community and business leaders.

In order to be an example that others might choose to follow, an organization must be able to demonstrate positive, measurable results (either external impact on clients served or demonstrable internal impact on efficiency, effectiveness, etc.). Nominations for a specific program, activity, initiative or accomplishment are judged more favorably than general nominations for the overall mission of a nonprofit.

The general ability of the organization to sustain the program, activity or initiative for which the nomination is made is important, which is why financial statements are requested.

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