There will never be enough charitable dollars to solve all the world’s problems or pursue all the wonderful opportunities before us. Philanthropy is only effective when charities leverage scarce dollars with strong leadership, creative collaborations, and dedicated volunteers. In 1999, the Leightons endowed the largest award program of its kind. The Leighton Award for Nonprofit Excellence, which provides a $100,000 endowment challenge grant to one winner each year, is designed to:

• Recognize and celebrate the outstanding achievement of a local nonprofit
• Attract valuable resources to the award winner to help sustain its strength
• Motivate all charities in our community to pursue excellence through the inspiring examples of the winners and the hope of a major award