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。有必要在英国范围内进行更长期和大规模的投资（重点是英格兰和威尔士）;该项目建立在TSRC和NCVO在该领域现有工作的悠久历史基础上，旨在增加该部门对证据的参与和使用。用第三部门的主要国际学者Lester Salamon的话说，"有效和可靠的统计数据将提高志愿组织的知名度和可信度，有助于提高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。国家统计局、民间社会办公室和这一领域的学术界都支持这些努力。数据资源建设我们将收集英格兰和威尔士约10，000个慈善机构的代表性样本的数据。在资助期结束时，我们将能够在十年内跟踪慈善机构。这将是一个独特的和强大的数据资源的洞察力。样本是英格兰和威尔士慈善机构的人口的代表，并提供合理的所有慈善机构的资源稳健的估计。我们从慈善机构账户的附注中获取信息，描述他们的收入来源（例如，提供其资助者的名称，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识别特定的资金流-特别是公共部门的资助者-以便我们也可以区分赠款和合同。2.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。我们将建立志愿部门财务健康/脆弱性的许多相关指标，我们将制作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。组织将可以通过多种方式自由使用我们的数据：分析其地理区域的慈善机构;选择可能与之建立合作关系的实体;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，例如暴露于特定资金流。知识交流我们将实施参与和沟通战略，制作可访问的输出和有针对性的通信，与具有战略意义的组织合作以提高认识，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多名会员）。主要特点创新和原创：该项目将提供关于英格兰和威尔士慈善机构的特点、分布和资源及其动态的数据基础设施的基础，战略重点和价值：该项目有助于改善社会科学数据基础设施。它将告知公众辩论和政策制定有关的资金基础，为慈善机构，并告知和改善战略决策。增值：英国社会科学基础设施目前缺乏一个权威的证据基础上的慈善机构，这一项目将提供。该项目还为国家统计局评估非营利部门对国民账户的贡献的工作增加了价值。

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.