Upcoming Center Events:
Save up to 50% on New Horizons computer training when you register through the
Oklahoma Center for Nonprofits™! Call 405-463-6886 to
register or for class availability and listings. |
|
View All Center Events
|
|
 |
|
|
Information of Interest for Nonprofit Organizations |
|
Nonprofit center highlights Tulsa presence
3/18/2008
The Oklahoma Center for Nonprofits has tripled the number of member agencies in Tulsa in the past year, making the city a prime location for the center's inaugural Oklahoma Nonprofit Excellence Awards.
More than $160,000 in prize money will be awarded to the 27 finalist agencies at the awards ceremony April 12 at the Renaissance Hotel.
The Oklahoma Center for Nonprofits' mission is to help the state's nonprofits with training, consultation, workshops and conferences.
"A lot of nonprofits, especially startups, need a lot of help in terms of governance and management and different ways to fundraise," said Joe Moran, ONE Awards chairman.
The awards are meant to recognize outstanding agencies while encouraging others in the state to improve themselves and be in the running for future awards, he said.
"There will be a ripple effect that will get the attention of virtually every nonprofit in the state," he said.
The finalists were chosen by a nine-member panel of people from Oklahoma's nonprofit community.
The panel selected the finalists from the approximately 100 agencies that were nominated.
The awards are modeled after a similar program in Colorado Springs, Colo. Organizers there saw area nonprofits excited by the idea of recognition and monetary reward, said Howard Barnett, chairman of the Oklahoma center's board of directors.
"We can, frankly, begin to raise the bar," he said. "We want people to want these awards."
Staff members at Happy Hands Education Center in Tulsa, a finalist in the youth development category, are thrilled to be recognized, said Jan Pride, program director.
Happy Hands serves deaf and hard-of-hearing children, as well as children with other communication disorders. It teaches children from birth to 6 years.
The awards program brings needed attention to the work of nonprofits such as Happy Hands, Pride said.
"I think it's good for the community to see what's going on," she said.
With plans for expansion in the next few years being considered, the monetary aspect of the award is helpful. The program never turns away children for financial reasons, Pride said.
The Oklahoma Center for Nonprofits has offices in Oklahoma City and Tulsa, but recently has increased its Tulsa presence in an effort to find more members, Barnett said.
Moran said successful nonprofits need to be recognized for their effect on the community.
"The nonprofits in the state of Oklahoma are really the unsung heroes, I think, of the state," he said.
The center began in Oklahoma City in 1981 as The Support Center of Oklahoma. The Tulsa office opened in 1986, and the center became independent from the national group and renamed itself in 1997.
Barnett said he was not sure how much money the awards ceremony would raise for the center, but was confident it would become an annual event.
"We think it's going to be a major force in the nonprofit community," he said.
________________________________________
Awards dinner
What: Oklahoma Nonprofit Excellence Awards.
Where: Renaissance Tulsa Hotel.
When: 6 to 9 p.m. April 12.
Cost: Individual tickets are $150; table sponsorships available for $2,500, $5,000 or $10,000.
For more: Call (800) 338-1798.
|
|
|
|
|
