One of the It is very tempting to view
voluntary agencies rather like very fragile “black boxes” adrift on a turbulent
sea and at the mercy of powerful social, economic and political pressures. The direction of their journey and their very
survival is determined by critical success factors. Although the spate of
studies have undoubtedly advanced the state of knowledge about voluntary
organisations, we still know very little about the internal composition and
operation of the black boxes and even less about the way in which internal
factors interact within the external world. The point of this research article
is to assess the factors that impinge upon opening and understanding the ‘black
box’ such as governance and quality, leadership, workforce, performance,
partnerships and finance and funding. These different critical success factors
are part of the inter-locking infrastructure tools of voluntary organisations
to perpetuate what works; and what the implications are if some do not work.
This requires engagement with research literature on these significant tools of
thinking and practice. Arguably the voluntary sectors infrastructure has come
under unprecedented scrutiny in the last three to five years, following the
British government’s express intention of creating a step change in the support
provided to the sector. Lots of searching questions are being asked of infrastructure,
not least by the sector itself.
Many of these questions concern what infrastructure
services are needed, what is provided and how it is coordinated. A word of
caution however: overall, it is fair to
say that the evidence base in relation to the success factors of VCS
infrastructure is extremely scarce. What there is of an evidence base is
fragmented and dissimilar. The evidence that has been included in this
assessment tends to derive from single project and programme evaluations of VCS
interventions rather than more comprehensive studies of infrastructure as a
whole. This also means that it is very difficult to bring evidence together in
any cumulative sense to gain an impression of the overall or aggregate impact
of VCS infrastructure. Instead the evidence tends to emphasize the benefits of
particular approaches, projects or activities. There have been scarce
longitudinal research designs, in which interventions and their (beneficial)
effects can be studied over time; or comparative research or evaluation
designs, for example where ostensibly similar interventions or the work of
comparable agencies are undertaken in different settings.
-
Over 75% of the UK population are involved in volunteering, either through an
organisation or group, or on a more informal basis.
-
Research suggests that some 23 million people volunteer each year, providing a
workforce equivalent to 180,000 full-time volunteers. The economic value of
formal volunteering in the UK has been estimated at more than £40 billion per
year, or 7.9% of GDP. For every £1 of public funding spent to support
volunteering, volunteers give £30 worth of work.
-
Over 20% of adults volunteer at least once a week and 74% regularly help out in
their communities on a more informal basis.
-
More than 75% of voluntary and community organisations are entirely run by
volunteers.
-
In 2002 at the XVII Commonwealth Games in Manchester over 10,000 volunteers
took part in a wide range of activities. An estimated 70,000 volunteers will
participate in the 2012 London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.
-
An estimated 1.5 million volunteer coaches and trainers, drivers, umpires,
fundraisers and others create enjoyable sports and exercise opportunities for
millions.
-
Volunteers handle over 6.5 million advice service enquiries every year.
Biggs
and Powell (2003) suggest that volunteer organisations play a key role in helping
vulnerable groups in society such as older people. For example, older people
may require:
-
transitional support
-
ongoing health or social care support or who have those needs, do qualify, but
do not want or trust statutory sector involvement
-
support because they may be isolated or lonely in some way (eg) they live
alone, they live in isolated areas, they have recently experienced bereavement
or loss, or may be adapting to a significant life change such as illness, or
they have recently moved house
If
these trends and issue highlight the breadth of volunteering, the next section
analyses the depth of volunteering relating to how voluntary organisations
‘sustain’, ‘build capacity’ and facilitate their ‘infrastructure’.
(ii)
Sustainability
Morgan
(2006) suggests that it is helpful to clarify what is meant by the term
“sustainability”. He suggests:
The financial
sustainability of a voluntary organisation is a measure of the organisation’s
ability to win sufficient financial resources to deliver its core work on an
ongoing basis.
Key
elements within this include:
(a) A clear understanding of the core work
of the organisation (fundamental to its strategy) – i.e. that which must be undertaken to justify its
existence – and a clear ability by those in leadership roles
(managers/trustees) to distinguish core work from other services
(b) A clear understanding of the overall
costs of delivering the core work – i.e. to be financially sustainable, those
in leadership roles must understand the minimum annual income the organisation
needs to continue.
(c) In practice, financial sustainability
will be impossible without a realistic long-term income strategy to cover those
costs – and/or sufficient reserves to cover a shortfall.
Morgan
(2006) makes the point that the balance between these elements is critical – if
an organisation has little or no reserves, it will only be sustainable if it
can win sufficient income each year (or even each month) to cover the whole of
the corresponding expenditure on its core work.
However, if it has six months reserves, then even if income next year
fell to 50% of the level needed, it would be able to continue for twelve months
in total, which is probably long enough to find new sources of funding (NCVO,
2007).
(iii)
Infrastructure
In
order for a voluntary organisation to sustain it needs an infrastructure. Regarding
VCS infrastructure, ChangeUp’s definition is pertinent (Home Office
2004: 15):
‘Infrastructure describes the
physical facilities, structures, systems, relationships, people, knowledge and
skills that exist to support, develop, coordinate, represent and promote front
line organisations, helping them to deliver their missions more effectively.
Infrastructure organisations are those who provide support services on those
areas. They are sometimes called umbrella organisations, second tier
organisations or intermediary organisations.’
This
is being done through strengthening voluntary and community sector
infrastructure organisations. Infrastructure organisations are those whose
primary purpose is to support other voluntary, community and faith sector
organisations. This could be a locally based organisation such as a Council for
Voluntary Service or a thematically based organisation dealing with issues such
as disability, faith or social inclusion. These are the organisations that
provide the sector with the capacity to deliver and provide a voice to the
sector through underlying principles.
(iv) Capacity
Building
Capacity building
is defined as the:
"process of
developing and strengthening the skills, instincts, abilities, processes and
resources that organizations and communities need to survive, adapt, and thrive
in the fast-changing world." (Ann Philbin, Capacity Building in Social
Justice Organizations Ford Foundation, 1996).
Capacity Building
in summation includes the following:
- Human resource
development, the process of equipping individuals with the understanding,
skills and access to information, knowledge and training that enables them to
perform effectively; organisational development, the elaboration of management
structures, processes and procedures, not only within organizations but also
the management of relationships between the different organizations and sectors
(public, private and community); institutional and legal framework development,
making legal and regulatory changes to enable organizations, institutions and
agencies at all levels and in all sectors to enhance their performativity
(Deakin, 2000)
Macmillan et al. (2006: 7) suggests
that capacity building and development is seen as a very important process for
local infrastructure organisations (LIOs) in the voluntary sector:
In terms of access to and availability
of positive factors which could help the emergence and development of LIOs, it
appears from the survey that staff-related and governance factors were more
likely to have been present in the development of LIOs (on average present in
the development of 83% and 80% of organisations respectively) than positive
relationships with others (average 70%), and finally funding and finance
factors (average 52%). This implies that whilst responding local infrastructure
organisations have emerged and developed in relatively mixed funding
circumstances, problems appear to have been less widespread in relation to
staffing and governance.
Governance
There
are various definitions of governance in widespread currency can be
encapsulated as follows:
Governance
is essential for organisations to survive. For example, social enterprises need
to be sustainable, according to research from the Governance Hub and the Social
Enterprise Coalition. The research, undertaken by the Open University into the
governance needs of social enterprises, shows that a priority for the social
enterprise sector is to strengthen links with governance advisers and
consultants working at local and regional levels and provide them with appropriate
training and support. The research report, ‘For Love and Money: Governance
and Social Enterprise’ outlines that social enterprises need specific
support and information on areas such as overseeing commercial activity and
managing business risks, legal and governance structures for trading
subsidiaries and small organisations and the governance of multi-organisation
partnerships. However, the research also reveals that the governance advice
sought by social enterprises share similarities with other community based
organisations. This includes problems maintaining the balance between social
and business goals, getting people with the right skills for boards, involving
users in governance issues, and accountability to users.
How
is this captured conceptually? The Governance-Human Resource dynamic and the
development of organisational strategy are central. Different individuals
within an organisation will have significantly different perspectives, based on
different histories, cultures, experiences and even goals – particularly in
terms of those individuals who collectively make up the governance and human
resource systems of voluntary organisations (namely trustees, paid employees
and volunteers). These different perspectives have to be integrated and accommodated
if effective action is to be taken by all the relevant agents. This has direct
implications for the way in which organisations should approach strategy
development; employing an approach to strategy development that takes into
account different perspectives or different frameworks is not a luxury, it is
essential if the proposals that emerge are to have anything approaching
widespread support (Mintzberg, et al., 1998). Thus, rigidly separating the
strategy-making role as a function of the board of trustees alone is not
conducive to the complexity of the internal and external environment in which
voluntary organisations operate. The use of such ‘command and control’
inevitably fails within complex systems and alienates employees by treating them
instrumentally (Chapman, 2002). It is likely that, in these circumstances, the
command and control culture would serve to undermine the values portrayed by
many voluntary organisations. Indeed, Jeavons (1992) urges voluntary sector
managers to analyse issues in historical, cultural and moral terms that, he
suggests, can sometimes go largely unconsidered in other managerial settings.
He emphasises, in particular, the need to consider:
“The ethical integrity of the organisation, the degree to
which the organisation’s performance
actually serves the public good, in the broadest sense of the term, and
the degree to which the treatment of
employees and volunteers honours the moral and
social values that the organisation intends to project in its service
work.” (Jeavons, 1992: 416).
Similarly,
Cairns et al (2004) suggest that the concept of ‘quality’ must be associated
with organisational development. If we take two direct quotations from Cairns
et al. to illustrate this:
“The introduction
of a quality system has the potential to make an impact upon internal
organisational structures and hence to improve efficiency. It also offers
opportunities for organisational growth, increased effectiveness and staff
development. In addition, the presence of a quality system is perceived as
giving an organisation more legitimacy with external stakeholders” (Cairns et
al 2004: 49).
“Quality
systems can act as an organisational development tool and provide a common
agenda for action, for example: action planning, continuous professional
development, team building. Major benefits of having a quality system were seen
as including: increased organizational legitimacy, improved reputation and
credibility with external stakeholders. The introduction of a system provided
the opportunity for an organisation to reflect upon and review their working
processes and ways of doing things, this included reflecting upon service
delivery arrangements” (Cairns et al 2004: 37).
Cairns et al (2004)
suggest that external pressure may also come from national
infrastructure/membership bodies, some of whom require adoption of their own
quality systems as a condition of membership. More usually however, the role of
infrastructure bodies seems to be to influence, or encourage, members to use a
tailor-made system, but without the element of compulsion. (Cairns et al 2004:
26, emphasis added).
“Some
(participants) had sought external help, though mainly with securing advice on
aspects of the chosen system rather than with actual implementation. Many study
participants had limited knowledge of available resources that might have
helped them. This suggests that there is a need, not necessarily for more
external resources, but for more information about what is available, and for
more help, perhaps from infrastructure bodies, to enable VCOs to access
available assistance. Many infrastructure bodies are well placed – with their
detailed knowledge of members’ objectives and needs – to assist VCOs with
selection and introduction of quality systems and, where appropriate, to point
them in the direction of relevant external assistance” (Cairns et al 2004: 48).
Research by Reid and Gibb (2004)
highlighted the relevance of a grant-making body’s capacity building programme.
The key research question concerned the extent to which there were sustainable
changes to organisational capacity as a result of the input of consultants
funded under the programme. The consultancy was often used as a form of expert
advice, and as a way of setting priorities for support and intervention,
especially where an organisational crisis was apparently looming or underway:
For one charity, lack of focus
on their central mission had resulted in their taking on additional work in
order to maintain financial security. This led to rapid growth without
consideration of the charity’s capacity to cope with additional staff,
increased regulation and, importantly, their ability to remain financially
sustainable at this level.
The Chief Executive felt that
the charity was:
“…expanding
without any thought for the future – as opportunities arose we grabbed them. We
have gone from an organisation that needed not £10,000 in the bank as reserves,
but £200,000. (Reid and Gibb, 2004)
Often when this was the
case, participants did not have clearly defined expectations for the
consultancy. This resulted in hopes that were either too expansive, covering an
array of practice and strategic issues, or objectives that did not reflect the
real needs of the organisation at the time. In such cases consultants tended to
play a greater role in helping the charities identify priorities for the
consultancy, and to set the objectives for the work. Indeed, this agenda
setting stage was frequently perceived as a benefit in itself as the
participants learned about the strengths and weaknesses of the organisation.
(Reid and Gibb 2004: 8).
Charities were able to
use business plans when applying to funding bodies as evidence of their aims,
objectives and practices. Strategic plans enabled charities to prioritise their
goals and be realistic about what could be achieved within a certain time
frame. This was thought to have great value as it enabled efforts to be
targeted to areas of greatest perceived need (Reid and Gibb 2004: 10).
From
research done by Cornforth at Open University Business School (cited in
Macmillan, 2007) using postal questionnaires sent to 2797 charities, with a 26%
response rate:
- Only about 35% of charities provide job descriptions for board members.
- Only 23% provide some sort of initial training or induction for new board
members.
- These percentages are somewhat higher for the larger charities (the range
goes from 20% for the smallest to 77% for the largest!).
- Average frequency of board meetings was between 5 and 7 a year.
- The size of board in small to medium charities is increasing, but decreasing
in larger charities.
- The average size of boards increases with organisation size, going from under
9 in the smallest charities, up to almost 21 for the largest.
For
Macmillan (2006) the role of the Board is not necessarily that different from
that in business, but some voluntary organisation Boards may, for various
reasons, find it difficult to agree clear objectives for the organisation. Some
voluntary organisation Boards may be less disciplined in their use of meetings.
In voluntary organisations the composition of the Board may be more difficult,
or at least slower, to alter than in many for-profit organisations.
Hence,
the structures or systems of the governing body are thus in a constant state of
interaction and adjustment that requires a reasonable equilibrium or balance
(Macmillan, 2007). The promise the
threat from the impact upon government funding upon the voluntary sector is
that the proportion of funding from government grows and the proportion of
private volunteer support declines. The
danger here is that non-profit organisations can lose their grassroots contact,
as the discipline of seeking charitable contributions and donations of
volunteer time from the public has kept voluntary organisations in close
contact with their communities and changing community needs. Balance must
therefore be maintained between the roots and the governing body if agencies
are to avoid severe serious problems.
For example, as cited in a case study concerning a single-parents self
help group, there was a belief that the problem they were trying to alleviate
was one that the government should support which led to applications for
substantial funding and the hiring of paid staff. This caused tensions between the different
approaches towards responsibility for the problem (implicit policy and welfare
accountability) and the consequent human resources required led to the eventual
division into association and agency with it’s own governing bodies.
Performance
has been identified as being key to the voluntary, community and faith sector
being able to build its capacity. One of the keys to this outcome is a focus on
performance and quality systems. Macmillan et al. (2007) claim:
"Frontline
organisations should be better able to improve the performance of their
organisation, make choices about which tools are right for them, and easily
access support and advice."
Macmillan
et al. (2007) points to British NAVCA Performance Standards which are:
1. Identifying needs and facilitating
improvement in service provision
2. Assisting local organisations to
function more effectively
3. Facilitating effective communication,
networking and collaboration amongst local
groups
4. Enabling the representation of the
diverse views of the local sector to external bodies
5. Enhancing the sector’s role as an
integral part of local planning and policy-making
One
dimension of sustainability that has and continues to preoccupy voluntary
organisations is mobilising resources for their performativity. Whilst
understandable in the current 2010 economic climate of the ‘Global Credit
Crunch’, the fixation of some organisations which solely equates obtaining
income with sustainability is dangerous if an organisation wishes to be viable,
autonomous and civic (Fowler, 2000). In developing strategies, it is important
for voluntary organisations consciously to consider and challenge the way in
which different decisions about organisational identity and role in society
lead to different strategic priorities in fund-raising. From a sustainability
perspective, reducing resource vulnerability through the diversification of
funding sources is an important task, but voluntary organisations are
vulnerable in another way as well. Strategic choices in terms of resources have
implications beyond their reliability, they affect what the organisation stands
for.
The
growing prominence given to trustees’ strategy-making role occurs against a
backdrop of an “increasingly professionalized and managerialist voluntary
sector” (Harrow & Palmer, 1998: 171). As such trustees have experienced
a significant increase in advice appertaining to how to perform effectively,
behave legally, and provide leadership for their organisation (Harris 1991;
Quint, 1994; Hind, 1995). Much of the literature on strategic management and
planning in a voluntary sector context began with Bryson’s (1988) work, which
places trustees as the final decision makers within a voluntary organisation
who are competent to work with and, if necessary, prepared to change a
voluntary organisation’s planning culture.
Buse
(1993 pp.43-44) argues that the important function of trustees is:
“not
to manage process but to manage outcome,
with the trustees guardians of the values of the charity, and the values driven
by the charity’s planning”.
The Scottish
Government (2006) states that performance
management of the sector
is vital in order to retain the confidence of the public. Not only is public money on the line, but statutory responsibility still remains
with government, which makes assessment of how it's chosen vehicles perform an
imperative. The effectiveness of the sector, in delivery
of services, is measured by the sponsoring policy
teams. It is right that those who commission services determine the correct objectives and design performance management systems accordingly. Much of the performance
management function is undertaken within local government. Performance management tools vary, but include targets,
conditions of grants, performance indicators,
contacts and annual reports.
Infrastructure
interventions can often take the form of expert advice and guidance, especially
given the complexities of the performing environment for ‘frontline’ voluntary
organisations. Infrastructure agencies can be a resource for the sector as a
whole, a repository of specialist knowledge and experience. Between 2000
and 2002, Osborne et al. undertook a comparative study of community
involvement in rural regeneration partnerships (CIRRP) in localities in
England, Northern Ireland and Scotland, funded by the Joseph Rowntree
Foundation. The study came to unequivocal conclusions about the beneficial role
of local VCS infrastructure in promoting and supporting CIRRP:
The overwhelming opinion
in this study was that infrastructure was essential to the success of CIRRP. It
facilitated the links between the different structural levels of regeneration
partnerships, provided technical assistance and expertise, supported small scale funding schemes which built local
expertise and confidence and which helped develop the capacity of individuals
and groups to participate in regeneration (Osborne et al 2002: 24). It is clear
from this study that strong infrastructure is essential to the promotion,
development and sustenance of CIRRP
(Osborne et al 2002: 40)
Osborne cites two
overarching roles for VCS intermediary organizations:
- Horizontal capacity
building: building the capacity of communities across rural areas to develop
and participate in projects and partnerships to regenerate their communities
-
Vertical capacity building: building the capacity of communities and community
activists to participate in the strategic level of partnerships (Osborne et al
2002: 29)
Osborne (2002) et al.
have argued that it was the effectiveness of these intermediary bodies which
determined the success, or otherwise, of CIRRP in all three nations. The key
tasks that they undertake include promoting communication, both with the
community in an inclusive way and between the community and strategic levels of
the partnership; procuring resources to fund small scale funding schemes that
will work to encourage community involvement; ensuring the availability of
trained facilitators to support community involvement – both the models of the
professional development worker and the enthusiastic ‘animateur’ have their
advantages, and neither should be seen to preclude the other; feeding key
information both to communities about regeneration initiatives and to strategic
agencies about needs; providing infrastructure resources to support
communities, including technical assistance and professional advice; enabling
training in skills for community members, both about regeneration and about the
skills of partnership working, at both the community and strategic level
(Osborne et al 2002: 29-30)
For Osborne and colleagues, the significance of local
VCS infrastructure is clear. It is not so much that it tends to do a good job
in fulfilling its functions, or is well appreciated by its users and members,
but rather that community performance in regeneration relies upon effective and
strong local VCS infrastructure. However, in so far as public policy continues
to prioritise community involvement, it would seem from this research that VCS
infrastructure not only has a central role to play, but would seem to be a
critical success factor in performance of local infrastructure organisations.
Finance
Finance
is a key issue for all VCS organisations, particularly given the current
funding climate, and the culture shift in the way in which organisations are
funded. The Charities Commission Register (2007) includes 190,541 charities
and suggests that they have combined annual income of £44.552 billion. These
illustrate the necessity to sustain an organization in terms of its resources.
Morgan (2006) suggests the long term sustainability of an organisation can only
be assessed through longitudinal studies over many years. In practice what is likely to be important is
to be able to assess the likely sustainability of an organisation at a particular point in time.
Provided
an organisation has a long term mission, a possible criterion would be that in
order to be classed as financially sustainable at the current time, its
leadership (trustees/senior staff) must be:
-certain
(or 99% certain) that it has the resources to continue its core work for at
least 12 months;
-fairly confident (at
least 75% certain) that it can continue its core work for at least 24 months.
For
income to be classified as contributing to the core in this way, it should
preferably be unrestricted (See Charity Commission Web Site 2010), or, at the
very least, if restricted it must be restricted to functions or activities
which all agree are central core functions of the organisation.
In
a smaller organisation both roles may be done by the same person, or in a very
small organisation, may fall to trustees – but the key thing is that, whatever
the size, there are clearly identified people with the relevant skills (Morgan,
2006). These importance of these aspects of financial management are clearly
documented in various works of voluntary sector finance and accounting but is
it interesting that such texts rarely use the term “sustainability”. Rather, the focus of financial management is
presented mainly in terms of stewardship and accountability for charitable
funds, or broader notions of voluntary sector effectiveness.
However,
Morgan (2006) suggests that financial management is not simply an operational
issue. To be financially sustainable, a
voluntary organisation requires appropriate arrangements for financial
governance so that the trustees are properly in control of the finances, and
are properly involved in all financial decisions. Morgan (2006) lists the following three
issues:
Resources
have the potential to steer organisations and how they raise the resources they
need has a strong influence on what an organisation is and what it can be. From
a sustainability perspective, reducing resource vulnerability through the
diversification of funding sources is recognised as an important task; 69% of
survey respondents felt that organisations which do not have a diverse range of
funding streams are at risk of sacrificing their independence. But voluntary
organisations are vulnerable in another way as well. Strategic choices in terms
of resources have implications beyond their reliability, they affect what the
organisation stands for, which equates to a second task of protecting its
mission and identity (Hailey & James, 2004) – a key role of the board of
trustees (Charity Commission, 2007).
Many aspects of the role of intermediary or
infrastructure interventions encompass what Osborne (2002) has described as a
‘catalytic approach’ to supporting voluntary and community action. By
undertaking one piece of work (such as helping a local group put together a
successful funding bid) it contributes to another objective also (such as
building the capacity of community groups to make such funding bids in their
own right in the future) (Osborne et al 2002: 29).
An example of multiple
benefits being realised at different levels from the same programme is provided
by a fundraising training project in the BME voluntary and community sector in
London. The final evaluation report (LDA 2005) looks at ‘impacts’ at three
levels: for training participants, for participating organisations, and for the
sector as a whole.
1. Impact on
participants, such as enhanced understanding of fundraising in context;
increased confidence, improved access to networks and enhanced status.
In the first place, the
project did a great deal more than equip participants with knowledge and skills;
it enabled them ‘to look at fundraising in a new light’. They had gained a
better understanding of the process of fundraising, of the environment in which
it took place and of the relationship of fundraising activities to wider issues
of organisational effectiveness. There was a consensus that trainees had gained
a great deal more confidence in their ability to undertake the fundraising
role. These two key impacts had enabled them to develop a ‘more strategic’
approach to the role and one which was ‘better organised’ and ‘more
professional’. Other impacts mentioned by some participants were improved
access to networks and enhanced professional status – they received ‘more
recognition’ within their organisations and some felt that their career prospects
had been enhanced. (LDA 2005: 26)
2. Impact on
participating organisations, such as the extent to which it enabled
participating organisations to access more funds from a wider range of sources
(for which it was too early to judge) and the development of a more strategic
approach to fundraising: We also found, however, some evidence of organisations
which had developed better ways of conducting research into sources of funding
and had made applications to a broader range of funding bodies. More commonly, participating
organisations had laid some of the foundations for a more effective approach to
fundraising. More than half of those who responded to the survey had made
progress in developing a fundraising strategy or a business plan – and
sometimes both. Some participants had successfully involved trustees and other
staff in subcommittees or working parties devoted to fundraising and had
provided them with some basic training. In a number of cases, fundraising had
become a higher priority for the organisation and been increasingly recognized
as a core function. (LDA 2005: 26)
3. Wider impact on the
BME voluntary and community sector:
As well as ‘cascading’
the knowledge and expertise provided by the training programme within the
organisations participating in the project, the partners intended it to have a
wider impact in the faith group
voluntary and community sector as a whole. While it is again very early in the
life of the project to expect to find evidence of that kind of impact, it was
clear from the case studies that participants had provided advice and support
on fundraising and organizational development to a number of other
organizations
In some cases, the
mechanism for this was the existing involvement of the individual with other
agencies as a trustee. In at least one other case, the participating
organisation had a capacity building role within a sub sector of the faith
sector and could incorporate the new knowledge in its ongoing work. Elsewhere,
the project stimulated a specific set of responses; one of the participants who
worked for a Tamil organisation in south London brought together people from
other organisations in the area to disseminate what he had learned about the
need to develop a strategy and take a longer term view of fundraising (LDA
2005: 27). Yet, despite this point, the literature on BME infrastructure is
very poor.
Rosewarne’s small
evaluation (2003) for South Yorkshire Funding Advice Bureau (SYFAB) of a
funding training programme delivered to groups in the coalfields areas of South
Yorkshire concludes that:
The SRB funding for a
period of three years enabled SYFAB to provide an extensive training programme
to a large number of voluntary and community groups in the South Yorkshire
Coalfields area. The vast majority of groups benefiting from this training
would not otherwise have been able to access such extensive, good quality
training and of such variety. In turn over £4,000,000 has been brought into the
area in the form of grants to groups who accessed the training. Whilst not claiming
that this was all entirely due to the training it clearly played a substantial
role in helping groups bring in this money (Rosewarne 2003: 13).
The evidence for this comes
from two sources. Firstly, feedback from training participants notes that 70
respondents (87%) had been involved in making funding applications since
attending the course, of which 67 bids had been successful, raising a total of
£1,437,720. Secondly the evaluation involved a “detailed search of grants
awarded by four key funders [Awards for All, Community Fund, Coalfields
Regeneration Trust and Local Network Fund]….showing] that 81 groups who had
participated in the accredited training course had between them successfully
raised £3,213,667 (Rosewarne 2003: 7).
The evaluation of the
fundraising training project in the BME voluntary and community sector in
London makes the following overall comment on the impact of the programme: The
evidence is that the individuals who took part in the programme gained a
variety of benefits from their involvement. This not only gave them enhanced
skills and confidence with which to tackle the challenge of fundraising but
also enabled them to have an impact on way their own organisations and – to a
lesser extent – other BME organizations went about their business. (LDA 2005:
30, emphasis added). This is echoed by Rosewarne’s small evaluation of a
funding training programme in South Yorkshire, where one participant commented
that “The course gave me confidence in tackling funding applications with very
little supervision.” (Rosewarne 2003: 5).
Reid and Gibb (2004)
note how individual consultancy helped change the way organisations went about
raising funds: Change in approaches to fundraising was evident, although it was
not possible to tell whether the techniques adopted were making a difference.
Fundraising techniques that were being put into practice included use of a
fundraising calendar which listed the submission dates of the most relevant
grant-making bodies. Perhaps more importantly, interviewees felt they had more
awareness of how to approach funders with realistic aims, and this resulted in
increased confidence in their approach to fundraising. (Reid and Gibb 2004:
10).
Voluntary organisations have different
problems and considerations in financial controls and accounting. In
particular, voluntary organisations are more likely than businesses to view
deficits as often desirable and large reserves as undesirable. Systems for
financial control may be complicated by the amount of cash handled, the number
of branch accounts, and the cultural emphasis on trusting staff and volunteers.
In
addition, and for various reasons, keeping income and expenditure balanced may
be more difficult in voluntary organisations, and there may be a different
attitude to the role of budgets in that process. In relation to outputs, there
are peculiar difficulties in performance measurement and quality control in
voluntary organisations which are less commonly found in for-profit
organisations. One difficulty was the 'anti measurement' ethos reported in some
voluntary organisations.
There
are also issues of human resources. Indeed, a source of strength consists of
human resources at the disposal of the organisation. These resources comprise
of paid and voluntary staff undertaking operational and supporting work. When the association employs paid staff to
undertake its operational activities this represents a move into the
bureaucratic territory of agency status.
The problem here is that administration work threatens to dominate
substantive work in the voluntary sector. Following the patterns of government
agencies to provide funds, administrative work is being increasingly carried
out by specialist personnel staff that demand and deserve a substantial salary. The bureaucratisation of the voluntary sector
for some has thus been a welcome development by replacing amateurism and crisis
management with professionalism and planning in order to develop sound
management practices. Bureaucratisation
can therefore be seen as an essential condition of survival (Deakin, 2002). However, on the other hand bureaucratisation
can also have implications:
·
Voluntary sectors in
the past had been lean on administration allowing them to place most of their
money into facilitating the rapid and flexible responses to challenging social
conditions and needs.
·
Necessary
administration work has often been carried out by volunteers or by efforts of
professionals in the community.
·
When voluntary
organisations become more like businesses government these qualities are at
peril and must therefore take a hard look at the implications of government
funding and their role within society.
·
Citizens of the
community/volunteers can be weary of voluntary agencies that spend a high
proportion of funds on administrative costs.
The
irony here is that the government often fails to cover the full cost of it’s
administrative work necessitated by grants and contracts, thus the balance must
come from charitable contributions especially pushed more politically by
government in an economic climate of cuts in public expenditure.
Workforce
development is seen as a key area in requiring capacity building within the
VCS. In order to be in a position to better deliver services, the workforce of
the voluntary community and faith sector must develop its workforce's capacity.
New
research from the Workforce Hub and NCVO has revealed a significant growth in
the VCS workforce in the last decade. This rate of growth has in fact been at a
higher rate than the public and private sectors. However, the 2007 Voluntary
Sector Skills Survey published in tandem with this reveals a number of
challenges for the sector’s employers. One-quarter of organisations report hard
to fill vacancies within their organisation and skills gaps in IT, legal
knowledge and fundraising. As the number of paid employees in the voluntary
sector has increased, so has interest in the role of the VCS as an employer and
the social and economic significance of this role. Another contributory factor
to the problem has been the rapid growth in size of the sector over the past
decade. Recent years have seen an increasing emphasis on the VCS to be a
deliverer of public services, changing characteristics and working patterns of
the sector’s employees and the increased professionalisation of the sector,
which all brings both challenges and opportunities for the VCS. 40% of VCOs
interviewed anticipate that recruitment will get more difficult over the next
three years.
The UK Voluntary Sector Workforce Almanac (2007) has picked up on this point.
There is an increased professionalisation of the sector - One-third of VCS
employees (33%) have a degree or equivalent qualification. Between 1996 and
2005 this has increased by 43%. (For information related to this professionalisation
- see ‘professionalisation of volunteering’.)
-A
more female workforce - Over two-thirds of the VCS workforce is female (69%),
similar to the public sector (64%) but much higher than the private sector
(40%).
-A
higher proportion of part-time workers - Part-time employees account for 39% of
voluntary and community sector employment - higher than in the public and
private sectors (29% and 23% respectively).
-A
bigger deliverer of public services - There has been a huge increase (86%) in
the number of people working in social care, from 149,000 in 1996 to 277,000 in
2005. Social care now accounts for 54% of the VCS’ employees. (See 'bringing
markets into public services'.)
-A
higher proportion of disabled staff - Nearly one in five people (18%) working
in the -VCS has a disability, higher than the public (14%) and private sectors
(13%).
-Smaller
workplaces - One-third of VCS workers (32%) are employed in workplaces with
less than ten employees. This is vastly different to both the private (25%) and
public sectors (8%).
-Hard
to fill vacancies - Recruitment problems are evident across the sector with 25%
of employers reporting hard to fill vacancies, particularly within youth work,
social care and health care.
-Under
skilled staff - Around 30% of employers reported under-skilled staff. Small
organisations are more likely to report skills gaps. This is leading to an
increase in the workload of other employees. 25% use volunteers to cover the
work, particularly within smaller organisations.
-Lack
of funding for training - 50% identified that skills gaps were caused by a lack
of time and funding for training within their organisation. All these factors
make it imperative for employers to concentrate on the management of human
resources in terms of workforce development. However with planning and
foresight, the growth already experienced will lead to a professional and
thriving sector.
The
workforce of the voluntary sector (VS) comprises two main groups: paid staff
and volunteers. The UK Voluntary Sector Skills Survey estimates that there are
559,000 people employed in VS organisations of two or more paid staff in
England. This estimate is higher than Labour Force Survey (LFS) estimates,
which suggest there are 518,000 paid employees within the English voluntary
sector. This may be because UK Voluntary Skills Survey (VSS 2007) uses an
employer-based measure, and the LFS uses an employee-based measure.
Within the UK as a whole, the LFS estimates that
there are 611,000 paid employees in the sector, accounting for 2.2% of the UK
workforce. The UK VS has grown by nearly 80,000 employees (14.9%) since 2000.
The growth in the sector is linked to almost 20 years of public service
delivery being contracted out by central and local government agencies to the
sector (VSS 2007). There are a relatively high number of part-time and
female employees within the sector. Within the UK, 39% of VS employees are
part-time and 69% are female. This has particular implications for employment
policy and practice. Alongside the 611,000 paid employees within the UK VS, an
estimated 14.1 million people volunteer formally once a month (VSS 2007).
The
2007 Voluntary Sector Skills (VSS) Survey highlights that part-time
staff, however, have a different proportion of men/women to that of the full-time
workforce. Men are much more likely to work full-time rather than part-time in
the voluntary sector, with 79% of men employed full-time. In contrast, only 54%
of women employed in the voluntary sector work full-time. On the one hand it is
good news for the sector that so many women in the voluntary sector work
part-time and do not want a full-time job, as it shows that they really value
the opportunity to work part-time hours. On the other hand, 17% of male
part-time voluntary sector employees would like a full-time job but cannot find
one – a figure that has, encouragingly, decreased between 1996 and 2005. These
findings show that both full-time and part-time employment opportunities are
valued within the sector. The opportunity to work flexibly can improve people's
ability to balance home and work responsibilities. Figures from the Office
for National Statistics (ONS) show women were more likely than men to have
some form of flexible working arrangement. Just over one in four women used a
flexible working pattern compared to around one in five men (VSS 2007).
At
the same time, there are implications of skill shortages. Futureskills 2003
identified
skills shortages as a
major cause of unfilled vacancies. The UK Voluntary Sector Workforce
Almanac (2007) claims
nearly a quarter of employers cite a lack of
specialist skills in
applicants as the main
reason for their hard to fill vacancies (24%). There are therefore a
large number of
potential applicants who could benefit from specialist training.
Applicants’ lack of
experience is also identified as a reason for hard to fill vacancies
by just under a
quarter of employers (24%). Less of an issue is a lack of qualifications;
however, 13% of
employers report it as a reason for their hard to fill vacancies (VSS
2007).
Other
research we have conducted confirms the large number of highly qualified VS
employees, one-third of VS employees hold a degree or equivalent qualification
and only 6% of VS employees have no qualifications at all.
A
combination of poor job descriptions and inadequate recruitment practices mean
that potential applicants choose not to apply and the ones that do apply do not
have the opportunity to shine during the interview. It may also be that
employers have unrealistic expectations of the applicants.
To
address this, Shortcut (2006), which is a piece of research commissioned
by Red Cross, Help the Aged, and CSV, found the following aspects are worth
highlighting when recruiting volunteers:
–
the opportunity to
really make a difference to someone’s life, perhaps illustrated by case studies
–
the chance to use
spare time productively
–
the chance to be
flexible
–
the support and
back-up available to volunteers as part of a supportive team
–
where possible,
commitment levels to suit volunteers, including the time limited nature of some
work
–
volunteers are likely
to stay for at least a couple of years and usually only leave if their personal
circumstances
The focus on partnerships in recent years is an
important dimension in the voluntary sector working with other agencies. For
example, the Community Involvement in Rural Regeneration Partnerships
(CIRRP) study is an interesting exemplar because it examined partnership
activity and the role of VCS infrastructure in three different case study
settings: Devon, County Antrim and Dumfries and Galloway. One study that has been able to assess longer term
change is Pearson’s (2003) follow up study of the Community Fund’s one year ‘Brass
for Barnsley’ initiative. The research was carried out some three years
after the initiative had come to an end, and followed an interim evaluation
focusing more on issues of implementation and initial impact. The key change
noted over time was the degree of co-ordination found in the local voluntary and
community sector, and the evaluation argues that this was attributable in part
to the impetus in the original programme.
The report argues that
Brass for Barnsley was able to act not only as a dedicated area-based funding
programme, but as a catalyst for change:
The baseline study
carried out for the first BfB evaluation in 1999 identified a voluntary and
community sector (VCS) in Barnsley that was characterised by fragmented
infrastructural support, with limited partnership working and co-operation,
either within the sector or between the voluntary and statutory sectors.
Pearson (2003) found a
greater degree of partnership working between voluntary sector infrastructure
organisations (VSIOs) in Barnsley; improved relationships between the VCS and
Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council (BMBC); and improved relationships
between VSIOs and voluntary and community groups (Pearson 2003:7).
The key lesson emerging
from the long term evaluation of BfB is that there are enormous potential
benefits to be gained from the [Community Fund] working in partnership with
VSIOs, other funders and statutory organisations in priority areas. In both
Barnsley and Rotherham the CF has been central in the establishment of networks
which have impacted substantially on the VCS. These networks have continued to
provide the CF with opportunities for local engagement. Critical factors in the
success of networks include bringing together all key agencies, and maintaining
flexibility to reflect local circumstances. (Pearson 2003: 21).
In particular, the
initiative led to the establishment of a cross-sectoral network around funding
issues for the VCS:Respondents highlighted the work of the Creating Self
Reliance (CSR) network as a critical factor in improved relations between and
amongst VSIOs and the statutory sector. BfB contributed to a step change in the
relationship between the VCS and Barnsley MBC. The benefits of bringing
together the VCS, funders and the statutory sector to work together had been
learned from the experience of BfB in Barnsley and have resulted in the
development of the Rotherham Funding Group. Key factors contributing to the
success, and sustainability, of these networks included:
-bringing together a
range of VSIOs to work collaboratively
-the inclusion of
funders - the CF and others
-developing, or building
on, relationships between the VSC and the local authority
-identifying a small
number of key individuals to 'champion' activities
-focusing on strategic
issues for the sector, as well as on local development needs
-reflecting local
circumstances (Pearson 2003: ii-iii)
In particular,
respondents in this study noted how the ‘Creating Self-Reliance’ network had
led to a greater sense of strategic coordination locally in the VCS. Pearson
(2003) suggests that impact of the CSR have included: improved communication at
all levels of the sector; better dissemination of information to voluntary and
community groups; and a clearer strategic vision for the voluntary and
community sector. The strategy developed through the future visioning event has
been developed and embedded into the Borough's Community Plan and is now the
community development strategy for Barnsley.
On
a different note yet still focusing on ‘working with others’; working with
consultants has been highlighted as a key issue. Reid and Gibb’s (2004) study of the use of consultants noted three
different approaches, with different advantages and disadvantages:
(i)
facilitation,
which “aimed to empower the organisation to achieve its own goals [and]
tended to involve group strategies for brainstorming and reflection on current
practice”;
(ii)
mentoring, which
“centred around offering practical guidance to individuals, and supplying
feedback on actions subsequently taken. This approach tended to involve key
staff members, who often held much of the expertise and knowledge relevant to
the area of consultancy already. This practice was successful in terms of the
development of expertise for those individuals who worked closely with the
consultants….However, there was little evidence of these key individuals
disseminating what they had learnt throughout the organisation so that new
knowledge/skills might be retained. There is a danger that this expertise may
be lost to the organisation on the departure of these key individuals” and
(iii)
training, which:
“involved knowledge transfer which stopped short of providing practical assistance. This approach was more conducive
to dissemination throughout the charity. An example of this was a training day
organised for managers of branches of one charity, focusing on developing
fundraising strategies. In this way, the consultant passed on information
throughout the whole structure of the organisation, but the potential for depth
of learning was not as great” (Reid and Gibb 2004: 9)
Faith-based
organisations
These
organisations form a large section of the Voluntary, Community and Faith
Sector. They are, however, often overlooked or misunderstood. This literature review has found extremely scarce (putting it
mildly) range of writings on the Black and minority ethnic voluntary sector in
this country. A Black and minority ethnic organisation (BME) is defined as:
“….an organisation which is led and managed mainly or entirely by Black
or other minority ethnic people, which serves mainly Black or minority ethnic
people.”
(Home Office 1999: 11).
There is currently
very little literature that focuses on BME as a field of study in its own
right. Of course, there is a lot of literature that implicates the role of the
BME sector and much of this can be found in academic literature and research
reports on the Black and minority ethnic communities. What was found is that
the literature that does exist mainly comprises of two types:
1. Strategy and policy
intention statements by bodies such as Government and national BME
organisations;
2. Research,
consultative or policy reports issued by bodies such as local BME sector
consortiums and individual BME organisations.
There
is a clearly a need for more research on the question of the benefits of VCS infrastructure
for the BME sector. But there is also a need for better co-ordinated research,
for research that fills gaps, or takes up unresolved puzzles, or takes off from
where existing research stops. Coupled with this, dissemination amongst BME
practitioners, policy makers and researchers of existing research on VCS
infrastructure requires some considerable attention. New
approaches to managing BME voluntary organisations emphasising local autonomy,
recognition of cultural differences, participation, empowerment, equality,
trust and flexibility – are all important but lack of longitudinal work
displays an almost empty literature.
Conclusion
Voluntary organisations provide valuable
lessons in the art of making infrastructure practices work, as well as illustrating
some of the tensions and dilemmas generated in building up capacity and
understanding the black box, the internal composition of what works most
effectively. Local infrastructure
organisations have variations in terms of current research on critical success
factors. The future task is to understand these critical success factors
balanced by more qualitative narrative; in order to see how it corresponds to
the literature or subverts such arguments. There is a need to
mapping the causes and consequences of organisational change in a complex world
and preparing for future change in terms of strengthening the resilience of
community, charitable, and voluntary organisations through promotion of deeper
collaboration in the face of adverse global economic factors; in dissecting
'governance' processes which have proved inadequate in the face of the
spiralling complexity of financial innovation in the current economic market
through learning from each others ‘black boxes’ opens up possibilities of
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