2009 Torch Award for Marketplace Trust for Nonprofit Organizations
Guidelines & Information
AWARD PARAMETERSCandidates for the 2009 BBB Torch Award for Marketplace Trust will be judged on their ethical practices according to the following guidelines:
- high ethical standards of behavior towards clients, volunteers, donors, employees, and the communities in which they serve,
- long-standing history/reputation of ethical practices in the marketplace,
- marketing, advertising, communications, and solicitation practices that reflect a true representation of what is being offered in the marketplace,
- acknowledgement of ethical marketplace practices by industry peers and in the communities they serve,
- ethics policies that are effectively communicated to employees,
- training programs that assist employees in carrying out established ethics policies.
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
- The organization must have been in operation for at least three years, have no unanswered BBB complaints and have been reviewed by the BBB within the past two years.
- At the time of the application portfolio deadline, the organization must meet all BBB Standards for Charity Accountability and have no significant outstanding concerns that would prevent the organization from meeting all standards in the future.
- The organization must be physically located within the service area of the BBB counties listed below.
- Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Clear Creek, Denver, Douglas, Elbert, Gilpin, Jefferson, Washington, and Yuma counties in Colorado.
DEADLINE
**The 2009 application deadline has passed. We hope you consider applying next year. Please visit our website in 2010 for important dates.
THE CRITERIA
Candidates for the BBB Torch Award for Marketplace Trust for Nonprofit Organizations are evaluated by an independent panel of judges selected from the business, non-profit, and academic community using the following criteria:
1. POSITION STATEMENT: Provide a brief statement describing your organization’s position regarding integrity and ethical practices in your field of service.
2. ETHICAL EMPLOYEES AND VOLUNTEERS: A mark of integrity for an organization is its practices concerning the training of its employees, volunteers, and board members in implementing ethical behavior. Describe two ways in which ethical practices are made part of the day-to-day operations of your organization through specific policies or training for employees, volunteers, and/or board members.
3. DECISION-MAKING: An ethical organization is positive, honest, fair, reliable, and responsive to its constituencies. For each of the three groups listed below, provide an example of one or two situations in which your non-profit organization demonstrated ethical decision-making.
Group A) Clients/Service Recipients
Group B) Employees/Volunteers
Group C) Donors/Grant Makers
4. MARKETING AND SOLICITATIONS: The BBB Standards for Charity Accountability call for solicitations and informational materials that are accurate, truthful, and not misleading.” Provide a description of your organization’s policies and procedures for ensuring ethical marketing and fundraising, including substantiation of any claims, adherence to truth in advertising and industry-specific regulations, privacy issues, controversial subject matter, etc.
5. PROVIDE EXAMPLES OF RECOGNITION OR ACKNOWLEDGEMENT by your peers and the communities you serve. These may include national or local awards, news coverage, public honors, etc.
6. PROVIDE A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF YOUR ORGANIZATION’S HISTORY: This is the appropriate place to discuss the impetus behind your organization’s creation, the intentions of the founders, and how later leaders have maintained the original vision or changed course to address new social conditions.
7. SUPPLEMENTAL SERVICES: Organizations often demonstrate a commitment to ethics by offering supplemental services beyond their core programs. Please describe up to three supplemental services, policies, collaborations, or programs that have returned value to your community.