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News

BBBSOK Meets Gold Standard Status

05/01/2009

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Oklahoma receives 2008 Gold Standard Award

     In April, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Oklahoma celebrated a great accomplishment. BBBSOK has received high ranking from the BBBS national office for its performance in the past year. Of the 400+ Big Brothers Big Sisters agencies throughout the country, only 17 agencies met Big Brothers Big Sisters national criteria for Gold Standard performance in 2008 and BBBSOK was one of them. The Gold Standard Award will be presented at the BBBS national conference in June. As a Gold Standard agency, BBBSOK is also eligible both for the Agency of the Year and Board of the Year Awards from BBBSA.

     Agencies are scored in several areas. The number of children served must be higher than 150 and revenue acquired must be over $150,000. Also, the agency is scored on the growth of the number of children that were served in 2007 compared to 2008, and there must have been at least a 7% growth. The same time frame is used to measure the growth percentage in revenue, with the expectation of a 9% growth in revenue. The agency must have experienced a decrease in the 2008 number of matches being closed compared to the national average of 39%. If the percentage of matches closed was higher than the national average (up to 41%), then the agency must demonstrate that it increased its efforts to provide professional match support to Bigs and Littles to at least 90% of its matches.

     BBBSOK has excelled in these areas. BBBSOK served 2,585 children in Oklahoma, an 11% increase in children served in 2008 over 2007. The amount of matches closing for during that time was 37%, a reduction from the national average of 39%. This means more Big Brothers and Sisters are choosing to stay with the program to mentor children who need them.

     Of 17 BBBS agencies receiving Gold Standard awards, only four have been noted this year as Pinnacle Award winners. This is for any agency that has been a Gold Standard performer for two consecutive years, which puts BBBSOK in the running to become a Pinnacle Award winner for 2009.

     The 17 Gold Award winners included: BBBS of the Desert, Palm Desert, CA (Pinnacle Award winner); BBBS of San Luis Obispo County, San Luis Obispo, CA; BBBS of the North Bay, San Rafael, CA; BBBS of the Sioux land, Sioux City, IA; BBBS of Northeast Indiana, Fort Wayne, IN; BBBS of Southeast Indiana, Seymour, IN; BBBS of Frederick County, Frederick, MD; Heartland BBBS, Lincoln, NE (Pinnacle Award winner); BBBS of Mercer County, Trenton, NJ (Pinnacle Award winner); BBBS of the North Country, Watertown, NY; BBBS of Oklahoma, Tulsa, OK; BBBS of Columbia Northwest, Portland, OR; BBBS of Southeastern Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA; BBBS of Greater Columbia, Columbia, SC; BBBS of Middle Tennessee, Nashville, TN; BBBS of Utah, Inc., Murray, UT (Pinnacle Award winner); BBBS of Puget Sound, Seattle, WA.