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

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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.