2025 Alford-Axelson Award for Nonprofit Managerial Excellence draft

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Thank you for your interest in the 2025 Alford-Axelson Award for Nonprofit Managerial Excellence. This award is a celebration of managerial excellence, not a grant application. The focus of the application is on management, infrastructure and system best practices, not programmatic needs and services. For this reason, we suggest that your organization leadership have a role in the preparation of this application. We recognize that no organization is perfect–we are all on a journey to excellence. The selection committee considers to what extent each organization embodies a range of managerial excellence. Please read through the Axelson Center's Hallmarks of Nonprofit Managerial ExcellenceSM for more information about the essential elements of a successful nonprofit organization.

Before completing this application, please make sure that your organization meets the eligibility requirements. You may find those requirements and other details about the awards process on our website. If you applied for the 2023 Alford-Axelson Award, you must have sought feedback on your application in order to apply for 2025. Once you're ready to begin the application (you've determined what information you need), allow at least 30 minutes to complete. Also, you may save your work and complete the application at a later time.

If you have questions about eligibility or the application, please contact Lynn Stevenson at 773-244-5219 or axelson@northpark.edu. Applications are due by 5:00 p.m. CST on Wednesday, March 12, 2025.
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Are you ready to begin? You will need to attach the following:* This field is required.
A copy of your organization's 501 (c)3 letter
A list of board members (including their affiliation and years of service).
A copy of the last two years of your organization's filed 990s.
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Please be ready to answer the following (use the Axelson Center's Hallmarks of Nonprofit Managerial Excellence for guidance and note the word limits for each question):* This field is required.
What is your organization doing that indicates extraordinary management? (750 word limit)
Describe a managerial practice that has been developed as an innovation within your organization. It may not be perfect--you may still be refining this practice. (500 word limit)
Tell a brief story of one of your program participants and how your program made a difference to that individual. (300 word limit)
How did your organizational infrastructure improve your programmatic outcomes? (300 word limit)
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1. Organization Name* This field is required.
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2. Zip Code* This field is required.
City
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Alabama
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State
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Afghanistan
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The Gambia
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Iran
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Israel
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Jamaica
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Jordan
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Kiribati
North Korea
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Laos
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Nagorno-Karabakh
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Netherlands
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New Caledonia
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Nigeria
Niue
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Northern Mariana
Norway
Oman
Pakistan
Palau
Palestine
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Pitcairn Islands
Poland
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Qatar
Republic of the Congo
Romania
Russia
Rwanda
Saint Barthelemy
Saint Helena
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
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Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Samoa
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Wallis and Futuna
Western Sahara
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe
Other
Country
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3. Website* This field is required.
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4. Executive Director/CEO Name* This field is required.
First Name
Last Name
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5. Title* This field is required.
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6. Email Address* This field is required.
example@example.com
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7. Number of Years at Organization* This field is required.
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8. Number of Years in Current Role* This field is required.Must have an executive director in their role for 2 years or longer at the time of applying
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9. Name* This field is required.
First Name
Last Name
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10. Title* This field is required.
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11. Email Address* This field is required.
example@example.com
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12. Phone Number* This field is required.
Area Code
Phone Number
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13. Year founded: * This field is required.
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14. What is your organization's mission statement?* This field is required.
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15. Please select the subsector that best describes your organization.* This field is required.
Arts & Humanities
Community Development
Education
Environment/Animals
Faith-based
Health
Human Services
International/Refugee Services
Other
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16a. Number of full-time employees (current fiscal year): * This field is required.
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16b. Number of part-time employees (current fiscal year): * This field is required.
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17. Please specify current fiscal year dates:* This field is required.
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18. Budget Size* This field is required.Please use commas where appropriate.
Current Fiscal Year
Previous Fiscal Year
Size of annual operating budget:
Row 0, Column 0
Row 0, Column 1
Endowment:
Row 1, Column 0
Row 1, Column 1
Cash reserves*:
Row 2, Column 0
Row 2, Column 1
Size of annual operating budget:
Endowment:
Cash reserves*:
Current Fiscal Year
Row 0, Column 0
Previous Fiscal Year
Row 0, Column 1
Current Fiscal Year
Row 1, Column 0
Previous Fiscal Year
Row 1, Column 1
Current Fiscal Year
Row 2, Column 0
Previous Fiscal Year
Row 2, Column 1
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*"Cash reserves" refers to the money an organization has readily available to meet short-term and emergency funding needs.
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19. Percentage of total budget, largest single grant/donation and total number of grants by source (use the most recent fiscal year for which complete data are available.):* This field is required.
% of total budget (this column must total 100%)
Largest single grant/donation
Total number of grants from each source
Foundation grants
Row 0, Column 0
Row 0, Column 1
Row 0, Column 2
Corporate donations
Row 1, Column 0
Row 1, Column 1
Row 1, Column 2
Individual donors
Row 2, Column 0
Row 2, Column 1
Row 2, Column 2
Government grants
Row 3, Column 0
Row 3, Column 1
Row 3, Column 2
Earned income
Row 4, Column 0
Row 4, Column 1
Row 4, Column 2
Other (specify source below)
Row 5, Column 0
Row 5, Column 1
Row 5, Column 2
Foundation grants
Corporate donations
Individual donors
Government grants
Earned income
Other (specify source below)
% of total budget (this column must total 100%)
Row 0, Column 0
Largest single grant/donation
Row 0, Column 1
Total number of grants from each source
Row 0, Column 2
% of total budget (this column must total 100%)
Row 1, Column 0
Largest single grant/donation
Row 1, Column 1
Total number of grants from each source
Row 1, Column 2
% of total budget (this column must total 100%)
Row 2, Column 0
Largest single grant/donation
Row 2, Column 1
Total number of grants from each source
Row 2, Column 2
% of total budget (this column must total 100%)
Row 3, Column 0
Largest single grant/donation
Row 3, Column 1
Total number of grants from each source
Row 3, Column 2
% of total budget (this column must total 100%)
Row 4, Column 0
Largest single grant/donation
Row 4, Column 1
Total number of grants from each source
Row 4, Column 2
% of total budget (this column must total 100%)
Row 5, Column 0
Largest single grant/donation
Row 5, Column 1
Total number of grants from each source
Row 5, Column 2
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Please specify other source(s) here:
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The following questions give you an opportunity to tell us why your organization should be considered for the Alford-Axelson award. Remember, this is an award for excellence in nonprofit management--not a grant application. In the questions that follow, focus primarily on management, not programming. For example, you may want to write about how your organization pivoted due to the crises of 2020 or how your organization handled some other organizational challenge or opportunity. Use the Axelson Center's Hallmarks of Nonprofit Managerial ExcellenceSM for guidance and more information about the essential elements of a successful nonprofit organization.
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20. What is your organization doing that indicates extraordinary management? Please consider this question carefully using the Axelson Center's Hallmark's of Nonprofit Managerial Excellence (link above). Use the Hallmarks as a guide to illustrate 2 - 3 examples of extraordinary management.* This field is required.
0/750
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21. The previous question was about excellence in management. This question is about innovation. Describe a managerial practice that has been developed as an innovation within your organization. It may not be perfect--you may still be refining this practice. Use the Hallmark's of Nonprofit Managerial Excellence for guidance.* This field is required.
0/500
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22. Tell the brief story of one of your program participants and how your program made a difference to that individual.* This field is required.
0/400
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23. How did your organizational infrastructure improve your programmatic outcomes? .* This field is required.
0/400
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24a. Total Individuals served (specify dates)* This field is required.
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24b. Total number of organizations served (specify dates)* This field is required.
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25. Please include the most important metrics (internal and/or external) used by your organization to measure your impact (specify dates). These metrics should be for results completed, not just what is projected. Include specific results for most recently completed fiscal year and compare with previous year (e.g., 75% of all students experienced an improvement of x amount in 2023 which represented an increase of 20% over 2022.) You should include a point of comparison for all metrics as indicated in the example. You may list up to five. The metrics you share should tie to the organization's mission.* This field is required.
0/300
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26. In the most recently completed fiscal year, what percentage of your board of directors made a financial contribution (for any purpose) to your organization? * This field is required.
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27. Is there a stated giving policy for your board of directors?* This field is required.
Yes
No
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Briefly describe your organization's giving policy for board members below. If there is no giving policy, please explain below.* This field is required.
0/200
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28. Is there a term limit policy in place for board members?* This field is required.
Yes
No
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Briefly describe your organization's term limit policy for board members below. If there are no term limits, please explain below.* This field is required.
0/200
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29. Did your organization apply for this award in 2023?* This field is required.Please note, if you applied for the 2020 Alford-Axelson Award, but did not seek feedback on your application, your 2022 application may not be accepted.
Yes
No
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30. If you answered "Yes" to Question 28 did you already receive the required feedback on that application from Axelson Center staff?Please note, if you applied for the 2020 Alford-Axelson Award, but did not seek feedback on your application, your 2022 application may not be accepted.
Yes
No
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Please include a copy of your 501 (c)3 letter.* This field is required.
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Max. file size: 10.6MB
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Please include a copy of the last two years of your organization's filed Form 990s.* This field is required.
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Max. file size: 10.6MB
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Finally, please include a list of board members including their affiliation and years of service. * This field is required.
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Max. file size: 10.6MB
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After you have completed the entire application and have uploaded the required documents, please sign below and click submit. Thank you for your application!
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