Quality assurance has become increasingly important in the way that voluntary and community organisations work. Commissioners, funders and groups themselves want to ensure that projects and whole organisations operate in business-like and efficient ways, and that they are able to demonstrate their performance and effectiveness.
A huge range of approaches has been developed for or adopted by voluntary and community sector groups and projects, but there has been comparatively little discussion about how and why particular models are used. As the focus of approaches can vary, this could lead to mismatches between the expectations of funders or commissioners on the one hand and those of delivery organisations on the other.
So in 2011 we commissioned NCVO and OPM to explore how VCS organisations were using quality assurance approaches, and how funders were interpreting them.
Overall, the study found that:
- while the effort involved in working towards standards can be rewarding, there are often concerns that it can sometimes encourage groups to focus on box-ticking rather than making a real difference
- diferent parties have different levels or understanding of the benefits and drawbacks of different approaches
- there is a need for funders, commissioners and voluntary and community organisations to improve their understanding of the range of approaches available and to apply them more in a more informed way.
We hope that the report will help to spark off a discussion about some of these issues and help to promote more informed use of the systems available.
Read the full report
Please contact us if you have any questions or comments.