The Dayton Foundation has been awarded an Ohio Nonprofit Excellence Award for its first-in-the-nation Legacy Partnership Program. Sponsored by the Ohio Association of Nonprofit Organizations (OANO), a statewide membership association of nearly 600 nonprofit organizations, the awards program recognizes the creativity, execution, achievement and overall excellence of a specific project or program by an Ohio nonprofit in 2005. The award was presented at the first annual Ohio Nonprofit Excellence Award luncheon held on May 4 at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus.

Since its inception in 2002, the Legacy Partnership Program successfully has identified over 600 new documented, deferred gifts, with an estimated total value of more than $24 million, earmarked for the endowment funds of local charities.

The Legacy Partnership Program is designed to assist Greater Miami Valley nonprofits in starting or invigorating an endowment program through the Foundation, to ensure the long-term stability of services and programs in the community. Utilizing the expertise of the Foundation’s Development staff, participating organizations gain valuable knowledge about how to develop stronger relationships with donors. The Dayton Foundation established the Legacy Partnership Program after research showed that 60 percent of local nonprofits have no endowment fund and only 51 percent have cash reserves greater than 5 percent of budget.

Forty-six area nonprofits currently are participating in the Legacy Partnership Program. Additionally, the program has been replicated by two other community foundations, one in California and another in Alberta, Canada.

Said Michael M. Parks, President of The Dayton Foundation, “We’re very proud to receive this prestigious award and to help fill the legacy fundraising gap for local not-for-profit organizations. The net result is that more money will be going to these organizations for the benefit of our community.”