Background

National research on the scale of the third sector has seen considerable development over the last decade, particularly, for example, through the NCVO Almanac programme, with its increasingly large sample sizes and introduction in 2008 of a wider definition of ‘civil society’ organisations. But robust approaches to measuring the local sector remain undeveloped. There have been a number of local studies, but these have generally not used standard methodologies and have often been narrowly focused, with small and unrepresentative samples. Good local third sector evidence which can be linked into other local data and indicators of need is lacking. A major challenge is obtaining reliable estimates for the scale, composition and contribution of the non-registered small local community groups.

Concerns about the weaknesses of the third sector evidence base are shared nationally and in other regions. Local and national infrastructure bodies have been lobbying on the subject for years, with NCVO and CAF particularly notable for their efforts. Recently, advances in electronic communications have allowed Guidestar UK to construct better data from the Charity Commission’s register. The Government has also announced the establishment of a national Third Sector Research Centre in partnership with the Economic and Social research Council (ESRC) and the Barrow Cadbury Trust.

In 2007, the Trustees of Northern Rock Foundation decided to put work to address the sector’s weak evidence base at the forefront of their expanded policy and research programme. In doing so, they saw two key roles for the Foundation as a large, regional, independent funder:

  • developing better tools for third sector research at local and regional levels, and sharing those with others;
  • funding research independently so as to shed light on the impact of public policy and on concerns that were not necessarily part of any government agenda.

The primary purpose of the programme the Foundation designed was to provide good-quality, up-to-date information and analysis on the scale, role, contribution and key dynamics of the third sector in North East England and Cumbria. But equally important was the intention to be an independent pathfinder, leading the way in national developments to improve the sector’s evidence base, in particular by developing, testing and sharing more effective research tools. The programme had two linked strands: a quantitative, comprehensive and robust mapping of the third sector universe in the Foundation’s area, and a qualitative, in-depth picture of trends affecting the sector and how they changed over time. The Foundation’s Trustees initially ring-fenced £750,000 over seven years for the project and, following a competitive tendering process, the Foundation identified a multi-disciplinary of organisations to run the programme.

In December 2007, the Northern Rock Foundation confirmed funding of £500k for the first phase of the research over three-years.

In 2011, a further £110,000 was awarded for phase two of the research.

In addition to the North East and Cumbria programme, a Yorkshire and Humberside element was confirmed click here for more information.