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.”
The 2008 first-place Drucker Award winner, selected from more than 500 nonprofits that applied for the award, was KickStart International, a San Francisco-based organization. KickStart fights poverty in Africa by creating and selling simple tools that help poor entrepreneurs increase their income. Among its innovations is the MoneyMaker irrigation pump, which allows small-scale growers to produce high-value crops year-round and make the transition from subsistence farming to commercial agriculture.
About the Drucker Institute
The Drucker Institute at Claremont Graduate University is a think tank and action tank whose purpose is to stimulate effective management and ethical leadership across all sectors of society. It does this, in large part, by advancing the ideas and ideals of Peter F. Drucker, the father of modern management.
The Institute acts as a hub for a worldwide network of Drucker Societies: volunteer-driven organizations that are using Drucker’s teachings to bring about positive change in their local communities.
In addition, the Institute maintains a digital archive of Drucker’s papers; undertakes research that builds on Drucker’s writings; offers an annual $100,000 prize for nonprofit innovation; produces curricular material that distills Drucker’s decades of leading-edge thinking; applies Drucker’s work to current events (including through a regular online column in BusinessWeek by Institute Director Rick Wartzman); presents a slide show exploring the “Responsibility Gap” — society’s collective failure to be good and ethical stewards of our resources, people and institutions; and hosts visiting fellows with Drucker-like insights and values.
The Institute is a close affiliate of the Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management. For more on the Institute and its programs, go to www.DRUCKERinstitute.com.
About Claremont Graduate University
Founded in 1925, Claremont Graduate University is one of the top graduate schools in the United States. Our nine academic schools conduct leading-edge research and award masters and doctoral degrees in 22 disciplines. Because the world’s problems are not simple nor easily defined, diverse faculty and students research and study across the traditional discipline boundaries to create new and practical solutions for the major problems plaguing our world. A Southern California based graduate school devoted entirely to graduate research and study, CGU boasts a low student-to-faculty ratio.
About The Coca-Cola Company
The Coca-Cola Company is the world’s largest beverage company, refreshing consumers with more than 450 sparkling and still brands. Along with Coca-Cola®, recognized as the world’s most valuable brand, the Company’s portfolio includes 12 other billion dollar brands, including Diet Coke®, Fanta®, Sprite®, Coca-Cola Zero®, vitaminwater, Powerade®, Minute Maid®, and Georgia Coffee®. Globally, we are the No. 1 provider of sparkling beverages, juices and juice drinks and ready-to-drink teas and coffees. Through the world’s largest beverage distribution system, consumers in more than 200 countries enjoy the Company’s beverages at a rate of 1.5 billion servings a day. With an enduring commitment to building sustainable communities, our Company is focused on initiatives that protect the environment, conserve resources and enhance the economic development of the communities where we operate. For more information about our Company, please visit our website at www.thecoca-colacompany.com.
