Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organizations (PANO)

Pennsylvania's statewide association for nonprofit organizations. Provides board governance training, the Standards for Excellence accreditation program, advocacy on nonprofit policy, group purchasing discounts, and an extensive operations resource library.

The Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organizations (PANO) is the statewide membership association serving the Commonwealth's 70,000+ nonprofit organizations. Membership is sliding-scale based on organization budget, making it accessible even to all-volunteer watershed groups and very small nonprofits.For an emerging or growing watershed organization, PANO offers a uniquely deep set of capacity resources: the Standards for Excellence accreditation program (a self-paced organizational development framework that walks a board through governance, financial controls, fundraising practices, transparency, and program effectiveness — and earns a credential at the end); a library of model documents (bylaws, conflict of interest policies, financial controls, employee handbooks); regular trainings on board governance, fundraising, advocacy, and nonprofit law; a statewide annual conference; and a member-pricing benefit on insurance, payroll services, and background checks.PANO also advocates at the state level for nonprofit-friendly policy and is a useful intermediary when navigating PA Department of State filings, charitable registration, and the PA Bureau of Charitable Organizations. For an H2O Network member that's still figuring out how to formally operate as a 501(c)(3), PANO is the right cheap insurance policy.