Third Sector Research Centre

Centre for Charitable Giving and Philanthropy (CGAP)
The ESRC Centre for Charitable Giving and Philanthropy is the first academic centre in the UK dedicated to research on charitable giving and philanthropy. Three main research strands focus on individual and business giving, social redistribution and charitable activity, and the institutions of giving. CGAP is a consortium including the Universities of Strathclyde, Southampton and Kent, University of Edinburgh Business School, Cass Business School and NCVO.
www.cgap.org.uk

Centre for Civil Society, LSE
The Centre for Civil Society closed as of September 2010, but there are a number of resources still available from the centre's work.
www.lse.ac.uk

Centre for Voluntary Action Studies, University of Ulster
The Centre for Voluntary Action Studies is a research programme led by Dr Nick Acheson housed within the University of Ulster Social and Policy Research Institute. Its main research themes cover VCS-state relations, civil society, diversity and social cohesion, and local community action and it is able to draw on the wider research interests of the SPRI research group, particular through politics, social policy and Canadian studies all of which can be explored on the SPRI website.
www.socsci.ulster.ac.uk

Centre for Voluntary Sector Research, Sheffield Hallam University
The Centre for Voluntary Sector Research (CVSR) at Sheffield Hallam University is an inter-faculty network of 12 academics and researchers with specific research interests concerning the third sector, voluntary sector, and charities in particular. The website gives contact details for all members of CVSR and many published research reports are available online – particularly on areas such as charity regulation, infrastructure support, funding, governance and impact.
www.shu.ac.uk/cvsr

European Network for Housing Research (ENHR)
The European Network for Housing Research (ENHR) was established in 1988 to provide an organizational platform for institutions and individuals in (and outside) Europe, who are actively engaged in housing research. It now has about 1000 individual and nearly 100 institutional members representing almost every country in Europe.
www.enhr.net

Institute for Volunteering Research (IVR)
IVR is a specialist research agency and consultancy on volunteering. Founded in 1997, IVR is an initiative of Volunteering England that aims to develop knowledge and understanding of volunteering in a way that is relevant to practitioners and policy makers.
www.ivr.org.uk
IVR Evidence Bank for volunteering research
This free searchable database contains all IVR publications produced since 1997 and articles from the Voluntary Action Journal.

Non-Governmental Public Action Research Programme, LSE
The Non-Governmental Public Action Research Programme is an ESRC initiative, directed from Centre for Civil Society at the London School of Economics and Political Science, which aims to better understand the impact of public action by non-govermental actors. The programme has funded a wide range of researchers working in the UK and internationally who are based in universities, think-tanks, civil society organisations, projects and networks around the world.
www.lse.ac.uk

Public Policy Network, University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh's Public Policy Network exists as a resource for individuals and organisations developing, commissioning, conducting and debating policy-relevant research. It also serves as a reference point for those looking for an expert opinion on particular issues, and includes an active working group dedicated to third sector research
www.publicpolicynetwork.ed.ac.uk

Third Sector Development Unit, University of Teesside
Third Sector Development Unit at the University of Teesside undertakes applied research, project evaluation and policy analysis to Third Sector organisations and with local, regional and national government bodies which work with the Third Sector. The unit also has strong international links with social enterprise researchers in Japan, Europe, Canada and the United States.
www.tees.ac.uk

Voluntary Action History Society (VAHS)
VAHS aims to advance the historical understanding and analysis of voluntary action. Founded in 1991, VAHS is a membership network of academics, research students and practitioners. VAHS is based in the UK but has members across the world and works closely with international colleagues. It is run by a committee of volunteers who organise a monthly seminar at the Institute of Historical Research in London, a biennial research conference, a New Researchers workshop programme and other events.
www.vahs.org.uk / or contact publicity@vahs.org.uk for more information.

Voluntary Sector Studies Network (VSSN)
VSSN functions to promote the advancement of knowledge about, and understanding of, organisations between the market and the state by providing a virtual and actual meeting point for all scholars and researchers with an analytic interest in the voluntary and community sector, third sector or non-profit sector. VSSN is multidisciplinary, seeking to engage economists, historians, political scientists, sociologists, policy analysts and others.
www.vssn.org.uk
VSSN's new journal, Voluntary Sector Review is available here

Practitioner

Clore Social Leadership Programme: Fellows’ Research
The Clore Social Leadership Programme aims to identify, connect and develop aspiring leaders in the social sector who are working for the benefit of individuals and communities across the UK. Each Fellow benefits from a personalised programme and challenging opportunities for development.

As part of the Programme, each Clore Social Fellow is required to undertake a piece of practice-based research. The purpose of the research is to help develop Fellows' skills as critical users of research, as well as to help develop the evidence base for the sector as a whole. Fellows’ research published to date covers a wide-range of subjects including Penelope Gibbs’ recent report on the relationship between Chairs and CEOs and Joe Ludlow’s report, Impact Networks looking at how large charities can help smaller ones. The research is published here.
www.cloresocialleadership.org.uk

Directory of Social Change
Directory of Social Change carries out a rolling programme of research into over 8,000 funders of voluntary sector activity, as well as conducting regular opinion polls on sector issues and more in depth reports on issues connected to its policy and campaign objectives.
www.dsc.org.uk

NCVO Research
The research team undertake and publish a wide ranging original research programme that aims to support policy and practice in the sector. Agenda-setting work programmes such as the Civil Society Almanac and UK Giving give the big picture of how the sector is changing, whilst in-depth programmes such as Pathways through Participation aim to understand why and how the sector is changing. NCVO works with universities, funders and infrastructure organisations to share best practice and build an accessible evidence base.
www.ncvo-vol.org.uk

Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action (NICVA)
NICVA's research aim and strategy is to contribute to and develop knowledge about the voluntary and community sector for the benefit of researchers, policy makers and organisations interested in the sector. The work of the research team can be broken down into 4 main themes: resources, people, performance and influence.
www.nicva.org

Northern Rock Foundation
Northern Rock Foundation’s Third Sector Trends Study looks at the scale, dynamics and needs of the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector in North East England and Cumbria
www.nr-foundation.org.uk

Public policy exchange
These special events in Westminster offer local practitioners, civil servants and other stakeholders an insight into current policy thinking and the opportunity to feed into future development across all areas of public policy. Their speakers range from Government Ministers and Senior Whitehall Officials to leading Local Authority figures and Third Sector representatives.
www.publicpolicyexchange.co.uk

Research Unit for Financial Inclusion (RUFI)
RUFI undertakes academic, action and evaluative research in a wide range of areas related to poverty, financial exclusion and the development of financial services for lower income households. The Unit has developed a particular expertise in credit union research activities aimed at strengthening credit union capacity and effectiveness within low income communities.
www.ljmu.ac.uk

Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, Interactive Evidence Library
The Interactive Evidence Library (IEL) is an information resource for anyone interested in understanding the Third Sector in Scotland. Research items can be easily browsed, accessed at speed and stored for future reference. The Evidence Library also facilitates comment and discussion, the exchanging of ideas and the sharing of knowledge.
www.scvo.org.uk/EvidenceLibrary

Social Research Association (SRA)
The SRA provide a forum for discussion and communication about all types of social research. They encourage the development of social research methodology, promote standards of work and develop codes of practice. The association monitors the social research funding and promotes training for social researchers. They encourage the use of social research for informing, developing and monitoring social policy.
www.the-sra.org.uk

Third Sector National Learning Alliance (TSNLA)
TSNLA is a growing, national alliance of voluntary and community organisations and social enterprises involved in learning and skills. It aims to provide a coherent national ‘voice’ from and for Third Sector providers across government departments and other important bodies, and a forum for developing Third Sector ideas and proposals.
www.tsnla.org.uk

WCVA
WCVA is the voice of the voluntary sector in Wales. WCVA Research aims to provide accurate, up to date and useful information of the Voluntary Sector in Wales, enabling people to put the case for the voluntary sector effectively.
www.wcva.org.uk

Independent

Serco Institute
The Serco Institute is a think tank funded by the international services company Serco Group plc which undertakes original research into the use of competition, contracting and other innovative approaches to the delivery of public services. The Institute website offers a large resource centre with links to a range of academic, public policy and industry publications, including pages on third sector involvement in the UK public services market and competitive neutrality in bidding for contracts.

Shared Intelligence (Si)
SI is a multidisciplinary research consultancy specialising in public policy development, local government improvement and modernisation, economic development, and urban and rural regeneration. It evaluates policies, programmes and projects, assessing their impact, and testing their sustainability, and uses the learning from these to help organisations manage change and support improvement in the delivery of services.
www.sharedintelligence.net