John Mohan

The logic of charity: Great expectations in hard times

Charity is a consistent and important feature of life in the UK, yet there is no clear understanding of what charity is, how it operates, who it benefits, and what it can and cannot be expected to do. The logic guiding charitable activity is not well understood by politicians, who nonetheless seek to encourage charity, and harness it in support of their political programmes. This book presents extensive new data from over a dozen studies, including public attitudes to giving, large datasets on the geography and funding patterns of third sector organisations, and interviews with a wide range of donors, charity leaders, fundraisers and philanthropy advisers. These studies enable us to explore the logic of charity in terms of the distribution of resources across causes and communities in the UK, and the processes behind philanthropic decision-making. Our data reveals a picture of charitable activity at odds with widespread assumptions.

Association of volunteering with mental well-being: a lifecourse analysis of a national population-based longitudinal study in the UK

Objectives The association of volunteering with well-being has been found in previous research, but mostly among older people. The aim of this study was to examine the association of volunteering with mental well-being among the British population across the life course. Design British Household Panel Survey, a population-based longitudinal study. Setting UK. Participants 66 343 observations (person-years). Main outcome measures Mental well-being was measured by using the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12 or GHQ); high values denote high mental disorder. Four groups of volunteering participation were created: frequent (once a week), infrequent (once a month/several times a year), rare (once or less a year) and never. Multilevel linear models were used to analyse variations in mental well-being over the life course by levels of volunteering. Results When not considering age, those who engaged in volunteering regularly appeared to experience higher levels of mental well-being than those who never volunteered. To explore the association of volunteering with the GHQ across the life course, interaction terms were fitted between age and volunteering. The interactions were significant, demonstrating that these associations vary by age. The association between volunteering and well-being did not emerge during early adulthood to mid-adulthood, instead becoming apparent above the age of 40 years and continuing up to old age. Moreover, in early adulthood, the absence of engagement in voluntary activity was not related to mental well-being, but GHQ scores for this group increased sharply with age, levelling off after the age of 40 and then increasing again above the age of 70 years. The study also indicates variation in GHQ scores (65%) within individuals across time, suggesting evidence of lifecourse effects. Conclusions We conclude that volunteering may be more meaningful for mental well-being at some points of time in the life course.

Contribution of the voluntary sector to mental health crisis care in England: protocol for a multimethod study

Introduction Timely access to the right kind of support for people experiencing a mental health crisis can be problematic. The voluntary sector (VS) plays a key role in providing support and enabling access, but there is a knowledge gap concerning its contribution and interface with public services in mental health crisis care. This study aims to address this. Methods and analysis The study has three empirical elements: (1) a national survey of voluntary sector organisations (VSOs) in England and national stakeholder interviews to develop a typology of organisations and interventions provided by VSOs; (2) detailed mapping of VS services in two regions through interviews and extending the national survey; (3) four case studies, identified from the regional mapping, of VS mental health crisis services and their interface with National Health Service (NHS) and local authority services, at both a system and individual level. Data collection will involve interviews with commissioners; VSO and NHS or local authority providers; and focus groups with people who have experience of VSO crisis support, both service users and carers; and mapping the crisis trajectory of 10 service users in each study site through narrative interviews with service users and informal carers to understand the experience of VSO crisis care and its impact. Ethics and dissemination The University of Birmingham Humanities and Social Sciences Ethical Review Committee granted ethical approval (reference ERN_16–1183) for the national and regional elements of the study. Ethical review by the Health Research Authority will be required for the case study research once the sites have been identified from the first two elements of the study. A range of methods including a policy seminar, publication in academic journals and a tool kit for commissioners and practitioners will be produced to maximise the impact of the findings on policy and practice.

The Supply of Philanthropy in Relation to Beneficiary Demand

This chapter presents a body of qualitative data to explore the complex processes of philanthropic decisionmaking. Donor autonomy, and the historically typical dominance of ‘taste-based’ giving, generates a heterogeneous charity population that is not, on the whole, concerned with matching resources with needs: charity therefore falls short of political expectations. The institutional logic of philanthropy is characterized as supply-led and influenced by three factors: identification with the cause; confidence in the charitable organization being funded; and desire for personal enrichment alongside doing good. This contrasts sharply with the rule-governed allocation of resources by state agencies according to democratically-agreed preferences. Therefore the distribution of philanthropic resources will not easily change in response to new political priorities, and will not necessarily match the pattern of social need.

How Intermediaries Affect the Distribution of Charitable Benefit

This chapter explores the role of charitable intermediaries, such as fundraisers and philanthropy advisers, in determining which causes attract — or fail to attract — philanthropic support. It begins by describing the emergence of intermediaries as a key feature of the changing philanthropy landscape over recent decades. A body of qualitative data then demonstrates that the distribution of charitable resources is skewed in favour of organizations that succeed in building meaningful relationships with donors, that give donors control over how their contributions are used and that create dual benefits by ensuring both public goods and private benefits are achieved as a result of donations. The fundamental differences between donating and paying tax are exacerbated by the intervention of charitable intermediaries, whose numbers are growing and professionalizing.

Conclusion: Where the Logic of Charity Might Lead Us

This book has illustrated how the logic of charity plays out, in terms of the distribution of resources across causes and communities, and the processes behind philanthropic decision-making. Whilst ‘nudge’ policies and place-based initiatives might eventually irrigate some so-called charity deserts, shifting the philanthropic dials will not be straightforward, either in terms of raising overall levels of giving, or creating significant shifts in the distribution of donations between causes or geographical areas. We note grounds for optimism regarding the continued vitality of charity despite adverse economic circumstances, but conclude that charities still have to work to command the confidence of the public, and to contend with the lack of political understanding of, and appreciation for, the diverse roles they play in building a pluralistic civil society.

Spatial Logics: The Geographical Distribution of Charities and Charitable Resources

It has long been recognized that charitable activity and charitable organizations are distributed very unevenly. Recently some relatively simplistic formulations have postulated the existence of ‘charity deserts’, areas with few registered charitable organizations in which there is a dearth of social action. We question these analyses and attempt to refine them in various ways, which point to the broad conclusion that, appropriately specified, there are significant variations between places in the distribution of charitable resources, which appear closely related to economic conditions. The logic of charity however implies that such gaps will not close easily if at all. Ample historical evidence points to significant and persistent variations. The chapter also reviews recent policy proposals regarding what might be done about so-called charity deserts.

Introduction: Is There a ‘Logic of Charity’?

Despite charity being a consistent feature of life in the UK, we lack a clear understanding of what charity is, how it operates, who it benefits and what it can and cannot be expected to do. We begin by summarizing the different organizing principles found in government and charity, and note that the logic guiding charitable activity is not well understood by politicians who seek to encourage charity and harness it in support of their political programmes. The historic role and contemporary nature of charity are reviewed, then a discussion of data on public attitudes regarding the role that charity does and should play in relation to government funding highlights how those attitudes have endured and changed over the past 25 years.

Who Benefits from Charitable Expenditures? The Distribution of Charitable Resources by Cause

Charities may be perceived as organizations that are funded entirely from private donations, but which charitable causes receive funding from which sources of income? This chapter analyses the distribution of the income of the charitable sector by main sphere of activity (charitable causes) and by funding streams (private donations, government, etc.). One particular feature of the logic of charity is the degree of concentration of income in general, and of income from particular funding streams, within relatively small numbers of organizations. Major shifts in the distribution of resources therefore seem unlikely to be achieved — for instance, even small-scale reductions in government funding would require some areas of charitable activity to double their private fundraising — which suggests some challenges in the context of the current shrinkage of the state.

Understanding neighbourhood perceptions of alcohol-related anti-social behaviour

Negative perceptions of anti-social behaviour have been shown by previous research to have harmful repercussions to both an individual’s mental and physical health as well as the neighbourhood’s long-term prospects. Studies in the USA have previously found that the location of alcohol supply points is associated with these negative perceptions, whereas recent, more qualitative and ethnographic research from the UK emphasises the heterogenous and contingent nature of attitudes and perceptions towards alcohol consumption patterns and behaviour. Using multilevel models applied to data from a national crime survey and geocoded data on pubs, bars and nightclubs, this paper focuses on the complex relationship between perceptions of alcohol-related anti-social behaviour and the density of such establishments across England. The findings support the general link between unfavourable perceptions and density of outlets but also highlight the complexity of this association by showing that these relationships are dependent on other characteristics of the neighbourhood, namely deprivation and the proportion of young people in the neighbourhood.