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How to Acquire
Accreditation
acquA tests an organisation’s ‘fitness for purpose’ organisation and its capacity to deliver services.
Organisations acquiring the acquA kite-mark are admitted to full membership of The Alliance and included on the Register of Approved Providers.
The assessment assists organisations in:
- ensuring legal compliance;
- identifying and/or adopting good practice;
- identifying areas for improvement; and
- streamlining accountability to funders and regulators by avoiding duplication of monitoring of overall fitness for purpose for each individual contract.
For their part, commissioning agencies and funding partners want to invest in organisations that:
- are well managed, led and run;
- have sound financial management, practices and controls;
- adopt safe and legal practice; and
- are in a position to deliver high quality services.
acquA has been developed to take account of other existing accreditation schemes, and quality systems in use in the third sector, in order that the process has a wider purpose and currency.
acquA has been designed by people with practical knowledge of working in the voluntary sector. It is not as heavily bureaucratic and resource-hungry as some of the accreditation processes of which organisations may have experience, and requires providing a minimum amount of documentary evidence.
The accreditation process has 3 main stages:
- Assessment Registration Form (completed by the organisation)
- Diagnostic Visit (External Assessor visits the organisation)
- Assessment Visit
acquA comprises seven units:
- Activities and services
- Looking outwards
- Management
- Finance and resources
- Governance
- Leadership, planning and policy making
- Learning and changing.
Each unit comprises a Standard which has a number of Criteria supporting it.
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Standards & Criteria
Procedure & Guidance Notes (Flowchart)
Or please feel free to Contact Us for any further information.