Third sector capacity building : the institutional embeddedness of supply

Previous articles in Voluntary Sector Review have documented the evolution of third sector capacity-building policy (Macmillan, 2011) and addressed the focus on ‘market-making’, characterised by a discursive shift since 2010 that favours demand-led over supply-led delivery models (Macmillan, 2013). This article builds on these articles by using data from the National Survey of Charities and Social Enterprises (NSCSE) to investigate the characteristics of third sector organisations on the supply side of the capacity-building ‘market’. We argue that the ambitions of the demand-led model need to be understood in the context of the embeddedness of these organisations. This is based on findings that suggests that, immediately prior to the identified discursive shift, a significant proportion of third sector capacity-building providers were embedded in the supply-led model through relationships with and funding from the public sector locally and nationally. This, we suggest, could thwart the ambitions of the demand-led model

Telling tales of commissioning: insights from a qualitative longitudinal study of third sector organisations

There is much debate and a developing body of research concerned with the implications of third sector organisations engaging with commissioning processes associated with public service delivery. Much commentary and analysis is highly critical of commissioning and its effects, and more generally tends to portray third sector organisations as either fragile and at risk or in need of reform and modernisation. By drawing on contrasting case studies of voluntary action through a qualitative longitudinal study, this working paper explores the nuances involved for third sector organisations in understanding, navigating and negotiating a complex commissioning environment. After describing the commissioning experience of our four case studies, we focus on five cross-cutting themes: rules, resources, refocusing and restructuring, relationships, and re-thinking the problem. We conclude that while commissioning is no doubt challenging for voluntary organisations, particularly smaller ones, they are not passively responding to their environment but developing a range of tactics to navigate the landscape, and to actively challenge and shape it

It’s time to talk: Voluntary action, the state and welfare provision

1. The 1940s and the 2010s were significant periods of transformation in the shape and direction of social welfare services across England. In both periods assumptions about the responsibilities of citizens, the state, voluntary action and the private sector became open to debate. 2. Both decades were also transformational times for the voluntary movement, involving coming to terms with new realities and rethinking its part in welfare provision. 3. Comprehensive discussion in the 1940s about the new role and responsibilities of the state in social welfare has not been matched in the 2010s. 4. In the 1940s the voluntary movement and the Labour government consolidated a pragmatic partnership that overcame initial suspicion on both sides, while the 2010s were marked by a more antagonistic relationship between government and the voluntary sector. 5. It’s time to talk. A national conversation, which tackles the issues and seeks to build consensus on our welfare future, is needed. 6. We invite you to be part of this new debate, by reflecting upon, sharing and acting on this research and its implications

Co‐curation: Archival interventions and voluntary sector records

Abstract: There is a growing trend across the social sciences to engage with archives. Within human geography, this has stimulated a debate about the nature of archives, including moving from considering "archive as source" to "archive as subject." We build on and extend this thinking, suggesting that an even more active appreciation of the dynamic nature of relationships between researchers, owners of records, and archival material is needed. This paper draws on an interdisciplinary study of voluntary action and welfare provision in England in the 1940s and 2010s to highlight how the different iterative processes involved in collaborative archival research are part of what we call co‐curation. Co‐curation involves the negotiated identification, selection, preparation, and interpretation of archival materials. This has implications for both research processes and outcomes