Principles and Practices

There is no single standard of “best practices” that applies to all nonprofit organizations. The nonprofit sector is far-reaching and diverse, encompassing organizations that are small all-volunteer groups serving a local community to those that employ hundreds of employees and work all over the world. Some nonprofits are highly regulated, and must comply with health and housing codes, or accreditation standards, and others choose to ascribe to principles of practice on a voluntary basis, simply out of a desire to be soundly operated, accountable, and ethical organizations. Even if your nonprofit is not required to adopt standards of conduct, you may decide to aspire to certain principles of practice that will will help your organization operate legally, prudently, and ethically.

Many nonprofits find that having a benchmark against which to measure their own practices is helpful. The principles of practice linked below are examples of how organically, over the course of several years, state associations of nonprofits have embarked on a thoughtful process, in conjunction with nonprofit leaders in their states, of identifying and recording the principles by which nonprofits in their state should operate. Some state associations have adapted principles developed in other states for use by the nonprofits in their own states. Others have developed not only principles of practice, but also workbooks for use in introducing and raising awareness among board and staff members about their state’s principles. 

The National Council of Nonprofits encourages you to explore the principles developed by the state associations of nonprofits listed below, and to raise awareness about these principles among nonprofits and board members, so that collectively, as a sector, the principles of accountability and transparency, strong financial oversight, responsible fundraising, and effective governance, among other important principles, will be reinforced through sound practices at every nonprofit. Grantmakers and the donating public may also look to principles of practice as guideposts for identifying well-run and effective nonprofits.

In addition of the state assocations' work, in 2007 the Panel on the Nonprofit Sector (convened by Independent Sector) introduced 33 Principles for Good Governance and Ethical Practice for use on a national level by any nonprofit or philanthropic organization as a guide for strengthening effectiveness and accountablility.

• An accompanying workbook developed by BoardSource and Independent Sector can be downloaded and used to introduce the principles to your board and staff.
• The Reference Edition of the Principles provides background on the legal guidance relied on to craft the 33 Principles of Good Governance and Ethical Practice with comparisons to other standards and systems of self-regulation in the nonprofit sector. 

Here is a list of state associations that offer a Principles and Practices guide:

• Arkansas ACE Diamond Standards™
• Colorado Principles and Practices for Nonprofit Excellence in Colorado
• Connecticut Principles and Practices for Nonprofit Excellence in Connecticut
• Delaware Standards for Excellence®
• Donors Forum (Illinois) Illinois Nonprofit Principles and Best Practices
• Louisiana The Louisiana Standards for Excellence
• Maine Guiding Principles & Practices
• Maryland Standards for Excellence® Program
• Michigan Principles & Practices for Nonprofit Excellence in Michigan
• Minnesota Principles and Practices for Nonprofit Excellence in Minnesota
• Mississippi Principles and Practices of Nonprofit Management Excellence
• Montana Principles and Practices for Nonprofit Excellence in Montana
• North Carolina Principles & Practices for Nonprofit Excellence
• Oklahoma Standards for Excellence Program
• Pennsylvania Standards for Excellence Program
• South Carolina Guiding Principles and Best Practices