Collaboration Prize

The 2011 Collaboration Prize is a national award presented to nonprofit organizations that collaborate effectively to gain greater impact.

In 2011, the Collaboration Prize will award a total of $250,000 to the collaborations that best exemplify the impact that can result from working together. Each of the eight finalists will receive $12,500 and the winner will receive an additional $150,000.

The Prize is designed to identify and showcase models of collaboration among nonprofit organizations. Recognizing the impact that can be achieved from working together, the Prize shines a spotlight on collaborations among two or more nonprofit organizations that cooperate to demonstrate innovative and effective responses to challenges or opportunities.

Applications for the 2011 Collaboration Prize open June 1, 2010, and close on July 16, 2010. The 2011 Prize features a streamlined online application. Applications may be submitted by any individual familiar with the collaboration, including an employee of any entity involved in the collaboration. Find details about Prize application, eligibility, criteria and selection process, and important key dates.

Charles H. Bracken Excellence in Governance Award

This annual award honors a Nonprofit Partnership member agency that has demonstrated a sustained commitment to excellence in governance. The award winner is announced at the Northwest PA Nonprofit Day on October 21, 2010 and receives a cash grant of $5,000 to be used for governance and management support purposes. 2010 applications are due Friday, September 17, 2010.

For more information regarding the Charles H. Bracken Excellence in Nonprofit Governance Award contact the Nonprofit Partnership at (814) 454-8800 or TNP@thenonprofitpartnership.org

Video production grant

The Nonprofit Partnership and Image Trinity / ErieAlity TV are offering a select number of organizations a unique opportunity to produce a short goal-oriented video to help your organization achieve its goals for fundraising, volunteers, advocacy, awareness, or action. To apply, please complete the short application and return it to The Nonprofit Partnership by July 16, 2010.

Annual Report Contest

The Nonprofit Partnership strongly believes that organizational annual reports are a great way to showcase organizational excellence to stakeholders and the wider world. To encourage the production of high quality annual reports, we are offering $2,500 awards for the most effective reports produced by large and small organizations. Please use this link for more information about the contest, entry forms, and a link to useful annual report resources in this space. Entries will be accepted between now and September 17, 2010. Applicants must be current members of The Nonprofit Partnership.

Community Giving Summer

[From Philanthropy News Digest]

JPMorgan Chase has announced that it will launch the second round of its $5 million community giving program on the social networking site Facebook on June 15.

To underscore the smaller, more local focus of the bank's Community Giving Summer 2010 program, only 501(c)(3) organizations with operating budgets of $1 million or less will be eligible to receive a grant. The organization that receives the most votes by July 12 will receive $250,000, while four runners-up will each receive $100,000 and the rest of the top two hundred vote-getters will each receive $20,000.

Based on feedback from participants in the first Chase Community Giving contest, charities will be allowed to edit and include media in their profiles, and voters can earn badges as well as the right to "gift" votes. Winning charities from round one are not eligible to participate in round two. As in the previous round, funding provided through the program is in addition to the bank's regular philanthropic giving, which totals more than $100 million a year.

"As a company, we're highly committed to serving our local communities, and Chase Community Giving has proven to be an innovative approach to philanthropic giving at the local level," said Chase chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon. "We've now seen that when corporations listen to the communities they serve, they can learn a great deal and, in turn, help worthy causes achieve goals that would have never been possible."

“Chase Community Giving Kicks Off Summer 2010 Program.” JPMorgan Chase Press Release 6/09/10.

50 States for Good

[From Philanthropy News Digest] With a total community action fund of $100,000, Tom's of Maine's "50 States for Good" initiative is celebrating and rewarding nonprofits from across the country whose efforts are focused on lasting, positive change in the community.

Tom's of Maine is hoping to inspire participation from nonprofits of all sizes and is excited to hear about the community projects that matter most to them. 501(c)(3) organizations from across the country are encouraged to apply for funding and invite their members/constituents to participate in the process. This year, applicant organizations are encouraged to be bold in sharing how they can best use new volunteers to benefit the community. In addition, the public is also welcome to invite their favorite nonprofit to join the program.

Finalists will be selected by a judging panel based on immediate achievability, positive impact in the community, and engagement and mobilization among members of the community. After finalists are selected, online voting by the public will determine which five organizations will receive $20,000 each.

Skoll Social Entrepreneur Awards

[From Philanthropy News Digest] The Skoll Foundation is looking for new applicants for the Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship. The foundation's flagship program invests in leading social entrepreneurs around the globe who are advancing promising solutions to some of the world's most pressing problems.

The program seeks social entrepreneurs whose work has the potential for large-scale positive change in the areas of tolerance and human rights, health, environmental sustainability, peace and security, institutional responsibility, and economic and social equity. In addition to alignment with one or more of these issue areas, Skoll Award winners typically exhibit many of the following characteristics: are led by a visionary, effective social entrepreneur serving as a spokesperson for their issue; have strong leadership team and board; have a clear mission and implementation model; demonstrate an unwavering focus on their mission; boast strong, well-established partnerships; have a commitment to systems, including for measurement and learning; and have diversified and mission-aligned funding sources.

The Skoll Awards provide later-stage, or mezzanine, funding, which is generally structured as a $1 million award paid out over three years. In most cases, the grant is provided for core support to help organizations expand their programs and capacity to deliver long-term, sustainable equilibrium change. The awards are not intended for new or early-stage programs or initiatives. Programs submitted for consideration should have a track record of no less than three years. In addition to core support, the Skoll Foundation supports the participation of award recipients in the annual Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship.

The program anticipates awarding seven to ten awards in 2011.