Northern Ireland’s umbrella body NICVA asks the question
“What would make it a great Christmas for the sector?”.

While Third Sector magazine asks
Was 2005 a good year for the voluntary sector?

Christmas might be a time for giving, but in the media globally it also seems to be a time for critical examination of charity management.

In Singapore:
Channelnewsasia.com
has a major feature on a KPMG consultancy report into charity NKF, on various web pages. The main news: “A highly-awaited 300-plus page report on suspect practices by a Singapore charity, the National Kidney Foundation, is out.

“The findings by KPMG are startling, from revelations that only 10 cents of every charity dollar went to subsidise patients’ direct treatment costs, to wasted opportunities by regulators to commence investigations earlier.”

They also say “Organisations working in the charity sector say an overhaul of the regulatory system is long overdue.” (Note: VWO = voluntary welfare organisation or similar)

In the US:
ABC News: Red Cross President Resigns; Questions Remain
Dec. 13, 2005 — Today’s resignation by American Red Cross President Marsha Evans makes her the third in the last four presidents of the organization to end their tenure after a major national disaster.

Evans’ resignation came as a surprise just hours before a congressional committee heard detailed testimony of Red Cross shortcomings and failures in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

The Red Cross operates under a charter from Congress, and in times of disaster, no American charity takes in more cash.

But the charitable organization was described today as operating like FEMA in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina — both incompetent and ineffective.

A Christmas present for VolResource - a new home and software for the blog. Up to to mid December (2005) it was produced at voluntarynews.org - nothing wrong with that set up but a new server has meant that a new start was on the cards.

The old blog entries can be found on this server , although the search, comments etc. won’t work.

We’ve still got a few design issues to tidy up, but might as well get on with the blog!

From NCVO ICT Foresight blog:

The Hansard Society is working together with the NCVO on the first strand of the [ICT Foresight?] project - on Democracy, campaigning and activism. The research is designed to illustrate ways in which information and communication technology (ICT) might empower charitable, community and voluntary sector organisations and their supporters and identify comparisons with citizen engagement in politics.

The research will begin with a survey of current uses and expectation of ICT in the voluntary and community sector which is going to be launched in January 2006. We are also looking for case-studies that will provide us with personal testimonies and examples of successes and possible pit-falls.

If you are aware of an organisation using technology to engage with stakeholders or promote campaigns in innovative ways please email us via edemocracy@hansard.lse.ac.uk

- Visit the blog, linked above, for updates.

Brand republic Data Bulletin has an article on the data processing behind the launch (publicly this week) of GuideStar UK the online charity database:

Experian is helping charity GuideStar UK launch a free web-based encyclopaedia of the 167,000 registered charities in England and Wales.
More: Experian helps GuideStar provide insight into charities - Data Bulletin - Data news by Email - Brand Republic

From:EurActiv:

After concerns expressed by the Council of Europe and European NGOs, Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a controversial bill on nongovernmental organisations to be “thorougly revised”.

More: here: After European pressure, Putin announces softer NGO law

About time we picked up a posting from other blogs we keep an eye on. At Kevin Harris’ neighbourhood blog:

Reporting on discussions at a recent seminar on neighbourhood governance organised by The Young Foundation with CDF and Bassac, he looks at a key question of “Do we need unity of voice – consensus – for neighbourhood governance?” Plus more - see quote below.

Neighbourhoods: Community, consensus, and neighbourhood governance

How far the ODPM and the Home Office can push their expectations of voluntary activity?. Rose Ardron, from Sheffield NDC, said:

“I do two days a week on this and I get tired. My colleagues who are also volunteers, get tired. People aren’t breaking down the doors to get involved in local forums.”

A colleague was telling me recently about a local activist who does 76 hours of volunteering per week: he’s seriously ill. Of another it was noted recently, that to be an activist in your own street is exhausting. I just don’t get the impression that this factor has featured much in what has been thus far an overwhelmingly top-down debate.

Apologies for the problems with our main web site (www.volresource.org.uk and similar) on Thursday 1st Dec. Our web server hosting arrangement got its electrons in a twist for a few hours. Everything was back to normal late evening.