The Senior Center of South Pearl River County was recently honored at the Mississippi Center for Nonprofit’s 2011 Statewide Nonprofit Management & Leadership Conference for being a member of the first graduating class of the Center’s new Excellence in Action initiative, an intensive course of study in nonprofit management excellence.

This year, along with three other organizations from the Gulf Coast area, the Senior Center became one of the first organizations to have staff and board members complete all requirements for the Excellence in Action program. 

The Mississippi Center for Nonprofit launched its EIA pilot program on the Gulf Coast last fall with the intent of providing nonprofit organizations an exhaustive training on best practices for nonprofit management including legal compliance, board training, financial management, and other subjects relevant to nonprofit management. The program requires members from both the board and staff of organizations to participate.  EIA is the first and only certification program of its kind in Mississippi.

In order to complete the graduation requirements for EIA the Senior Center was required to participate in face-to-face workshops, online seminars, four management courses, required testing to prove their knowledge of key subjects and culminated in a peer review by the EIA board. The goal of EIA completion is to attract and maintain funders who see the certification as an investment in the sustainability of the organization. Says Executive Director of the Senior Center, “It was important for our Senior Center to attain this certification. A nonprofit should be held accountable by its donors, participants and the community. By achieving this certification and utilizing these standards it will help us strengthen our organization, our programs of service and the communities we serve.”

The Senior Center is the first organization in Pearl River County to complete EIA, and its success will be used as a model when the program launches statewide later this year.