National Help
Business in the Community (BitC) runs the CommunityMark guidelines and award for a company's investment in its local community. See www.bitc.org.uk or contact susan.hinchcliffe@bitc.org.uk. BitC has also developed indicators to encourage companies to assess what measurements are most important and then to report them. The report "Indicators that count: social and environmental indicators - a model for reporting impact" can be downloaded free from http://www.globalreporting.org.  AA1000 framework provides a process for assessing relationships with different stakeholders in order to improve accountability and performance. Visit
www.accountability.org.uk or phone 020 7549 0400.

Local Help
Check with your local Business Link about how you can get involved with programmes such as the SBS Benchmarking Index. Details at www.businesslink.gov.uk (England) www.bgateway.com (Scotland)
www.businesseye.org.uk (Wales) www.investni.com (Northern Ireland).

Online Help
www.mysmallbiz.co.uk The Small Business Resource Centre contains information on standards and case studies on how small businesses have used standards to improve their performance.
www.benchmarkindex.com The Small Business Service's Benchmark Index helps small businesses to identify areas for measurement and improvement beyond their financial performance.
www.smekey.org The SME key has free software for companies to create a checklist on their social and environmental impact.
www.globalreporting.org The Global Reporting Initiative is developing globally applicable sustainability reporting guidelines. It gives detailed guidance for voluntary use by organisations looking to report on the economic, environmental, and social dimensions of their activities, products, and services.