It builds faith and trust.
It demonstrates that the organisation has been carefully assessed against the Nine Principles of Ministry Accountability, and has scored a 100% passing grade. The CMA Standards Council does not attempt to rank or score an organisation. An organisation either meets the standards completely, and is thus accredited, or it falls short. When donors see the CMA Standards Council 'Accreditation' Seal, they can give confidently and generously, knowing that the organisation takes governance, accountability and stewardship seriously.
We are all ultimately accountable to God, but Scripture encourages us to not merely do what is right, but also to be seen to do so:
"taking precaution that no one should discredit us in our administration of this generous gift, for we have regard for what is honorable, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men." 2 Cor 8:20-12, NASV
The CMA Standards Council is not a 'watchdog' - we are your ministry accountability partner. We work and pray with our accredited partners to help them reach the highest levels of governance, accountability and stewardship.
Here are some the the inquiries CMA has fielded over recent months:
Our board likes the CMA Governance standards, and we think we meet them, but how can we be sure? Is there a means by which we can satisfy our board, and stakeholders, that we really are in conformity with an external set of standards?
We know we're doing the right thing, but just saying so doesn't satisfy everyone. So we would love someone other than ourselves to vouch for us. Then, if people are hesitant to take our word for it, we could simply say, "OK - ask this third party - they will attest to our good practices."
Our foundation is asked to channel donations to various organisations. We don't have a reliable means of assessing the recipient organisations in terms of their governance and stewardship. We've seen the CMA Standards Council standards, and in future, we will preference our distributions to organisations who carry the Standards Council Seal.
CMASC accreditation is our response to these and other queries.
A number of well-regarded Christian ministries offered (or were approached) to be part of a pilot program, which was successfully concluded after the launch in November 2017. This pilot program enabled us to test the systems with live data, examine the Standards in a live working environment, and iron out any wrinkles in a collaborative test environment. On 16 November 2017 the CMA Standards Council was officially launched at a major event in Melbourne and is now "open for business" to accept applications for accreditation from all worthy Christian organisations. Apply online here.
Contact us to request an information pack, make an inquiry, or get connected.