What does the future hold for those supporting civil society?

In these times of reduced resources there's a lot of talk about protecting the 'frontline' - services that impact directly on the general public. In funding terms what does this mean for those who support frontline organisations to make more of a difference?

We know that two of the Coalition Government's solutions to the budget deficit are cutting bureaucracy and building the Big Society. There's a danger that civil society infrastructure could be lumped in with the former instead of being seen as the key to the latter. An investment at this level can often reap significant benefits in the ability of frontline organisations to make a difference.

The Office for Civil Society has recently opened a consultation on government funding of support for civil society organisations. This is a positive opportunity for us all to build awareness of the full extent of the role of infrastructure and to shape the future of government funding for sector support.

Through the Value of Infrastructure Programme we held a couple of events earlier this year to discuss the principles of effective infrastructure and the possible future of support. From these sessions we’ve pulled together a paper looking at the roots and role of infrastructure.

Download the document - the Future of Support for Civil Society (PDF 320KB)

It’s not a policy paper but more of a think-piece to aid discussion about infrastructure and the future of support.

It aims to promote understanding amongst those who are not very familiar with infrastructure about its emergence and its full role. It’s got some case study examples and highlights some principles underpinning effective infrastructure. The paper also makes a few recommendations for moving forward, such as developing shared health-checks for civil society organisations.

Feel free to use bits of the think-piece if you like them or post your comments and discussion points below.