Trust and transparency: Accreditation and impact reporting by Canadian charities

Christopher N. Dougherty*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This article examines the public reporting of impact, defined as progress towards a charity’s mission and long-term objectives, by Canadian charities through their annual reports. The public reporting behaviour of those accredited under Imagine Canada’s Standards Program is compared with a matched sample of charities that have not sought accreditation. The objective is to explore whether trust-building activities like public disclosures of impact and third-party accreditation are convergent. The study finds that accreditation status correlates with impact measurement and reporting; both trends are linked to organizational size, and accreditation does not appear to be causing charities to increase their disclosures of impact, which suggests that there may be underlying factors driving both behaviours. These findings generally affirm earlier research that correlates organizational size with impact measurement, adding that the effect is weak.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)6-25
JournalANSERJ Canadian Journal of Nonprofit and Social Economy Research
Volume10
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 14 May 2019

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