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Curation, Verification & Certification

Curation, verification, and certification are examples of assurance systems. When an enterprise meets a specific set of standards and completes a review process, they receive a certificate and are eligible to use a badge. This helps build trust. 

  • Curation refers to the process of becoming Good Market Approved on the digital commons. It uses a dynamic application, online evidence, public profiles with transparent claims, and a crowdsourced monitoring system to keep review costs low and provide the service for free.
  • Verification includes participatory guarantee systems, member verifications, and other participatory processes. Verification systems require specialized evidence for every standard, which increases review requirements, but they use participant engagement, transparency, and crowdsourced monitoring to keep overall costs low.
 
  • Certification requires multiple institutions: a standards owner, an independent certification agency that conducts audits, and an accreditation body that oversees certification agencies. The involvement of multiple institutions increases costs and reduces accessibility for lower-income enterprises, but this system is critical if the certification includes companies under profit-maximizing structures with “trade secrets” and transparency concerns.
See the comparison table for more information on participatory verification and third-party certification. 

The Good Market Commons offers a free curation service, visibility and recognition for credible social and environmental verifications and certifications, and a verification management system. For more information, contact hello@goodmarket.global or click Help on the site to send a help chat message.

Free Curation Service

The free curation service is used by marketplace events, retail shops, ecommerce sites, member organizations, verifications, incubators, accelerators, funders, buyers, and service providers that: 

  • Prioritize socially and environmentally responsible enterprises
  • Want to minimize their own vetting costs
  • Want to include low-income enterprises that cannot afford other verifications and certifications

The curation service can be used in different ways:

  • Give preference to Good Market Approved enterprises
  • Require participants to be Good Market Approved
  • Use the free process as “primary curation” and have additional criteria for full participation

Credibility

The curation process is based on community-governed minimum standards that have been developed and refined since 2012. The standards and curation process have been used by enterprises and networks around the world.

Inclusion

The form is free, mobile-first, and works across economic sectors, legal structures, language barriers, and regional divides. It reduces the burden on resource-constrained enterprises by enabling them to submit a single shared application and access multiple opportunities. 

Monitoring

The curation service includes a built-in crowdsourced monitoring system. Each enterprise has a public profile with transparent claims. If customers or partners have evidence of a false claim, they can flag the enterprise and start a review process.

Custom Invites

If you are Good Market Approved, you can share an invite link to the online form with your own logo and custom text. You will receive automated emails when applicants sign up with your custom invite link and complete the process.

Visibility

If you are Good Market Approved and using the digital commons as a curation tool, you can be included in the list of opportunities at the end of the application form. This increases visibility and attracts new enterprises.

Other Opportunities

  • Activate a network page to increase visibility and benefit your participants.
 
  • Collect and manage additional network data (registration documents, certifications, product details, etc.).
 
  • If you have additional criteria, use the verification management functionality to review and assess other evidence and standards.
 
  • Share data on your own site or with other platforms through an API, white label functionality, or, in the future, open protocol standards.

Badges and Certificates

Credible verifications and certifications that serve socially and environmentally responsible enterprises and are aligned with the minimum sector standards can be added to the digital commons. 

More than 100 verifications and certifications are already included. They appear in search, in filters, on profiles, and on listings.

Badge Visibility

Badge included in the application form, on profile pages and listings, and in directory and marketplace filters

Applicant Pipeline

Flagging

Ability to use the crowdsourced monitoring system to ensure enterprises remove badges from their products and promotional materials if they are no longer verified

Other Opportunities

  • Network page to manage your verified or certified enterprises, increase visibility, and attract new enterprises and partners

 

  • Optional marketplace to show all products, services, and other listings from your verified or certified enterprises

 

  • Optional group space to share information and increase engagement

 

  • Ability to use open protocol to share certificate data across platforms 

Verification Management

Verifiers that exceed Good Market Approved standards and want to reduce costs and administrative burdens, streamline the verification process, and expand opportunities for verified enterprises. 

 

Free global curation process to provide an initial filter and pipeline for eligible enterprises

Translation management functionality for all global languages. Combines initial machine translation and community reviews

Payments and payouts across currencies

Custom Forms

Custom form builder to create forms for evidence submission, site visit records, signed public commitments, etc.
Optional points questions, score calculations, and level recognition

Network Manager

Customizable network manager to track verification status, start dates, and end dates

Activity Tracking

Activity tracking to maintain details on sent messages, payments, site visits, form submissions, form reviews, status changes, etc.

Message Templates

Message templates to streamline communications

Onboarding Checklist

Onboarding checklist and progress bar to support enterprises through multi-step verification processes

Partner Reviews

Optional partner management for verifications that are coordinated with multiple partners

Voting and Notes

Voting and comments to support participatory review processes

Certificate Generation

Automated certificate generation and certificate download that combines a custom certificate design with real-time data

Automated Directory

Optional display in network directory on the digital commons or white-label directory on own site

Monitoring

Access to crowdsourced monitoring functionality

Other Opportunities

  • Administrative, financial, and help desk support from the digital commons team
 
  • Access to data analytics tools for real-time aggregated data, visualizations, and dashboards
 
  • Custom APIs and integrations with other tools and platforms 
 
  • Free group space for all team members, partners, or verified enterprises to share information and make decisions

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