Lodestar Foundation to award nonprofit collaboration prize

The Lodestar Foundation, a Phoenix organization dedicated to maximizing the growth and impact of philanthropy, launched the 2011 Collaboration Prize, a national award designed to identify and showcase models of collaboration among nonprofit organizations. The ASU Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation is honored to again be participating in the selection process, reviewing applications along with fellow Arizona-Indiana-Michigan (AIM) Alliance schools, Indiana University and Grand Valley State University.

“We are delighted to be involved in this second round of the national Collaboration Prize along with our AIM partners,” said Robert F. Ashcraft, executive director of the ASU Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation. “We are delighted to be involved in this second round of the national Collaboration Prize along with our AIM partners,” said Dr. Robert F. Ashcraft, executive director of the ASU Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation. “Collaboration is not just a buzz word and this prize amplifies that fact. Rather, collaboration is an essential ingredient for innovative and effective nonprofits whose leaders truly wish to achieve higher levels of performance and impact.”

Beginning June 1, nonprofits across the country are invited to apply for the prize, which will be announced in April 2011.  The prize will recognize eight collaborations that best exemplify the impact that can result from working together. Each of the eight finalists will receive $12,500 and the grand prize winner will receive an additional $150,000.

“Collaboration may enable organizations to more effectively leverage human and financial resources to achieve greater impact in the areas they serve,” said Jerry Hirsch, chairman of the Lodestar Foundation. “With the 2011 Collaboration Prize, we expect to receive hundreds of original and inventive collaboration case studies that showcase ways to work smarter and more efficiently and we look forward to sharing these models of success with the entire nonprofit sector.”

The application process for the 2011 prize will open June 1, 2010, and close on July 16, 2010. To be eligible, the collaboration must involve two or more nonprofit organizations. Each collaboration will be judged on the extent to which it:

• Demonstrates improved effectiveness in achieving social good.

• More effectively uses human and financial resources.

• Represents an innovative response to a specific challenge or opportunity.

• Exhibits characteristics that would demonstrate that the collaboration is a model for the field, sector or community.

Visit www.thecollaborationprize.org for a full list of eligibility requirements, the online submission form, general information and answers to frequently asked questions.

The Prize recipient will be chosen by a Final Selection Panel, which will be chaired by Sterling Speirn, president and CEO of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Additional parties involved in the review process include the Arizona-Indiana-Michigan (AIM) Alliance, a collaboration comprising The Lodestar Center for Philanthropy & Nonprofit Innovation at Arizona State University, The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University and The Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership at Grand Valley State University (Michigan); and La Piana Associates, the nation's leading management and consulting firm dedicated to helping nonprofits and foundations become stronger and more effective through collaboration.

The Lodestar Foundation is a grantmaking organization devoted to maximizing the growth and impact of philanthropy and provides funds nationally and internationally to organizations that support its mission. In support of this mission, Lodestar created the Collaboration Prize in 2009 to identify achievements in collaboration as models for inspiration and replication. True to the spirit of collaboration, the Lodestar Foundation has partnered with AIM Alliance, the Foundation Center, La Piana Consulting and other foundation and nonprofit leaders to support the 2011 Prize. Please visit www.lodestarfoundation.org for more information.

The ASU Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation is recognized as a national leader in undergraduate and graduate nonprofit education, research and technical assistance. The ASU Lodestar Center exists to enhance the quality of life in communities through the advancement of nonprofit leadership practices and provides knowledge and tools to build the capacity of nonprofit organizations, professionals, board members, donors and volunteers by offering a selection of capacity building workshops, conferences, classes, and programs. For more information, visit: http://nonprofit.asu.edu.