Greater Toledo Community Foundation and The Blade, in partnership with The Center for Nonprofit Resources, The Andersons, Waterford Bank, Eidi Family Foundation and WTVG-13abc, are happy to announce the 14th Annual Northwest Ohio Nonprofit Excellence Award winners, recognizing local nonprofit organizations that stand out for their contributions to our community. 

The 2024 Northwest Ohio Nonprofit Excellence Awards presentation took place at The Pinnacle in Maumee on Wednesday, October 30th.  

 A panel of judges selected the following three organizations to receive recognition at this year’s ceremony:

In addition to being recognized as a leader among northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan’s nonprofits, these winning organizations receive a $7,500 unrestricted grant from Greater Toledo Community Foundation; a $1,000 unrestricted grant from The Andersons; free half-page ad in The Blade; and a one-of-a-kind blown glass art creation.

Background on Awards

Collaborative Programming: This award showcases a joint initiative that leverages the skills and resources of multiple nonprofit partners to deliver excellent service to residents of northwest Ohio or southeast Michigan.  Creative partnerships lead to greater impact in the community by reaching underserved audiences and avoiding duplication of service.

Organizational Operations: This award recognizes organizations for overall excellence. The strongest applications will demonstrate active involvement by staff, board members, volunteers and constituents in advancing the mission of the organization.  Eligible applicants must have 501(c)(3) nonprofit status for at least five years and have a local governance and management structure in place.

Strategic Action: This award highlights organizations that have strategically expanded programming or pivoted to a new service delivery model to better meet a community need.  Priority consideration will be given to projects that utilized data and metrics to identify a gap in service, aligned with community-wide planning efforts and successfully implemented and sustained the expansion.  It is anticipated that projects will still be active and have completed the strategic action within the past five years, but the committee will consider older initiatives as well.