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.