Nominations are assessed locally in each region of England, nationally in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and locally in the Channel Islands and Isle of Man. The process includes verification checks on the group and its work.

A Local Selection Panel short-lists nominations for its area. The Panel is chaired by a Director in the Regional Government Offices, a senior official in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and by the Lieutenant-Governor in the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.

Short-listed nominations are then passed to The Queen's Golden Jubilee Award Committee for final selection and recommendation to The Queen.

In 2007, JAC chaired by Campbell Robb, Director General of the Office of the Third Sector, Cabinet Office.

Committee members:

Ann Pridmore
Chair
UK Disabled People’s Council

Ben Kernighan
Deputy Chief Executive
National Council for Voluntary Organisations

Bill Howat
Chair
Volunteer Development Scotland

Campbell Robb
Director General
Volunteerting and Charitable Giving Unit

Dr Justin Davis-Smith
Deputy Chief Executive
Volunteering England

Lauren Smith
Policy Advisor
Volunteering and Charitable Giving Unit

Lindsey Williams
Director of Communications
Wales Council for Voluntary Action

Lord Amir Bhatia
Chair
Council of Ethnic Minority Voluntary Sector Organisations

Mr Dave Wall
Director of Central Policy and Co-ordination Unit
Department for Social Development

Sylvia Brown
Director
ACRE (Action for Communities in Rural England)

In making its final recommendations, the Committee compares the relative merits of groups across the UK, bearing in mind its terms of reference which require it to ensure that "there is a reasonable balance across the United Kingdom, Channel Islands and the Isle of Man as a whole in terms of the quality and consistency of nominations, the types of group rewarded, and location."

In assessing nominations, the Local Panels and The Queen's Golden Jubilee Award Committee consider whether nominated groups:

• meet a particular need;
• provide community-focused voluntary activities of a very high quality;
• have generated a high level of goodwill and respect amongst those they serve and the community as a whole;
• have evolved locally and are locally run; and
• have a proven track record of active involvement in the community, normally over a period of three years or more for the social, economic or environmental wellbeing of local individuals or groups.