Volunteering Victoria – Research Digest 2

11 – 17 March 2013

Research, reports, articles, presentations

Organisation / Item, source, keywords / Summary
Australia Policy Online / Staying Connected: Social Engagement and Wellbeing Among Mature Age Australians
March 2013
National Seniors Productive Ageing Centre research report

older Australians; health and wellbeing; social engagement /
  • authored by Australian National University researchers
  • examines how wellbeing differs between age groups and other demographic characteristics, and how it relates with a range of measures of social engagement.
  • data from the first wave of the 2010-2011 national longitudinal survey Social Activity and Wellbeing of Older Australians, which surveyed over 2,000 members of National Seniors Australia aged 50-89 years.
  • Section on Voluntary work p.7. Participation in voluntary work, often greater after retirement, is generally beneficial for health, possibly because it offers opportunities for social engagement.

ProBono Australia / Not for Profit Sector Salary Survey 2013

remuneration, not for profit sector, / The survey shows there are widely varying salaries within Not for Profit organisations across sectors, and by operating budgets and the number of employees.
Covers seven roles common to most Not for Profit organisations, namely: Chief Executive Officer, General Manager, Chief Operating Officer , Chief Finance Officer), Fundraising Manager, Human Resources Manager and Clinical Services Manager.
Survey is free to participants or available to purchase
International Society for Third Sector Research (ISTR) / ISTR 10th International Conference Working Papers, Siena Italy, July 10 – 13, 2012
Democratization, Marketization, and the Third Sector

Third sector business management; volunteer measurement / Two papers worth having a look at further
Ronit Amit (Israel)
Management in the Third Sector-What can we learn from successful business managers?
Lester Salamon (United States),Daniela Bosioc (Belgium), and Ksenija Fonović (Italy)
Institutionalizing the Measurement of Volunteering:Insights from the European Volunteer Measurement Project
Centre for Policy Development (CPD) / Whatever happened to the Big Society? Cameron Elliot Feb 2013

Big Society / Update to the May 2012 CPD paper Big Society: How the UK is dismantling the state and what it means for Australia
Key findings
  • Contrary to Big Society’s stated intent, volunteerism has decreased
  • More than 60,000 public servants have lost their jobs
  • Examples of substandard service delivery by outsourced providers continue to emerge
  • Financial status for householdshas worsened, while income inequality continues to grow
The paper demonstrates that weakening the public sector does not automatically strengthen the community or corporate sectors. It argues for a flexible approach, which recognises the respective capabilities of governments versus private agencies, and considers the complex question of how to provide essential services using more than the one dimension – it is not only size of government that matters, but rather its capacity to serve and empower its citizens.
Centre for Social Impact (CSI) / Is Big Society Dead?
Cheryl Kernot, Director of Social Business at the CSI hosts a video conversation with Dr Simon Teasdale, Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham'sThirdSector Research Centre.
March 5, 2013


big society / Useful to watch in conjunction with previous paper ‘Whatever happened to the Big Society’
  • Explores history and definitions of term Big Society i.e. shrink the state and civil society will emerge
  • Cameron’s Big Society framed the recent austerity measures to make the huge reductions to the UK deficit.
  • Infrastructure spending has been diverted to Third Sector organisations (eg in some areas where libraries have been closed, communities have taken them over – occurs in high SES areas, not in disadvantaged areas).
  • Discusses the Public Services Social Value Bill that enables voluntary sector organisations and social enterprises to deliver public services on a level playing field. In awarding contracts the government is starting to consider social value and how to define and measure it. Many different interpretations of ‘social value’.
  • Teasedale argues that the term Big Society has been declared dead following attacks from the right and the left and due to the fact that tenders weren’t being won by third sector organisations. Third sector CEOs who were originally in favour of the idea have now turned against the notion as well.He argueshowever that the centre has not yet turned away from the idea that voluntary sector community organisations can deliver public services.

Centre for Social Impact (CSI)
Measuring Social Outcomes Conference
Sydney, February 2013. / Opening address:The value of measurement for social impact.Dr Andrew Young, CEO, CSI


Social impact measurement /
  • Young defined the “social impact system” as the “ways in which we try to create positive social outcomes in Australia across government, not-for-profit, social enterprise and corporate sectors.”
  • Measuring social outcomes should be a policy agenda priority and the Federal Government needs to work with the NFP sector to achieve effective measurement outcomes

Measuring Social
Outcomes Conference
Sydney, February 2013 / Paul Ronalds,First Assistant Secretary, Office of Work and Family, Department of the Prime Minister & Cabinet.


Social impact measurement /
  • Ronalds discusses the importance of measuring outcomes and the Government's role
  • how to drive productivity improvements in the social sector is a critical issue
  • the difficult fiscal environment for governments and not for profits is making it much more likely that those organisations that are able to demonstrate their impact with robust evaluations are going to get increased funding
  • the new Office for the Not for Profit Sector in DPMC has been working across departments to promote social impact evaluation methodologies. This is done in collaboration with NFPs, with for profits and academic institutions.
  • Still a long way to go. Need to build the evidence base for good robust evaluations from Australia and overseas
  • Need to address structural barriers that prevent good evaluation and increase formal and informal incentives for organisations to invest in evaluation. .

Measuring Social Outcomes Conference
Sydney, February 2013 / 7 Deadly Sins of Social Outcome Measurement
Jeremy Nicholls, Chair, Social Impacts Analysts Association & Chief Executive of the SROI (Social Return on Investment) Network


Social impact measurement / Nicholls asks organisations undertaking social outcome measurement to consider
  • Pride: we must be right and we don’t have to test it
  • Envy: we can’t do that because we don’t have enough resources
  • Gluttony: don’t do too much; just enough for the need
  • Greed: don’t think it’s all down to you
  • Sloth: don’t continue to do things just because you already have, because funding is still there
  • Anger: need to have someone on your Board who understands, is interested and has the skills for social outcome management to avoid frustration
  • Lust: not Measurement for measurement sake; it’s a long term relationship; need to keep it simple

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