Building the Third Sector Evidence Base: Data capture from accounts of registered charities and associated knowledge exchange activities

我们的重点是改善第三部门的证据基础，并改善该部门对证据的使用。该项目解决了人们对缺乏有关慈善机构财务状况和资源的相关、及时和高质量数据的关切。有必要在全英国范围内进行更长期和大规模的投资(这里的重点是英格兰和威尔士)；这个项目建立在TSRC和NCVO在这一领域现有工作的长期历史基础上，目的是增加该部门与证据的接触和使用。用研究第三部门的领先国际学者莱斯特·萨拉蒙的话说，“有效和可靠的统计数据将提高志愿组织的可见度和可信度，有助于提高该部门和政府的透明度和问责制，并为决策和政策制定提供经验背景”。英国国家统计局、公民社会办公室和该领域的学术界都支持这些努力。我们将开展三方面的活动：1.数据资源建设我们将收集英格兰和威尔士具有代表性的约10,000个慈善机构的数据。到资助期结束时，我们将能够在十年内跟踪慈善机构。这将是一个独特而强大的洞察数据资源。该样本代表了英格兰和威尔士慈善机构的人口，并对所有慈善机构的资源提供了相当稳健的估计。我们从慈善机构账户的笔记中获取信息，描述他们从哪里获得收入(例如，提供他们的资助者的名字，如特定的地方当局、政府部门或慈善基金会)。然后，我们对这些信息进行分类，以便我们能够清楚地确定特定的资金流--特别是公共部门资助者--以便我们还可以区分赠款和合同。能力建设我们将提高慈善机构、政策制定者和资助者对这些数据的认识，以及这些数据对他们的工作和决策的价值。我们将在志愿部门建立许多有关财务健康/脆弱性的指标。我们将编制学习资源并举办活动，以建设使用我们开发的工具和数据资源的能力。各组织将可以通过以下几种方式自由使用我们的数据：概述其地理区域内的慈善机构；选择可能与其发展伙伴关系的实体；考虑组织的财务脆弱性；查看慈善机构人口分布/增长的指标；以及基于风险的指标，如对特定资金流的敞口。知识交流我们将实施参与和沟通战略，产生可访问的产出和有针对性的沟通，让具有重要战略意义的组织提高认识，并通过社交媒体和互联网宣传我们的活动；我们将最大限度地影响大量慈善机构、资助者和政策制定者(例如，NCVO拥有11,000多名成员)。主要特点创新和原创性：该项目将提供关于英格兰和威尔士慈善机构的特征、分布和资源及其动态的数据基础设施，包括随时间变化的数据基础设施。战略优先事项和价值：该项目有助于改善社会科学数据基础设施。它将为公众关于慈善机构资金基础的辩论和政策制定提供信息，并为战略决策提供信息和改进。Value补充道：英国社会科学基础设施目前缺乏关于慈善机构的权威证据基础，而该项目将提供这一基础。该项目还增加了国家统计局评估非营利部门对国民账户的贡献的工作的价值。

Our focus is on improving the evidence base for the third sector, and improving the use of evidence by the sector. The project addresses concerns about the absence of relevant, timely and high-quality data on the financial position and resources of charities. There is a need for longer term and large-scale investment on a UK-wide basis (the focus here is on England and Wales); this project builds on a long history of existing work in this area by TSRC and NCVO with the intention of increasing the sector's engagement with, and use of, evidence.In the words of Lester Salamon, the leading international scholar of the third sector, "valid and reliable statistics will enhance the visibility and credibility of voluntary organisations, contribute to improved transparency and accountability of the sector and of government, and provide empirical context for decision making and policy development". The Office for National Statistics, the Office for Civil Society, and the academic community in this field are all supportive of these efforts.We will carry out three strands of activity:1. Data resource construction We will capture data for a representative sample of c.10,000 charities in England and Wales. By the end of the funding period we will be able to track charities over a ten-year period. This will be a unique and powerful data resource for insight. The sample is representative of the population of English and Welsh charities and provides reasonably robust estimates of the resources of all charities. We capture information from the notes to charities accounts, describing where they get their income from (e.g. giving the names of their funders such as particular local authorities, government departments or charitable foundations). We then classify this information so that we can clearly identify particular funding streams - especially public sector funders - so that we can also differentiate between grants and contracts.2. Capacity-buildingWe will raise awareness of this data amongst charities, policy makers and funders and of its value for their work and decision-making. We will construct numerous relevant indicators of financial health/vulnerability in the voluntary sector.We will produce learning resources and run events to build capacity in using the tools and data resources we develop. Organisations will be free to use our data in several ways: profiling charities in their geographical area; selecting entities with whom partnership working might be developed; considering the financial vulnerability of organisations; looking at indicators of distribution/growth of the charity population, and also at risk-based indicators such as exposure to particular funding streams.3. Knowledge exchangeWe will implement an engagement and communication strategy, producing accessible outputs and targeted communications, engaging strategically significant organisations to raise awareness, and publicising our activities through social media and the Internet; we will maximise impact upon large numbers of charities, funders, and policy-makers (e.g. NCVO has 11,000+ members).Key features Innovation and originality: the project will provide the basis of a data infrastructure on the characteristics, distribution and resources of charities in England and Wales, and the dynamics thereof, including changes over time.Strategic priorities and value: the project contributes to the improvement of the social science data infrastructure. It will inform public debate and policy-making about the funding base for charities and inform and improve strategic decision-making.Value added: the UK social science infrastructure currently lacks an authoritative evidence base on charities, which this project will provide. The project also adds value to the work by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on assessing the contribution of the non-profit sector to the national accounts.