DANA is proud to partner with the Standards for Excellence Institute® to offer the Standards for Excellence Program® to the nonprofit sector in the State of Delaware.
Based on fundamental values - honesty, integrity, fairness, respect, trust, responsibility and accountability - the Standards for Excellence program describes how nonprofits should act to be ethical and accountable in their operations, governance, human resources, financial management and fundraising.
The Standards for Excellence: An Ethics and Accountability Code for the Nonprofit Sector® includes eight guiding principles, coupled with the 55 individual standards. The Standards are organized into the major areas of nonprofit management and governance:
- Mission and Program
- Governing Body
- Conflicts of Interest
- Human Resources
- Financial and Legal Issues
- Openness
- Fundraising
- Public Policy and Public Affairs
The Standards for Excellence: An Ethics and Accountability Code for the Nonprofit Sector® provides nonprofits with clear benchmarks to measure their own performance against the highest standards of nonprofit governance and management, delivers educational programming and technical assistance to make it easy for nonprofits to make improvements, and grants the Seal of Excellence to organizations that complete a rigorous peer review process.
The centerpiece for the Standards for Excellence® program, Standards for Excellence: An Ethics and Accountability Code for the Nonprofit Sector® is available at the special DANA member price of $5.00. Non-members can purchase the code for $10 each.
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Educational Resources
Written Educational Materials
The Standards for Excellence Institute® has developed a collection of 22 Educational Resource Packets that are intended to assist individual organizations to implement specific standards. These materials are available to all DANA members free of charge.
The Educational Resource Packets generally include information on the importance of implementing specific standards, justification for the standards, best practices associated with the issue, model procedures and sample policies. Structurally, they include a narrative memo and attachments. The attachments include both original materials created by Standards for Excellence Institute®, as well as articles and other copyrighted documents which have been obtained from other sources. Many of the packets include model policies developed by the Institute’s staff of experts.
Collectively, the 22 Educational Resource Packets cover each of the 55 Standards. The following Educational Resource Packets are available:
- Developing and Revising the Mission Statement
- Program Evaluation
- Program Service
- On-Going Planning by Organization's Board of Directors
- Compensation and Employee Evaluation
- Board Composition
- Conduct of the Board
- Conflict of Interest
- Personnel Policies and Employee Orientation
- Volunteer Policies
- Financial Planning and Monitoring in Nonprofit Organizations
- Reporting Financial Improprieties
- Financial Policies
- Legal Requirements Checklist
- Legal Compliance - Liability Issues
- Openness
- Fundraising Costs
- Fundraising Practices
- Solicitation and Acceptance of Gifts
- Employment of Fundraising Personnel and Engagement of Fundraising Consultants
- Public Policy Advocacy, Promoting Public Participation
- Nonprofit Efforts to Educate the Public
If you would like to request an educational resource packet, please contact tsouthard@delawarenonprofit.org or 302-777-5500.
Training and One-on-One Assistance
Standards for Excellence training opportunities are also available to DANA members and nonprofits throughout Delaware. Check out the DANA Training calendar for the latest calendar of events.
DANA staff provide technical assistance to DANA members to help nonprofits live by all aspects of the Standards. If you would like to request specific information on how you might address a specific issue related to the Standards for Excellence in the nonprofit which you serve, please contact Tom Southard at tsouthard@delawarenonprofit.org or 302-777-5500.
Earn the Seal of Excellence
The Standards for Excellence® accreditation program provides nonprofit organizations across the country with the opportunity to demonstrate that the Standards for Excellence: An Ethics and Accountability Code for the Nonprofit Sector® have been implemented in their own organization. Receiving the Seal is recognition that a nonprofit organization operates with the highest standards of accountability and ethics. As part of the growing Standards certification program, organizations voluntarily submit to a thorough review of all aspects of their operations and governance. Organizations that pass this review earn the Standards for Excellence® Seal of Excellence.
To become certified, organizations must submit a written application, provide documentation, and pay an application fee. After initial staff review of the materials for completeness, a panel of trained peer reviewers will assess the organization’s practices and determine if they have met the Standards. The peer review team will then forward their recommendations to the Standards Committee for final approval. Successful organizations will be given permission to use the Standards for Excellence® Seal .
Organizations will require varying amounts of time and energy to complete the application based on many different factors (policies and practices an organization has in place at the outset of the process, staffing, timing of board meetings, etc.). While one organization may complete the application in six weeks, another may take two years to undergo the complete process.
Free web seminars for prospective Seal of Excellence applicants are held regularly through the Standards for Excellence Institute. Click here for more details>>
Thanks to a special agreement in place with the Standards for Excellence Institute, DANA members can apply to earn the Seal of Excellence under the Standards for Excellence Institute members’ dues schedule. For questions about how you can earn the Seal, check out the Standards for Excellence Institute website or contact Angineeki Jones, Certification Manager at ajones@standardsforexcellenceinstitute.org or 410-727-1726 ext 37.
