Outputs Reviewed: Volunteering

<p>Bartels, K. P., Cozzi, G., &amp; Mantovan, N. (2013). "The Big Society," Public Expenditure, and Volunteering. <em>Public Administration Review</em>, 73(2), 340-351.</p><p>Haski-Leventhal, D., Meijs, L. C., &amp; Hustinx, L. (2010). The third-party model: Enhancing volunteering through governments, corporations and educational institutes. <em>Journal of Social Policy</em>, 39(01), 139-158.</p><p>Handy, F., &amp; Mook, L. (2010). Volunteering and volunteers: Benefit–cost analyses. Research on Social Work Practice, 1049731510386625.</p>

Academic Commentary: 'Individual Giving and Philanthropy'

<em><em></em></em><p>"<em>We as human beings live in a very imprecise world. A world where our perceptions of reality are far more important than actual reality</em>."</p><p>This quote connects the three papers discussed in this section, each of which highlights how what we think we know about philanthropy, and our commonplace perceptions of how charitable giving works, turns out to be not quite right. And yet those ‘perceptions of reality’ have a huge amount of influence on policy making as well as on our views of both donors and fundraisers.</p>

Acknowledgements

<p>This inaugural Digest Review is the culmination of the efforts of a group of people working to increase levels of engagement between academia and the Third Sector. Those who have submitted formal contributions have spent time and effort developing thoughtful and honest reflections and for that, we are truly thankful. There are a number of Third Sector professionals and academics who are involved in the North East Third Sector Research Group on an ongoing basis and without that valuable support, the group would not exist. Thank you to everyone involved in the group, as well as this publication. What makes this publication unique is that all of the contributions, editing and design has been done on a voluntary basis.</p><p>Particular thanks must go to Ellen Cole and the team at Northumbria University Library for helping with the technical aspects of copyright notice, attribution and registration.</p>

Outputs Reviewed: Neo-Liberalism

<p>Churchill, H. (2013). Retrenchment and restructuring: family support and children's services reform under the coalition. <em>Journal of Children's Services</em>, 8()3, 209-222</p><p>Jackson Rodger, J. (2013). “New capitalism”, colonisation and the neo-philanthropic turn in social policy: Applying Luhmann's systems theory to the Big Society project. <em>International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy</em>, 33(11/12), 725-741.</p><p>Kim, S. (2013). Voluntary Organizations as New Street-level Bureaucrats: Frontline Struggles of Community Organizations against Bureaucratization in a South Korean Welfare-to-Work Partnership. <em>Social Policy &amp; Administration</em>, 47(5), 565-585.</p>

Academic Commentary: 'Permanently Changing? Operationalising Research into Organisational Change in the Third Sector'

Organisations are never static; they are changing all the time. Unsurprisingly, actors in ‘third sector organisations’ (the diverse array of organisations that do not fit into the ideal type constructs of market or state organisations) experience and implement change in many different ways. On the one hand, there are numerous types of third sector organisations operating in different policy streams, locations, and contexts. On the other, third sector organisations engage in a variety of activities; some may deliver public service contracts, whilst others focus on traditional civil society and volunteer based activities. Many more may sit somewhere in between (Billis, 2010).

Third Sector Commentary: 'Individual Giving and Philanthropy'

<p>The NETSRG creates the opportunity for academics and charitable practitioners to discuss academic research. It bridges the two sectors effectively and is a welcome addition. When approaching an academic paper I ask the following three questions:</p><p> What does the paper tell me?</p><p> What is the practical application of the research?</p><p> Is the research that underpins it robust?</p><p>Whilst my emphasis is on the second question, far too often this is the leanest section of the work. This year we considered three papers on philanthropy.</p>

About the Editors

Details of this issue's editorial staff.

Third Sector Commentary: 'A view on neo-liberalism of the sector'

<p>As a participant in NETSRG, I verbally presented a review of the article by Kim (2013) focusing on voluntary and community sector (VCS) participation in the Self-Sufficiency Programme (SSP), the South Korean equivalent of Welfare to Work. Here I present a written expansion of that verbal review, solely in relation to this article, as opposed to all three articles that made up the session on neo-liberalisation. Before offering my thoughts on Kim’s work, I wish to explain it as my article of choice. </p>

Academic Commentary: 'Understanding the Changing Role of the Third Sector in the Era of Austerity'

Perhaps the most enduring issue surrounding third sector engagement with government directed social policy initiatives is the preservation of organisational autonomy: how can voluntary organisations avoid becoming state outposts, providing cheap services for the state without abandoning the principle of caritas (the Latin term which encompasses the notions of altruism, caring and social solidarity) which influenced their foundation and shapes their practice? These three pieces, in their different ways, relate to this central question.

Academic Commentary: 'Toward Deeper Understandings of Volunteering Practice'

Volunteering is on the rise. Sure, it has been around for over a century. And over the past decades, overall levels of voluntary activity have remained relatively stable in the UK. But what has been changing is the attention for volunteering and its centrality to the governance of Western societies (see, for example Bryer, 2014). We are witnessing increasing ambitions and expectations about how much people should volunteer and what voluntary organisations should achieve.