Self-regulation as a fine balance: Assessing the standards program

Sector self-regulation is an important complement to state regulation when it focuses on the right goals: enhancing governance and good practice through learning and continuous improvement. Making self-regulation work is a fine balance between being rigorous enough to influence nonprofit behaviour and being flexible enough to work for and encourage participation by a wide range of organizations, as well as being financial viable. This paper assess the effectiveness of Imagine Canada’s Standards Program, which is among the most rigorous systems of accreditation for charities and nonprofits in the world, concluding that it has this fine balance about right, but also highlighting significant tensions in maintaining a workable balance as the program matures.