Submitted by Carrie Brookes on 20 Oct 2022 - 2:07pm
A total of 6,070 organisations from around the country responded to the Third Sector Trends Survey over the summer, including 613 in the North East.
Findings will be published in a series of reports over the coming months, including analysis of trends over the years. The first paper published is from the long-term qualitative project on how voluntary and community sector organisations work through turbulent times, and it is interesting reading.
Findings include:
- “There will never be a ‘flat period’ when life is predictable. Section 1 of the report shows that the last 14 years have been characterised by continual change brought about by a global financial crash, government austerity policies, Brexit, the Coronavirus pandemic and now the cost-of-living crisis. And yet, the general trend in sector finances is one of steady growth.
- “Smooth trends conceal underlying financial turbulence. The study has tracked organisational finances running back 20 years. Section 3 shows that all organisations experience substantial ups and downs in their finances. These are more acute for the smallest organisations – but as they rely mainly on voluntarily given time, they can withstand change. The biggest organisations usually have sufficient assets to see them through crises if they are well managed. Middling sized organisations are the most vulnerable to unpredictable shifts in their finances.
- “Third Sector Organisations need ‘staying power’. To have staying power, they must learn how to manage unpredictability in their operational and funding environment. This study has examined organisational foresight, enterprise, capability and impact in a precise way – Section 4 shows how the fortunes of organisations vary depending upon their ability to anticipate and manage the consequences of change successfully.
- “Is organisational success about good management, fate or luck? Section 5 tracks the financial success of well managed and less well managed organisations over the last 14 years. None of the well-managed organisations closed, but quite a few of the less well managed organisations collapsed when they were overwhelmed by events they should have anticipated and prepared for. Luck does play a part in organisational fortunes, but only if the organisation can distinguish between good and poor opportunities.”
The report provides lots of food for thought for third sector organisations and can be found at this link:
