Salute to Excellence

What is Salute to Excellence?

For 30 years, CNM’s ‘Salute to Excellence’ has been a cornerstone event in Middle Tennessee, celebrating nonprofit leadership, impact, and innovation. Over the years, the event has honored over 600 nonprofit organizations and awarded over $3.5 million to exemplary organizations and their leadership.

As the nation’s largest nonprofit award ceremony, last year’s event featured 34 finalists in 12 award categories of excellence. The finalist organizations comprise large and small nonprofits in diverse service areas supporting communities across Middle Tennessee. Winning organizations will receive cash prizes in amounts collectively totaling more than $250,000 and recognition for their accomplishments in serving the Middle Tennessee community.

When and where will the next Salute to Excellence be held?

Salute to Excellence has been postponed until 2024. We plan to host the 30th-anniversary celebration in October 2024. Stay tuned for future updates!

How do I join as a Salute to Excellence event sponsor?

Local nonprofits bring exceptional grit and resolve to the table, making incredible strides toward social change. We celebrate with great pride and gratitude for their countless achievements throughout this past year. We invite you to join local nonprofit leaders and community influencers by partnering with CNM as a future ‘Salute to Excellence’ event sponsor.

As a CNM partner, your funding will support nonprofit strategic growth, capacity building, and sustain CNM’s strength as the social sector’s hub and thought leader. Connect with our Director of Development & Marketing, Kara Duke, to explore upcoming Salute Event Sponsor Opportunities.

Who judges the Salute Applications and how do they make their decisions?

Each award will have a panel of 5-8 community volunteers reading through the applications. They discuss if the application meets the award description and requirements, then recommend winners and finalists to CNM. For some awards, panelists also visit finalist organizations via virtual or in-person site visits.

Membership

How do I connect or disable my account to an organization?

When you log into the CNM website, you will automatically be directed to your personal dashboard. Under “Affiliations” (the second tab from the left), you can see all the organizations your profile relates to.

To remove an affiliation:

• Click the “disable” button on the far right of the organization you want to remove. A pop-up will appear to confirm you want to delete the relationship.

To add an affiliation:

• Click the “Affiliation” button and search for the organization you want to affiliate with. It will then go to their primary contact for approval. If they are not available, our membership team can approve it on our end.

How do I update my account information?

You should update your affiliation with every organizational change. If you have left one organization and started employment at a new organization, you would remove your affiliation from the first one and add the second one. When you log into the CNM website, you will automatically be directed to your personal dashboard. Your dashboard contains all your personal profile information and shows all activities you have done through CNM in one central location.

Even if you have been employed with several organizations over the years, your profile is unique to you and will follow you through each transition. Check out our user manual for step-by-step instructions, from changing an email address to registering for an event!

How do I add a person to my organization’s account?

• • Navigate to your Dashboard
  • Click your organization’s name ( ) next to your role as Primary Member contact – this will navigate you to your organization profile
  • You will see several tabs – click the “relationships” tab
  • Listed below, you will see everyone who is already approved for affiliation – if there are names that are no longer with your organization, you can click disable, and they will be removed
  • To manually add someone as a new affiliation – you will want to click the button “add a relationship,” and a pop-up will appear
  • From the drop-down menu, you can search for the closest job title to their role under “relationship type”
  • You can search for their name under “Contacts,” It will pop up with a notification and let you know if they already have a profile. If they do not, you can enter their information, and it will email them an invite link.

Certificates

How do I complete a CNM certificate?

You complete a CNM certificate by attending the required core and elective workshops. You can select any CNM workshop to complete your certificate.

Workshop & Elective Requirements:

• Board Fundamentals (4 Core Workshops / 0 Electives)
• Volunteer Program Management (3 Core Workshops / 1 Elective)*
• Community Impact (on hold for 2023)
• Program Leader (3 Core Workshops / 2 Electives)*
• Revenue Development & Fundraising  (3 Core Workshops / 2 Electives)*

*For certificates that offer group coaching sessions, attendance at a group coaching session can
take the place of one required elective*

What if I just want to sign up for the core classes, and not any of the elective courses?

You can sign up for just the core workshops; however, you will not receive a certificate unless the required elective workshops are also completed (except the Board Fundamentals Certificate, which does not require electives).

I want to sign up for the certificate, but one of the core workshop dates does not work for me. What do I do?

Although all sessions of CNM certificates are important, you are allowed to miss attendance at one core workshop and still be eligible to complete the certificate by working with your certificate facilitator to make up the missed material.

Certificate candidates who miss more than one core workshop can make up missed sessions by
taking them when they are offered again within a two-year period.