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Glossary
Accreditation A process leading to certification confirming that identified standards and criteria are met, usually carried out by an external body.
Accreditation Broker The person appointed to provide independent support to organisations going through the accreditation process.
Accreditation Panel The Accreditation Panel has been appointed by the Board of The Alliance to adjudicate on applications for accreditation under The Alliance's accreditation scheme for third sector organisations providing services in the field of health and social care. It carries out its activities in objectively scrutinising and making decisions on applications based on the recommendations of the Assessors and at arms length from the Board. It reports its decisions to the Board for ratification.
Aim An aim tells everyone why the organisation or service exists and the difference it wants to make.
Assessed need A health and/or social care need which has been recognised and defined by a suitably qualified health/social care professional using a nationally recognised and accredited assessment tool.
Assessment visit The formal visit by an Assessor to an organisation to review its operation and to gather the necessary information from which to compile the assessment report and recommendation to the Accreditation Panel.
Assessor The person appointed to undertake the accreditation assessment process on behalf of The Alliance. An Assessor will be allocated to an organisation undergoing accreditation and will be the Assessor throughout the process.
Benchmarks A comparison of activities or results (performance) against those already achieved by your organisation or by another organisation.
Business Plan A detailed plan showing how an organisation will manage and secure the resources in order to achieve its strategic aims.
Charity Commission The Charity Commission is established by law as the regulator and registrar for charities in England and Wales. It aims to provide the best possible regulation of charities in England and Wales in order to increase charities' effectiveness and public confidence and trust.
Chief Officer The most senior member of staff responsible for managing the delivery of the organisation's activities. Variously called Chief Executive; Manager; Director; Coordinator.
Client The person or group receiving a particular service.
Commissioner The organisation or person seeking to obtain specified services.
Company Secretary The Company Secretary is the chief administrator for a company. All private and charitable companies limited by guarantee must have a Company Secretary. (S)he normally takes charge of ensuring that any documents which need to be sent to Companies House are sent on time.The Company Secretary is an officer of the company.
Desktop review The consideration of documentation submitted by an organisation to their Assessor prior to the diagnostic visit. This enables the Assessor to establish whether the documentation provided meets the relevant criteria, identify the range of personnel to be interviewed in due course during the assessment visit, and identify any areas to be explored further during the diagnostic and/or assessment visits.
Diagnostic visit The initial visit by the Assessor to an organisation for a semi-structured interview in order to review the initial self assessment made by the organisation and agree a time frame for the full assessment visit.
Director The term is used to refer to a member of the management committee, board of directors or board of trustees. Directors are responsible for ensuring that an organisation is properly governed and managed. Company Directors have specific responsibilities to ensure that statutory documents such as accounts and annual returns are delivered to the regulatory authorities.
Effective Having the results or effect that you want; producing the intended benefits.
Efficient Producing the intended results with the minimum necessary resources.
Ethical Acting in accordance with identified moral principles.
Evaluation A process of making judgements on how an organisation or service is doing, assessed against agreed criteria.
Fit for Purpose An organisation which is 'fit for purpose' can demonstrate that it has appropriate structures, policies and procedures in place to ensure the safe delivery of its current and future services to a good standard.
Full Cost Recovery The inclusion of the relevant part of overhead costs as part of the total cost of delivering a service.
Funder A person or organisation providing finance for a service or activity.
Fundraising Specific licensed activity such as a street collection or event to attract donations.
Good Practice Methods and procedures which work and are appropriate for the sector. These are normally based on shared knowledge and experience, expert advice or on the recommendations of regulators. This is sometimes referred to as 'best practice'. For the purposes of accreditation, the term 'good practice' is used throughout the documentation.
Governance The way in which an organisation understands its responsibilities, manages itself effectively, adopts safe and legal practice and is properly accountable.
Governing Body The management committee of the organisation. For a registered charity this is the Board of Trustees. For a limited company or charitable company this is the Board of Directors.
Governing Document The legal document defining the legal status of the organisation. For a company it will be a Memorandum and Articles of Association; for an unincorporated Association, it is likely to be a constitution or rules; for a Trust it will be a trust deed (sometimes called a declaration of trust).
Impact Impact refers to longer term and/or wider ranging effects or changes e.g. longer term effects on users, effects on society as a whole.
Income Resources and assets received by an organisation.
Input The resources and activities that an organisation uses to create the services offered.
IT / ICT Information Technology and Information and Communication Technology, refers to all hardware, software and related systems including the internet.
Mission Statement of the purpose of an organisation, normally including its overall aims and values.
Networks Groups of people or organisations who interact with each other.
Objectives The practical steps to be taken to achieve an organisation's aims.
Outcome Outcomes are the effects of your activities on your users or other stakeholders i.e. the changes brought about by your activities.
Output Outputs refer to the volume and range of products/services delivered by your organisation and the number of people using them.
Partnership An arrangement between individuals or organisations to enable them to work together.
Performance This refers to both the accomplishments of an organisation and to the way it functions. Performance can usually be measured where targets and outputs have been set. Organisational performance can also be compared with other similar organisations (bench-marking). See also Benchmarks.
Plan A description of how an organisation will achieve certain things.
Policy A statement of how an organisation will deal with specific issues.
Procedure A written description of how things are done.
Process A series of actions that are carried out to achieve a specific result.
Procurement The process whereby funders secure services.
Project A significant task involving activities and resources that require co-ordination and control, usually time limited, often to pilot or test a new way of working.
Purchaser A person or organisation who procures and pays for, i.e. buys a specific services.
Recognised Need An identified gap in provision of service for an individual, group or community, for which there is some evidence.
Resources A stock or supply of materials or assets (including financial, human, intellectual) that can be drawn on in order to function effectively.
Services The activities undertaken and resources provided for users and delivered for purchasers, including projects, contracts, service level agreements and grant-aided work.
Service user The person who uses the products/services of an organisation.
SORP Statement of Recommended Practice on Accounting by Charities.
Stakeholder Anyone who has an interest in the activities of an organisation, including service users, funders, staff, volunteers, supporters etc.
Standard An agreed level against which an activity or service is measured.
Supplier Anyone who provides goods or services to an organisation.
Target Something to aim for that will produce a measurable result.
Trading The delivery of goods or services in return for some form of payment.
Trend A change over time.
Trustee A person responsible for overseeing the management of charity. Can also be called by different names according to the legal status of the charity and its Governing Document. Common examples include 'Director' (of a charitable company); 'Member of the Management Committee'; 'Member of the Council of Management'; 'Executive Committee Member'.
User A person who uses the services of an organisation, including clients, participants, beneficiaries, casual callers and referring agencies (but not commissioners of services or funders).
Values Guiding principles and beliefs about how something should be done.
Vision An image of what the future could be like; an aspiration for how an organisation can achieve its mission.
Some glossary definitions are drawn from other sources and publications including those of Charities Evaluation Services, Charities Aid Foundation and the Charity Commission.