Entries Open for 2020 Good Governance Awards

Deadline: 11-Sep-20

Entries are now open for the 2020 Good Governance Awards which is an initiative that recognizes and encourages adherence to good governance practice by nonprofits in Ireland.

Their training, support and resources enable their members and partners to be more effective and impactful in each of their own individual areas. Through our expertise and experience, they support nonprofits to become more effective at what they do. Their training support and capacity building with leadership in good governance is based on hands-on experience and the foundation of their 45 resident organisations.

They believe good governance is the beating heart of a healthy nonprofit sector and that running a charity or nonprofit organisation is a challenging and remarkably worthwhile act. There is no one path to success and every nonprofit’s journey meets its own unique obstacles and diversions.

Their mission is to successfully navigate these paths for nonprofits nationwide:-

To be better informed and equipped to carry out their own remits more effectively;
To be aware of and able to employ best practice for good governance;
To be better networked with and supported by peer organisations;
To be more efficient and effectively run so that they are trusted by their funders.

Funding Information

In 2020 in recognition of the fact that there are very many small nonprofits Carmichael is introducing a new entry category for organisations with an annual turnover of less than €50,000.

Entry Criteria

Annual Report Award
- The submission of entries is straightforward and is done through the good governance awards website.
- To enter, the organisation must meet the following entry requirements;
  - The organisation must be an Irish (i.e. its registered head office is in the Republic of Ireland) not-for profit organisation with social purpose objective. It can be any one of the following organisation types;
  - Incorporated organisation – Company Limited by Guarantee
  - Registered Charity
  - Un-incorporated organisation, – community/voluntary group or association
  - Social Enterprise.
- A signed copy of the organisation’s most recent Annual/Directors’ Report and Financial Statements must be submitted in pdf file format via the GGA website.
- No other additional supporting documentation is required or will be assessed for the initial screening and shortlisting stage. Shortlisted listed organisations may be asked to supply additional information to assist the judges in their adjudications.
- NB: Nonprofits that produce separate annual reports and financial statements should submit both documents otherwise, they risk losing marks for areas not addressed in the single document.
Governance Improvement Initiative Award
- To enter, the organisation must meet the following entry requirements;
  - The organisation must be an Irish (i.e. its registered head office is in the Republic of Ireland) not-for profit organisation with social purpose objective. It can be any one of the following organisation types;
  - Incorporated organisation – Company Limited by Guarantee
  - Registered Charity
  - Un-incorporated organisation, – community/voluntary group or association
  - Social Enterprise.
- Organisations may enter for either award type or for both.

Assessment Criteria

Annual Report Award
- There are three stages in the selection of the category winners for the Annual Report Award
- Stage 1: Screening of entries
  - All entries received within the entry cut-off date are assessed and scored by a panel of assessors who review and score the annual reports using a customised score sheet. There are six areas that are assessed and marked. These are;
    - Mission, Purpose, Objectives & Values (20 points);
    - Strategy & Performance (40 points);
    - Outputs, Outcomes & Impact (40 points);
    - Funding (40 points);
    - Governance (160 points) and
    - Financial Reporting (100 points).
  - The assessors use only the submitted document(s) when scoring the entries. Nonprofits that produce separate annual reports and financial statements should submit both documents otherwise, they risk losing marks for areas not addressed in the single document.
  - Based on the marks awarded by the assessors, a long list for each entry category is developed and these entries move the next stage of the process. Entries for those organisations who are not included in the log list will be informed that their entry has not been successful in advancing to the next stage of the process.
- Stage 2: Technical Assessment
  - A panel of accounting firms will assess the financial statements component of the annual reports to examine their compliance with relevant accounting standards and company law (where applicable).
  - Based on the technical assessments and the scores allocated in Stage 1 the shortlisted entries are determined and sent to the final stage. Those long listed entries that do not make the long list are informed.
- Stage 3: Judging
  - A team of 3 judges are allocated to each of the five entry categories and they will judge each of the shortlisted entries in their category and will select an overall winner. The judges will review, assess and score the annual reports on the same six areas used in Stage 1 but the focus of the assessment in this stage is on the quality, clarity and consistency of the story being told in the annual report. The judges will also use the scores and commentaries from Stage 1 and the technical assessments in Stage 2 in their deliberations to select the overall winner for each category.
Governance Improvement Initiative Award
- The entries are screened to see that they meet the entry requirements, shortlisted and assessed by panel judges for the Governance Improvement Initiative Award.