Frequently Asked Questions
What is ONESM?
ONE is an acronym for “Organizations of Noteworthy Excellence.” The ONE Award recognizes noteworthy nonprofit organizations in the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky region for their organizational performance.
The program offers nonprofit organizations the tools for self-examination of their approach, deployment and results achieved through their business processes. Feedback reports by independent examiner teams are provided all applicants. Honorees are examples of exceptional performance in one or more of the key focus areas of People, Process, and Principles.
How does the ONE process work?
The ONE process follows an annual cycle. [Specific dates and times will be published in September 2010.]
| January – April | Orientation sessions familiarize potential applicants with the process, timeline, criteria and application development, and give teams the opportunity to draft their application with guidance from past ONE honorees. |
| May | Applicants submit an eight page application in response to the criteria by end of May 2011. |
| June | Examiners conduct independent review of applications; two or more examiners per application, one application per examiner preferred. Examiner teams develop consensus feedback report to submit to selection panel by late June. |
| June | Examiner teams and ONE Applicants receive site visit orientation; All site visits confirmed on the calendar. |
| July – August | Examiner teams conduct site visits mid-July to mid-August to verify and clarify strengths and opportunities for improvement identified in the consensus process. Examiner teams develop a revised feedback report based on what is learned in the site visit. Final feedback reports (reflecting information learned in site visit) are due to selection panel by third week in August. |
| September | Site visit reports are reviewed by selection panel to identify category honorees and overall ONE honoree by September 1. |
| September/October | Honorees, applicants and examiners are recognized at a reception. Feedback reports for all applicants are delivered by October 31. |
Where is more information available about the Baldrige Quality Award criteria, the basis for the ONE Award?
Visit www.baldrige.nist.gov.