The National Council for Voluntary Organisations and the Third Sector Research Centre are to create a data resource that will improve the evidence base for the voluntary sector, particularly in relation to its finances and resources over the past decade.
The data bank sees NCVO and TSRC collect data from around 10,000 charities in England and Wales, building on the research they already carry out for the annual UK Civil Society Almanac.
It will be used to estimate the resources of all charities and indicate how financially healthy they are
. The project aims to increase access to data by the voluntary sector, helping organisations to build their capacity to analyse and use data themselves.
The culmination of three years funding from the Economic and Social Research Council, the data bank will be free to use, easy to search and will enable organisations and funders to view trends over time, as well as to search by region and work area.
A second grant from the ESRC will build data resources on a wider range of civil society organisations, such as community interest companies, and fund analysis of the voluntary sector through emerging data sources such as open data released by grant-makers and spending data released by government bodies.
NCVO and TSRC will also offer a series of outreach events for voluntary organisations to show how the data can be used. Examples could include measures of the financial vulnerability of organisations and risk-based indicators such as exposure to particular funding streams.
NCVO head of research Nick Ockenden said the information will help to paint an accurate picture of the voluntary sector and help charities demonstrate the difference they make to society.
“Being able to access and use this data will help charities to become more effective and make an even bigger difference in the longer term.”
TSRC director John Mohan said the centre and NCVO have collaborated for several years to develop the evidence base on the third sector.
“These projects will provide a firm foundation for the future development and enhancement of that evidence base. They will also enable important pilot work on emerging data sources on public sector procurement and grant-making. We look forward to working with ESRC on future developments in this field.”
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