Capacity Builders - Impact of the economic downturn on third sector support providers - Oct' 2009

Capacitybuilders is conducting a second survey on the impact of the economic downturn on third sector support providers across England. This survey will help Capacitybuilders continue to build the evidence base around the impact of changing economic circumstances on those providing support services to the third sector. The questionnaire is available online and they would very much appreciate you taking a few minutes out of your busy schedule to support this valuable project.

To start the survey, please follow this link:

Enter survey here

While they will collate and publish findings from the survey, information that you provide will remain confidential. If you feel a colleague is more qualified to complete this survey on behalf of your organisation, please feel free to forward this message. It is open to all third sector support providers, regardless of whether you participated in the first questionnaire or not.

Some 300 infrastructure organisations responded to the first survey, providing valuable feedback on how the recession is affecting them and the services they offer.

Key findings include:


78% of support providers saw an increase in demand for services over the past 12 months
53% of respondents felt they were coping well or very well with the situation
The support services that saw the biggest increase in demand were focused on: funding advice and income generation; building partnerships and collaboration; managing volunteering.
A report summarising the results is available at the Building Resilience area of the new Improving Support Website: www.improvingsupport.org.uk/buildingresilience.

Research by Design Ltd, an independent market research company, has been commissioned to undertake these surveys on our behalf. You may contact them directly with any queries you have relating to the surveys on 0121 643 9090/ richardmace@researchbydesign.co.uk. Alternatively, if you have any queries relating to Capacitybuilders please contact Richard Davey, Policy Officer on 0121 237 5118/ richard.davey@capacitybuilders.org.uk.


< Back to 'Consultation - Regional and National'