“It is so uplifting to meet so many people blessed with generous hearts and a deep sense of community.”
Ali Mosawi
Donor
Donor
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:
- Strategy, Governance, Definitions and Risk – OCF scored 5/5 on three core standards, and 4/5 on one
- Financial and Information Management – OCF scored 5/5 on both of the core standards
- Philanthropy Services – donor management and grant making – OCF scored 5/5 on five core standards, and 4/5 on one
- Organisational and Network Development – OCF scored 5/5 on the single core standard
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.
