The Drucker Institute Announces Call for Applications for $100,000 Peter F. Drucker Award for Nonprofit Innovation
CLAREMONT, Calif., April 2, 2009 — The Drucker Institute at Claremont Graduate University has announced a call for applications for the 2009 Peter F. Drucker Award for Nonprofit Innovation.
The first-place prize is $100,000. That’s up from the $35,000 awarded in previous years, thanks to a generous grant from The Coca-Cola Foundation. The second-place award is $7,500, and the third-place prize is $5,000.
The award application is now available on the Drucker Institute website (www.DRUCKERinstitute.com). The submission deadline is July 1. (If you have questions about the application or award process, please contact award@druckerinstitute.com).
Administered annually since 1991, the Drucker Award is granted to a social-sector organization that demonstrates Drucker’s definition of innovation—change that creates a new dimension of performance. In addition, the judges look for programs that are highly effective and that have made a difference in the lives of the people they serve.
“Peter told us that the purpose of this prize is to find the innovators, whether small or large; to celebrate their example; and to inspire others,” said Rick Wartzman, director of the Drucker Institute. “This is especially important this year as our flagging economy has left many nonprofits struggling financially while the needs that they’re trying to meet are greater than ever.”
The winners of this year’s competition will be recognized at a gala dinner in Los Angeles later this fall, preceded by a one-day conference on innovation in the social sector. Both of these events have been designated official activities of the Drucker Centennial, which marks Peter Drucker’s 100th birthday. (For more on the Centennial, please visit www.drucker100.com.)
Widely considered the father of modern management, Drucker not only consulted for major corporations, he advised the Girl Scouts of the USA, the Red Cross, the Salvation Army and countless other social-sector organizations. He called the nonprofit “America's most distinctive institution.”