By Claire Racine

A new report, Mapping third sector quality sector standards and the Compact, found the Compact to be complementary to third sector quality standards.

Quality standards tend to be assessment tools that help organisations examine what they do, identify areas where they are doing well and not so well and decide where improvements should be made.

Many third sector organisations choose to adopt quality standards to help them run their organisations effectively and efficiently.

Research, carried out by Institute for Voluntary Action Research on behalf of the Commission for the Compact, looked at eight quality standards and how they relate to the Compact, the agreement that provides an overall framework for promoting effective partnership working between the Government and the voluntary and community sector.

“This research shows that the Compact complements many of the quality standards in use by third sector organizations,” said Sir Bert Massie CBE, Commissioner of the Compact.

“We hope this makes it easier for charities to see that the Compact isn't something extra they have to do, but it complements what many of them are already doing.”

The eight quality standards which were selected to be mapped against the Compact included: ACRE Good Practice Quality Standard, Hallmarks of an Effective Charity, investing in Volunteers Standard, Investors in People Standard, NAVCA Quality Award, PQASSO, Quality First and VISIBLE.

In addition to showing a high similarity between Compact principles and quality standards, the main findings show a similarity between the Compact and the quality standards across partnerships, fundraising and external funding, volunteering and strategic leadership and management.

The report also highlighted that various factors were found to influence the relationship between the Compact and the quality standards including language and structure.

For more information or to download the report, go to www.thecompact.org.uk.