12 November 2012 - press release
There is little empirical evidence to demonstrate why the third sector is unique or distinctive, says a new discussion paper from the Third Sector Research Centre.
The Centre calls for debate about how we value the sector, but raises caution about attempting to value the sector as a whole, or using a purely financial language to do so.
The paper, part of a series of Third Sector Futures Dialogues, argues that we must move on from broad attempts to value ‘the sector’. We need to think about the functions and characteristics of different organisations, from service providers to community groups, and how they are special in different ways.
Their discussion paper welcomes moves to measure impact at one level, but notes that monetary systems of measurement, such as Social Return on Investment (SROI), may be limited in what they can measure.
Measuring impact is positive, as it requires evidence rather than assumptions that organisations are effective. And it is in the interest of organisations to demonstrate a long term return on investment. But SROIs have tended to focus on services where there is a real or assumed saving to the treasury – such as reducing reoffending, or getting people into work. The Centre questions whether things like social justice, fairness or belonging can be reduced to a financial concept of social value.
They also question whether monetary concepts allow for critical reflections of the problem. An intervention with a ‘troubled family’ may save money in the long term, but this does not allow for analysis of structural inequalities or discrimination that may have caused that family to be ‘troubled’ in the first place.
Attempts to place a value on the impact of the sector may also avoid fundamental questions about what it is worth, and to whom – to commissioners and policy makers, to the sector itself, and to users and communities.
Angus McCabe from TSRC said ‘received wisdom, and often experience, tells us that voluntary and community organisations are unique - in their values, their closeness to communities, or their commitment to social justice. But for every ‘truth’ about the sector there is an opposite and potentially equal one, and it is hard to evidence such generalised characteristics.
So how can we demonstrate the sector’s worth? In financial terms, or in ways that value contributions to social justice and challenges to injustice? Many organisations have focused on survival in hard times. But to remain relevant, organisations need to demonstrate that they have value beyond a monetary one. They need to show that they are special and how’.
TSRC asks people to discuss these issues here
See discussion paper: Is the third sector so special? What is it worth? Angus McCabe
TSRC is hosting the Third Sector Futures Dialogues between September 2012 and April 2013 based on issues raised by our research. Dialogues involve online debate and a Sounding Board of voluntary, community and policy representatives who meet to discuss research findings and comments. Our first Sounding Board meeting was held on 11 October.
For more information contact:
Naomi Landau, Knowledge Exchange Team
n.landau@tsrc.ac.uk
020 7520 2421