process

Accreditation by the CMA Standards Council is a straightforward process, but it takes some time because we need to verify your compliance with our principles and standards.

1. First, you should review our Principles and Standards, to make sure you either already comply with all of them, or are willing and able to do so during the application process.
   
2. When you are ready to apply, you fill out a simple online application form. This form typically takes less than five minutes to complete. 
3. We will do a quick check to ensure that you are at least eligible to apply. (For example, one of our standards requires that your organisation has been in existence for more than a year, so if you only registered as a charity two months ago, there would be no point in completing a more detailed accreditation questionnaire).
4. We will notify you within two weeks whether you are eligible to proceed or not. If you are, then we will invoice you for the one-off $550 application fee. This fee is non-refundable, because we will need to invest significant time and effort in assessing your compliance with our standards.
5. Once we receive your application fee, you will receive a link and secure credentials to enable you to begin filling out the main accreditation questionnaire.* At that point, you simply work your way through the questionnaire, answering questions and providing evidence (for example, uploading documents or links) of your compliance with our standards. When you have completed filling out the questionnaire, you submit it, and it is then locked while we assess it.
6. Once you have submitted the questionnaire, our team will begin to verify the information you have supplied.We may contact you and ask for clarification, or for further documentation or evidence.
7. When our staff are satisfied that you have provided all the necessary information, your application is forwarded to our Standards Panel for final approval. All new applications require the approval of the Standards Panel.
8. Once the Standards Panel have approved your application, we will advise you, and issue you with an invoice for the annual fee for your first year, and a request for optional information for our 'Give Confidently' directory.
9. Once we receive your payment, the process is complete! We will issue with your Seal, we will upload your information to our Directory, and we will tell the world of your commitment to good governance, accountability and stewardship! Your partner benefits will commence.

Our desire - our mission - is to help your organisation! So if you encounter compliance challenges on the way through the process, we don't just 'fail' you! We'll do our best, within reason, to help you make the changes you need to make, so that even if you're not compliant when you commence, you will be compliant by the end of the process.

* Due to the need for strong security and privacy regarding your information, we have contracted with an external company, Compliance Experts, to provide the web platform for the application, accreditation and compliance review process.