Principles
and
Practices
for Florida
Nonprofit
Excellence
The Origins of the Principles and Practices:
The Minnesota Council of Nonprofits began this document on nonprofit accountability at its 1993 Annual
Conference. We continued to develop it through community meetings, workshops and discussions
throughout the state. Under the leadership of Dr. James P. Shannon, MCN joined with two organizations —
the Charities Review Council of Minnesota and MAP for Nonprofits — to convene discussions on nonprofit
standards and to develop principles of sound nonprofit management and accountability. The first draft of
the Principles and Practices for Nonprofit Excellence was circulated to nonprofit and philanthropic leaders
throughout Minnesota and the United States in October 1994 and was approved by MCN’s Board of
Directors in October 1998.
James V. Toscano and Marcia Nottingham chaired the original Committee on Nonprofit Standards, whose
members included Judy Alnes, Angela Bies, Eve Borenstein, David Brown, Jennifer Gillespie, Betsy Jaros,
Anne Long, Jon Pratt, Lois Schmidt, Laura Waterman Wittstock, Michael Wirth-Davis and Reid Zimmerman.
In 2004, James V. Toscano also led the charge to revise the Principles and Practices and was assisted by
Stephanie Tribby-Walbridge with input from nonprofit leaders, including Marcia Avner, Kate Barr, Shelly
Dreyling, Christine Durand, Stephanie Haddad, Audrey Kintzi, Anne Long, Craig Luedemann, Nan Madden,
Ellen McVeigh, Leslie Nitabach, Jon Pratt, Sondra Reis, Sheila Smith, Melissa Stone, Bao Vang and Reid
Zimmerman. Copyediting of the revised version was provided by professional editor Steve Gansen.
Thousands of copies of the draft of the revised version of the Principles and Practices for Nonprofit
Excellence were delivered to MCN members and the public via the Web and mail, and discussed in
feedback sessions held in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Duluth, Mankato, Grand Rapids and St. Cloud. The
comments and suggestions gathered from MCN members and the public informed the final draft of the
revised version, which was approved by the MCN Board of Directors on March 15, 2005.
Copyright (c) 2008 by the Florida Association of Nonprofit Organizations. All rights reserved. No part of this publication
may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by means electronic or mechanical without the written consent of the
Florida Association of Nonprofit Organizations.
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