Nonprofit Mission Awards

Each year, nonprofit organizations across Minnesota make incredible contributions to our state's high quality of life. The Minnesota Nonprofit Mission Awards were created specifically to honor these contributions.

Whether COVID-19, the racial justice uprising following the killing of George Floyd, or increasing divisions and disparities in our state and nation, Minnesota nonprofits played vital roles over the past year in supporting communities, fostering solutions, and advocating for the change we hope to see.

Since 1987, the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits has been showcasing the work of Minnesota’s outstanding nonprofits through the Nonprofit Mission Awards in the categories of:

Innovation (Nominations have closed)
Anti-Racism Initiative (Nominations have closed)
Advocacy (Nominations have closed)
Responsive Philanthropy (Nominations have closed)

Nomination Deadline: Monday, June 14, 2021 at 8 a.m.

See Past Recipients

Nonprofit Mission Awards recipients will receive:

$2,500 cash award (for all recipients except for Responsive Philanthropy recipient)
Recognition in front of 500 nonprofit peers at the 2021 MCN Annual Conference
A one-of-a-kind art glass award
A feature profile of your organization in MCN's Nonprofit News reaching 15,000 nonprofit employees
Two free registrations to the 2021 MCN Annual Conference (value $179 each)
Highlighted via MCN social media channels

Timeline:

April 23 -June 14
Call for Nominations

June 15 - July 16
The Nonprofit Mission Awards Selection Committee will review all complete nominations in the categories of Innovation, Anti-racism Initiative, Advocacy and Responsive Philanthropy and narrow the field of nominations to three finalists in each category. Finalists, as well as all nominations not advanced, will be notified.

July 19 - July 31
MCN member organizations and their staff members will be invited to vote on the winners from the field of finalists. The finalists with the winning number of votes in each category will be selected to receive the awards.

August 1
Recipients will be notified (but will not be publicly announced until October).

October 1
Award recipients are announced.

October
The Nonprofit Mission Awards ceremony will take place during the MCN’s virtual Annual Conference on October 14-15, 2021.

Mission Awards Selection Process:

Staff members, board members, volunteers, program recipients, donors, or other supporters may nominate a nonprofit for a Mission Award.

The Nonprofit Mission Awards Selection Committee will then review all complete nominations in the categories of Innovation, Anti-racism Initiative, Advocacy, and Responsive Philanthropy and narrow the field of nominations to three finalists in each category.

All MCN member organizations and their staff members are invited to vote on the winners from the field of finalists. Voters can vote once in each category and must have their MCN Individual Member ID Number in order to cast their votes. The recipients of the four awards will be decided by member votes and the organizations receiving the most votes will win. Finalist organizations and their staff members are not eligible to vote within their own category.