Principles
and
Practices
for Florida
Nonprofit
Excellence
Role in Society:
Nonprofit organizations provide unique opportunities for individuals
to combine their energy, talents and values for community improvement and
enrichment. Nonprofits are obligated to understand their role as entities that engage
and inspire individuals and communities for public benefit, and to conduct their
activities with transparency, integrity and accountability.
Role Recognition:
1) Nonprofits should recognize that their role in society differs from that of government and
business. Nonprofits have a special ability to organize the energy and ideas of a community to
achieve together what individuals cannot achieve alone. By tapping into the values, interests and
relationships of individuals, nonprofits can mobilize their supporters and the larger community to
realize their vision. Unlike government entities, nonprofits can focus on very local, specific or new
matters and need not wait for community wide consensus to begin their work. Nonprofit
organizations emerge from expressed community needs and are not restricted to the
marketplace priorities and constraints that define success for the for-profit sector.
2) Nonprofits should provide opportunities for individuals to engage in activities and
conversations that widen their circle of connections beyond family and friends to other
community members.
3) Nonprofits should encourage the development of emerging leaders and provide opportunities
for individuals and the community as a whole to sharpen and strengthen leadership skills.
4) Nonprofits should work to build trust between communities and to bridge relationships among
diverse constituencies.
Public Accountability:
1) Nonprofits must publicly account for their finances, governance, disclosure practices and
programs.
2) Nonprofits should be inclusive in their activities — remaining open to new participants and
ideas as well as external input — and conduct them in ways that are transparent, flexible and
responsive to change.
3) Nonprofits should identify their constituents — the people who benefit from, are affected by,
are keys to the success of, and/or share the values implicit in their work.
4) Nonprofits should conduct their activities with procedural fairness in decision making for
constituents and the community.
5) Nonprofits should provide opportunities for people from the community to hold other public or
private institutions accountable.
8
The Florida Association of Nonprofit Organizations 7480 Fairway Drive, #205, Miami Lakes, Florida, 33014 305. 557. 1764
© 2013
