Match My Project and the National TOMs

As more and more organisations sign up to Match My Project, an important question is – how does Match My Project work alongside the National TOMs?

The National TOMs framework is a set of financial proxies that provides a financial value for Social Value requirements – often specified in government tender documents.

They were introduced in 2016 by the Local Government Association but are owned by the Social Value Portal. Currently, to access the TOMs you have to sign up to the Social Value Portal.

There are alternatives. For example HACT, Loop, Thrive and the Social Value Engine. The approach set out below can apply to these frameworks as well.

There is currently no technical integration between Match My Project and any of the products mentioned above, including the Social Value Portal.

A general process for using the TOMs alongside Match My Project

Many authorities start by adapting the TOMs to make them specific for their own places.

For example, our colleagues in Stockport have ‘Stockportified’ a number of the outcomes and are using about 40, which reflect Stockport’s priorities.

Once the outcomes are identified, the measures linked to those outcomes are shared with suppliers in tender documentation.

Most commonly, these are:

NT7 – Hours supporting unemployed people into work
NT8 – Local school and college visits
NT15 – Expert business advice to VCSEs
NT16 – Equipment or resources donated to VCSEs
NT17 – Voluntary hours donated to VCSEs
NT28 – Donations or in kind contributions to local community projects
NT29 – No of hours volunteering to support community projects

Suppliers are then signposted, in the tender documents, to Match My Project to find corresponding Social Value projects to deliver.

Within contract meetings, the contract manager cross references between the Social Value projects found on Match My Project and the TOMs to ensure they align, to see whether suppliers have met their targets and / or to calculate the financial proxies.

What if there isn’t alignment between the TOMs and Social Value projects found on Match My Project?

If a supplier can’t find a Social Value project to support, the supplier can post the Social Value commitment on Match My Project and wait for a community organisation to pick up the offer (or refer in a local person to, for example, access an apprenticeship opportunity).

Is the current situation ideal?

No!

From an operational point of view, suppliers have to use two systems. So far, this isn’t proving a problem, but it’s not ‘optimal’. Full technical integration via an API would solve this.

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And we are very aware of the wider debate about the limitations of using a measurement framework like the TOMs.

Pure descriptions of every Social Value projects – like those found on Match My Project – may be true to reality, but would be difficult to compare, generalise and therefore learn from.

At the other end of the spectrum, financial values based on simplifying assumptions allow comparisons to be made while sacrificing some validity of those comparisons.

Match My Project is a Social Value delivery platform

Our primary focus is to get Social Value delivered in communities, where it’s needed most. Our matchmaking tools facilitate connections between suppliers and community partners – of whom we now have approximately 900 registered on Match My Project.

But we also include an annual SROI evaluation, which provides a more robust assessment of the impact delivered.

Meanwhile, our government, business and community partners can see the tangible Social Value being delivered on Match My Project, because it is verified by community beneficiaries.

Come along to our next online event: ‘Match My Project – By the Numbers’ where take a closer look at the impact being created by the platform.

In recent years, businesses worldwide are becoming more aware of their social responsibility towards the communities they operate in. With this shift in mindset, a growing number of companies are taking initiatives to help their local community through various means. Such efforts not only help businesses establish themselves as socially responsible entities, but also increase their social value and give back to their local communities. Let’s take a closer look at how companies are helping their local community and why it matters.

Local Volunteering

Companies encourage their employees to participate in local volunteering activities. Volunteering opportunities such as cleaning public spaces, conducting awareness drives, and helping out at local nonprofits are becoming more accessible. By offering these opportunities to their employees, companies help to bridge gaps between the community, promote a sense of belonging and increase employee wellbeing… and productivity.

Providing Apprenticeships and Jobs

By investing in local talent, businesses can create a workforce that is not only skilled but also loyal to the company. This way, businesses can become a part of the community and develop a positive image that attracts potential customers and employees. Moreover, by providing jobs, businesses can contribute to reducing poverty and promoting economic growth in the area. It’s a win-win for business and community.

Offering Free Services to Local Community Organisations

Whether it’s fixing a broken window or providing 10 laptops, working closely with community organisations gives companies the chance to provide the exact support needed, when it is needed. Community organisations are already doing the best they can with limited funds, so a little extra help from companies goes a long way.

As businesses continue to expand and become more influential, it is becoming increasingly important for them to play a socially responsible role. By helping their local community, companies can enhance their social value, build their reputation, source local talent, and benefit society as a whole.

MatchMyProject can support all of the above by connecting companies directly with community organisations and local jobseekers. Join now to boost your social value

At Onward, we are committed to making the most positive impact we can for the people and communities we serve. We want our investment to stretch beyond bricks and mortar. Our Director of Strategy, Rob Loughenbury, tells us more…

Our Corporate Plan ‘The Onward Difference’ sets out our commitment to make a positive difference by enabling people and communities to be their best. We will do this by providing homes that people love, in places they are proud of, and by working with our partners to do more. When it comes to making The Onward Difference, we know we can’t do this alone, but by working in partnership.

MatchMyProject has provided us with the tools to do just that by giving more back to our local community through our supply chain, helping all parties achieve meaningful social value outcomes. The platform has allowed us to adjust our approach to better measure and report on social value activity, ensuring we are delivering on our Corporate Plan commitments.

Since joining, our supply chain has supported 14 key projects, donated 259 hours of volunteer time, and pledged a further 259 hours in supporting local community groups. Onward’s largest repair contractor, Fortem Solutions, currently sits at the top of the platform’s leader board after giving 176 hours of their colleagues’ time and donating over £2,300 in materials to community groups that work with us.

Our Procurement Strategy aims to put ‘our customers and neighbourhoods at the heart of purchasing decisions’. MatchMyProject therefore plays a vital role in enabling our community groups to directly access the support they need from our supply chain to deliver things such as training and work experience to gain meaningful employment. We are now in the process of embedding MatchMyProject into our procurement plans for 2023-24, whereby bidders will be able to gain access to existing Social Value opportunities published by our community groups and Onward. We already have 38 communities registered and 37 suppliers. By continuing to encourage our supply chain to sign up to MatchMyProject, we are creating the network we have long needed to make our Social Value impact more sustainable.

We also have plans in place to use the platform to develop our Onward Academy programme, which is currently being piloted in partnership with The Learning Foundry in Merseyside.

The Onward Academy is a new network of organisations we are working to build that will collaborate and use their individual expertise to deliver employment and training for our customers. This network will enable us to facilitate apprenticeships, training and work experience opportunities for our customers that will lead them into good work, and help our own colleagues develop new skills and qualifications. Overall, the Academy will increase the Social Value we offer, help deliver our sustainability strategy and growth plans, and tackle some of the challenges and skills gaps the sector faces such as retrofit.

During our first pilot programme, we have been supporting a small group of 16–24-year-olds across Liverpool to gain valuable work experience as part of a Housing Traineeship. The students have already completed their CIH Level 2 qualification in housing delivered through the Learning Foundry and are now 8 weeks into gaining valuable work experience.

This pilot has been a great opportunity to explore how Onward can support our residents by providing them with the qualifications, skills, and experience to gain valuable employment. By working with some of our partners such as the Learning Foundry who have access to funding and training, this has helped Onward to deliver this at no extra cost. This is just 1 of 3 pilots Onward are currently engaged in under the Onward Academy, whereby we are looking to maximise our partnership working to deliver more employment and training opportunities for our customers and residents within our Neighbourhoods.

Once the pilots have been completed, we will move on to phase two of the programme and conduct a scoping exercise to identify and engage with new delivery partners, rolling out the Onward Academy to expand across our North West geography. MatchMyProject will help us to advertise these opportunities to our communities and connect our supply chain to support work experience.

If you’d like to stay up to date with the latest from MatchMyProject, please get in touch.

Email: hello@matchmyproject.org

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