Imagine Canada offers a peer-reviewed accreditation program across Canada for charities and not-for-profit organizations. Launched last year, this program requires participants to report on 73 different standards in five main areas (Board governance; financial accountability and transparency; ethical fundraising; staff management; volunteer involvement). A participant will receive a 'trustmark' as evidence of accreditation; each organization is accredited for five years.
Seventeen organizations participated in the 2011 pilot of the program and were the first to be accredited. The names of these organizations, along with further information on the program, are available on Imagine Canada's website: www.imaginecanada.ca/standards.
Let us know your thoughts. Is accreditation valuable? Will donors? your peers? funders? be influenced by a trustmark?
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