As part of OCF’s membership of UK Community Foundations, we must pass a rigorous Quality Accreditation assessment every three years. OCF’s most recent accreditation was awarded in October 2017 as part of QA4.
Quality Accreditation is carried out by independent assessors from Ideas to Impact, and ensures we meet common standards of governance, good financial management and proactive business planning. In our most recent evaluation, QA4, we were given the top “exemplar” rating on all but two of the assessment criteria. This provides our donors and supporters with the reassurance that we will handle funds and relationships with the utmost professionalism.
The QA4 process measures every community foundation against eleven ‘core standards’, which are summarised as follows:
To see definitions of the core standards and our scores on each one, please download the summary.
The assessment process involves interviews with each community foundation’s Chair, Chief Executive and selected members of staff, and inspection of over 200 specified documents, policies and processes integral to the organisation’s operation. The conclusions from across the community foundation network are used to document best practice and share it across the UK.
The assessor’s report praised OCF for progress made since the last assessment, QA3, in 2014, in particular in relation to our reinvigorated Board of Trustees, improved online communications, publication of needs research, and better strategic direction. Other areas of strength were OCF’s professional investment managers CCLA and Brompton; a planful approach to upcoming data protection changes; our work with The Student Consultancy and The Good Exchange; our Reciprocate responsible business group; and collaborative working with neighbouring community foundations. Areas for development were to make some of our policies more public and visible; and to seek feedback in a more formal way, such as via a customer feedback survey.
If you would like to know more about how we manage donors’ funds, please contact us.
“Modern teenagers need a voice and to feel that they are really being heard. This in turn will help nurture and shape an empathetic and compassionate society which we will all benefit from.”
“It is so uplifting to meet so many people blessed with generous hearts and a deep sense of community.”
“I really appreciate your work on what for my parents is such an important project. I am glad that the fund has been developing so positively and swiftly.”
“The huge satisfaction to be gained from spending one’s time in giving in your later years far outweighs any pleasures that you can possibly gain on the golf course, on the beach or on the back of the yacht in the Mediterranean sipping martinis.”
“I like to have something worthwhile to get up for each morning… I find that the larger and more strategic the gift, the more pleasure I get out of it.”
“I can’t get over it; I’m still shaking when I talk about it. It’s just incredible… I feel a bit guilty about getting so much pleasure out of giving!”
“Generosity is the best investment.”
“Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.”
“It is more difficult to give money away intelligently than to earn it in the first place.”
“I would never have known about many of the causes I’ve helped if the community foundation hadn’t told me about them. They are doing vital work and they need our support.”
“I am incredibly grateful to be part of OCF. The phenomenal support we’ve had has meant we can keep going; reach more vulnerable and distressed people and pay for our magical herd of horses.”
“Prosperity requires not just investment in economic capital, but also in social capital. Community foundations are playing a critical role in helping to deliver a more inclusive capitalism.”
The Ark T Centre is an arts project in East Oxford, and is situated in a high-risk area for Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE). Ark T is an open and inclusive community, where people, art, and powerful ideas come together, using the transformative powers of creativity to change lives.
SOFEA alleviates multiple social problems: the need for jobs and training for disadvantaged young people; the demand for nutritious food for vulnerable people; and the danger of supplies from the food industry going to waste.
Good Food Oxford supports the existing work of many organisations in and around the city working to make our food system more nourishing, less wasteful and more sustainable.
