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Development

The government's ChangeUp strategy, a 'capacity building and infrastructure framework for the voluntary and community sector', was published in June 04. While it only applies to England it does influence other parts of the UK. It focuses on 5 key areas: Performance improvement, Workforce development, ICT, Governance, Financing voluntary and community sector activity.

• See Funding, finance and support pages from Office of the Third Sector at the Cabinet Office.
• The national picture is driven by a body set up by the sector, but governemnt funded, Capacity Builders.
• For ICT progress, see our Voluntary Sector and IT page.
• For web sites of all the national support streams, see our Professional Bodies page.

NCVO has a Voluntary Sector Infrastructure section on its web site.

RSA Project 2001 This ran pilot projects in Yorkshire and London, supporting voluntary organisations "in providing a quality learning experience for volunteers, committee members and staff". The resulting report Making it Work - Learning and Accreditation in the Voluntary Sector, (Mar 01) costs £5 inc p&p from 020 7451 6833.

Research Bodies

• ARVAC (Association for Research in the Voluntary and Community Sector) aims to increase effectiveness through research, and provide researchers with a supportive network. Web site being rebuilt, spring 03. There is also a research discussion list - a good place to ask the experts but probably not for the casual user. 2D Aberdeen Studios, 22-24 Highbury Grove, London, N5 2EA, phone 020 7704 2315, email: arvac@arvac.org.uk

• CAF Research Programme Best known perhaps for annual 'Dimensions of the Voluntary Sector' research and analysis of data on the sector, now available mainly online. Many publications now handled by DSC - see Publications page. Some of the latest research is available free on the web (register first if you haven't used CAF's site before). This includes: payroll giving, gift aid, income from central government and health authorities, trends in individual giving, local/community income. Free printed copies from CAF Research, phone 01732 520125, email: research@caf.charitynet.org
  
  CAF does/supports various other research. Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent, ME19 4TA, phone 01732 520000.

• Centre for Civil Society at LSE has an extensive list of publications. There is also a connected Centre for the study of Global Governance, which produces a Global Civil Society Yearbook - try 2004/05 edition link.

• Centre for Government and Charity Management, London South Bank University. Extends to social enterprise; current and recent masters dissertations on various charity topics available.

• Centre for Nonprofit Management - Trinity College, Dublin.

• Centre for Voluntary Action Studies, University of Ulster.

• Centre for Voluntary Sector Management, Henley Management College.

• Centre for Voluntary Sector Research, Sheffield Hallam University. Undertakes contract research for organisations.

• DANGO (Database of Archives of Non-Governmental Organisations) is tackling the availability of records relating to non-governmental organisations and pressure groups active in the UK since 1945, to help assess the impact of such bodies on society. Based at Brimingham University’s Centre for Contemporary Governance and Citizenship in the UK.

• EMES European Network studies third sector, social enterprises etc.

• Institute for Jewish Policy Research has undertaken studies on governance, resources etc. within jewish voluntary sector.

• Institute for Voluntary Action Research, a new independent, charitable research institute, has been developed out of Aston Centre for Voluntary Action Research, Aston Business School.

• Institute for Volunteering Research Connected with Volunteering England. Quite a lot of research activity, own journal and Research Briefings online.

• nfpSynergy, a commercial business, aims to "provide ideas, insights and information to help not for profit organisations thrive in a changing world."

• NCVO produces a regular Public Policy Update - look under What we do > Policy (at March 07).

• Third Sector Development Unit, University of Teesside.

• The Royal Irish Academy hosts a Third Sector Research Programme.

• UK Voluntary Sector Research Group (UKVSRG) brings together the researchers of the four national sector bodies (see Support Bodies page). Wales - WCVA is facilitating a Wales Voluntary Sector Research Network - look under Policy and Research. Scotland - we can't locate a link to SCVO's sector research network after their web redesign, spring 05.

• Voluntary Action History Society aims to advance the historical understanding and analysis of voluntary action, charitable and voluntary organisations and to build a network of academics, students and practitioners working in this field.

• Voluntary Sector Research Centre, Glasgow Caledonian University.

• Voluntary Sector Research in Ireland Online database.

• Office of Third Sector Research and Statistics. They run a ' State of the Sector' Panel, with input from thousands of voluntary and community organisations in England. Previous publications include The Paradox of Compacts: Monitoring the Impact of Compacts, 2003 Home Office Citizenship Survey: People, Families and Communities.

• Voluntary Sector Studies Network "provides a virtual and actual meeting point for scholars and researchers both outside and within the voluntary (third or non-profit) sector(s), with a shared analytic interest in this set of institutions."

• There is a move to producing regional statistics on the sector. See our Local/Regional contacts page.

International (mainly US)

• ARNOVA (Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action) is the American equivalent of ARVAC but has got much more on its web site. They sponsor Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly.

• Centre for Voluntary Sector Research and Development. Canadian.

• Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy (CNP), part of Urban Institute. Projects include the National Center for Charitable Statistics (NCCS) and Research Initiative on Nonprofit Advocacy.

• International Society for Third Sector Research (ISTR) has a European Network, an academic journal, Voluntas, plus a quarterly newsletter (current issue needs a password to download) and occasional issue-based reports.

• Johns Hopkins University hosts the ISTR (above) and the Centre for Civil Society Studies. They have run Comparative Non-profit Sector Project for some years, which looks at how the sector differs across countries.

• Nonprofit Sector Research Fund Another American outfit.

• Literature of the NonProfit Sector A search facility geared to finding particular papers (probably academic in nature).

Research Projects and Reports

Charity Law Unit, University of Liverpool. See Projects Reports page for latest available publications.

• Charities and the Contract Culture. Report, July 99, on a year-long research project to identify problems of a legal nature which have arisen for charities as a result of the 'contract culture'.
• Legal Issues in Charity Mergers Report, Jan 01, on a year-long research project to identify the legal issues arising in charity mergers and the different responses to them, and to consider the most appropriate solutions to commonly experienced problems.

Charity Law Research Unit, University of Dundee seems to have disappeared at January 07 - there's still a couple of staff with research interests in this area.

Joseph Rowntree Foundation carries out some research of relevance. Published 12/3/01: 'The role and future development of black and minority ethnic organisations'. This mapping exercise looks at the role of black and minority ethnic-led voluntary and community organisations in England and Wales.

Public Management Foundation Wasted Values: harnessing the commitment of public managers (Nov 99), available from their online bookstore. A report on research into the goals and motivations of senior public managers. It concludes that public sector managers and their private sector counterparts are motivated by very different things. In June 99, the Foundation undertook a nationwide survey of 400 of the UK’s top public, private and voluntary sector managers. Asked about their goals and about what motivates them to do their job well, managers in the three different sectors gave some revealingly different replies. Voluntary sector managers show a mixture of public and private sector views. See our News Review.

Also see Training - professional development as most of the higher education establishments listed run research programmes to some extent.