About NCVO

NCVO (The National Council for Voluntary Organisations) is a registered charity (number 225922), a company limited by guarantee, number 198344 England,which gives voice and support to civil society.

NCVO believes passionately in the voluntary and community sector. This is a sector with the power to transform the lives of people and communities for the better.

Aims and objectives

Our vision

Our Vision is of a society in which people are inspired to make a positive difference to their communities.

• NCVO’s vision, mission and values
• NCVO's vision for the future:
  Civil Society: a framework for action
  We have published Civil Society: a framework for action. This sets out a clear vision for the central role that civil society will play, and working with our partners identifies the key issues which need to be at the heart of our work for the next 10 years. Wednesday 18 February 2009 
• Independence, diversity, voice - A manifesto for voluntary action

Our mission

A vibrant voluntary and community sector deserves a strong voice and the best support. Our Mission is to be that support and voice.

Founded in 1919, we are the largest umbrella body for the voluntary and community sector in England with sister councils in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Our work

NCVO is a highly effective lobbying organisation and represents the views of its members, and the wider voluntary sector to government, the European Union and other bodies. We are also at the leading edge of research into, and analysis of, the voluntary sector. See our annual report and our work.

We campaign on generic issues affecting the whole of the voluntary sector such as the role of the voluntary organisations in public service delivery and the future of local government.

NCVO has several specialist teams who provide information, advice and support to others working in or with the voluntary sector:

• We produce reports, toolkits, briefing papers and books.
• We run networking events, seminars and conferences.
• We manage and facilitate a wide range of forums and networks for staff and volunteers working in specific areas such as policy, planning, ICT, membership, publishing and public service delivery.
• We provide direct support to organisations through the NCVO Consultancy service.

A free HelpDesk service is available by telephone or email.

Our Members

NCVO has over 7,000 members. With over 280,000 staff and over 13 million volunteers working for our members, we represent and support almost half the voluntary sector workforce.

Our goal is to support members by creating an environment in which voluntary organisations can flourish and develop. Join NCVO today!

Publications

Helping you in your Trustee’s role or managing and developing people in voluntary and community organisations, our books cover subjects relevant to the charity and voluntary sector.

Use our topic list or the A to Z listing to choose from over 100 titles. You can order any NCVO publications and get 30% if you are a member.

Our history

• How NCVO started in 1919
• A summary of NCVO's Work and Origins from 1919 to 1993

NCVO Annual reports

• Annual Report 2007/2008    
  • Accounts 2007/2008  (pdf, 356kb)

• Annual Report 2006/2007
• Annual Report 2005/2006
• Annual Report 2004/2005 
• Annual Report 2003/2004
• Annual Report 2002/2003

Who’s who at NCVO?

Stuart Etherington is the Chief Executive of NCVO.

NCVO's structure 

NCVO's governance 

Listening to your voice

NCVO is committed to providing high quality services. If you are unhappy about the services that we provide to you we want to hear about it, without your feedback we cannot improve.
Complaints Procedure

Definition of a Voluntary organisation

An independent, self-governing body of people who have joined together voluntarily to take action for the benefit of the community. A voluntary organisation may employ paid staff or volunteers, but must be established otherwise than for financial gain.

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