Mapping

The first stage is developing reliable estimates of the numbers, scale and scope of third sector organisations in the region by:

integrating local data from the principal registers and regulators of the sector;
using directories or databases from local infrastructure bodies;
integrating data from these sources with statistics on the wider third sector, through GuideStar UK’s databases and others.

The researchers will conduct surveys designed to provide a basic profile of unincorporated organisations (which do not feature on national registers); these surveys will also facilitate benchmarking of other surveys by members of the consortium. To maximise response and representativeness, these surveys will ask a limited range of questions.

The researchers will also conduct analyses of large-scale survey datasets on volunteers and the VCS workforce (e.g. the Citizenship Survey, the Labour Force surveys) and will carry out extensive analyses of the Guidestar databases. These cover a range of topics: governance and management, workforce, trustees, volunteers, resources, sources of funds, expenditure. There will also be analysis of the geographical distribution of organisations and resources and temporal trends. Throughout, the emphasis will be on what is distinctive about the characteristics of the third sector in the northern region, and to this end results will be compared both with national profiles and with findings from elsewhere.

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