Forthcoming research

NPC future publications, coming 2010

Trusteeship 2010
A year on from the publication of Board matters, NPC’s review of charity trusteeship in the UK, we will produce a briefing for trustees that gives a snapshot of trusteeship in 2010. A mixture of news, case studies and opinion, this briefing will discuss new developments and ongoing issues in the world of trusteeship. Drawing on desk research, consultation with experts, and NPC’s seminars for charity trustees, it will highlight emerging trends and provide food for thought. This work is being funded by The Clothworkers’ Company and the briefing is due to be published in July 2010. 

The impact of community anchors
An exciting piece of new research sees New Philanthropy Capital (NPC), IVAR and nine community anchor organisations come together to explore a number of questions. In a dynamic and participative process, the team will tackle the challenge of how to assess the impact of multi-purpose community organisations. The work has been funded by IDe&A, The Education Trust and IVAR's Research Development Fund and runs from Autumn 2009 to Autumn 2010.
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The impact of charities working with prisoners and their families
NPC is working with six charities that support offenders in prison to maintain family relationships, to help them improve their measurement systems.
The project has three main aims:

• Monitor and demonstrate impact for each participating charity: Charities working with the families of prisoners often struggle to measure the impact of their work. This impedes their ability to refine and improve their services, and also to demonstrate their results to funders. The project will focus on their impact on family ties, but where possible could look at a broader set of results, such as housing, educational attainment etc.
• Add to a coherent picture of the sector: The six charities provide a range of interventions across the sector—from direct services in prisons, to community support, help-lines and campaigning. The project will look across these activities to produce a single ‘theory of change’ to help demonstrate how charities contribute to the shared goal of better family ties.
• Share lessons and demonstrate the role of the voluntary sector in maintaining family ties and its importance: The project's final aim is to help share and disseminate lessons about measuring the impact of charities’ work with the families of prisoners. NPC will also produce a report on the project outlining the process, the lessons learnt, and the initial results. This will complement a literature review from Lemos & Crane about the impact of family ties on reducing reoffending, also commissioned by the Indigo Trust.

This work is being funded by the Indigo Trust and is due to be published in the Winter.