"We are honored," said Lori Godwin, interim program director of AH. "The generosity of this community is amazing. Being the recipient of this national award validates the hard work of our community volunteers, students and staff, and recognizes the generosity of the Houstonians."
American Humanics is housed in the UH Graduate College of Social Work and is a national alliance of colleges, universities and nonprofits dedicated to preparing the next generation of nonprofit leaders.
In its announcement of the award, the national AH organization cited the high quality of the chapter's annual report, quantity and variety of fundraising projects, and highly successful fundraising efforts. These have included the Annual Recognition Dinner, which raised $79,370 in the 2008-09 academic year with an average of $922.21 earned per student. This surpassed the fundraising totals of any other AH campus. In addition to these impressive results, the University of Houston's fundraising efforts also emphasized best practices in donor management, recognizing loyal donors and outreach to program alumni.
"This level of excellence is indicative of the kind of nonprofit professional we are training," said Ira Colby, professor and dean of the college. "We are proud of this accomplishment and proud of our program and students."
Students and representatives from UH will travel to the American Humanics Management/Leadership Institute in Phoenix, Ariz. in January 2010 to receive this award.
For more information on the UH David M. Underwood Chapter of American Humanics, visit http://uh.edu/humanics/.
For more information on the UH Graduate College of Social Work, visit http://www.sw.uh.edu/main/home.php.