Who We Are

Our nonprofits have standards you can trust.  Not all nonprofit organizations can say that.

The Standards for Excellence set a high benchmark.  They go beyond the minimum legal requirements by outlining how well managed and responsibly governed nonprofits should operate.

The Standards cover eight areas of nonprofit operations:

Mission and Program

Governing Board

Conflict of Interest

Human Resources

Financial and Legal Accountability

Openness

Fundraising

Public Policy and Public Affairs

Maryland Nonprofits offers a voluntary, leadership based, certification program for nonprofit organizations interested in demonstrating that they abide by the Standards for Excellence.  A panel of independent, trained peer reviewers assess the applicant's practices to determine if they have met the Standards.  Those organizations the meet all of the Standards set forth by Maryland Nonprofits become certified.  Certified organizations are given permission to proudly display the Seal of Excellence, a symbol of trust for the public and donors alike.

If you don't have the time to research whether a charity is doing it's job and is trustworthy, you can look for the Standards for Excellence seal instead.  You can rest assured that the nonprofit displaying the Seal lives up to the highest standards.  It makes the job of deciding which charity to support a whole lot easier.