About the National Survey of Charities and Social Enterprises

This national survey gathers the views of the leaders of charities, social enterprises and voluntary organisations in England. These organisations go by many names, and many also consider themselves to be community groups, co-operatives or mutuals, a club or society, or a non-profit organisation, housing association, faith group or trust.

The survey was first carried out in Autumn/Winter 2008 as the National Survey of Third Sector Organisations. The second wave of this survey took place Autumn/Winter 2010. The title of the survey was simplified to the National Survey of Charities and Social Enterprises. However the two waves of the survey were equivalent in all other respects.

The survey is the largest ever of the sector, and asks about opportunities to influence local decisions, the availability and nature of funding and income, support and guidance, relationships with local statutory bodies, and other factors affecting organisations’ success.

It is funded by the Office for Civil Society which sits at the centre of government, in the Cabinet Office, in recognition of the increasingly important role charities, social enterprises, voluntary and community groups play in both society and the economy – supporting people to take part in their communities, tackle local issues, and have more control over what happens in their area.

The survey delivers an unprecedented level of information and insight into the sector at a local and national level. The purpose of the survey is to ensure that citizens, communities, local and central government, and the sector itself has access to information on the health of the sector, and understand the factors which contribute to its development and equip it for success. 

The first wave of the survey ran between September and December 2008. 104,391 organisations were invited to take part and over 49,000 responded, giving a wealth of information that was used to help improve the environment in which the sector operates.

The second wave of the survey took place between September to December 2010. 112,796 organisations were invited to take part and over 44,000 responded, providing insight into the current health of the sector and how things have changed since the first wave in 2008.

We are very grateful to all those organisations who took time to complete the survey. For more information on the results of the surveys see Results from 2008 and 2010.