Studies of collaboration by non-profit scholars have generally focused on particular types of collaborative behaviour, such as mergers, alliances, co-location and government / non-profit partnerships. This paper builds on secondary analysis of data derived from 70 IVAR projects conducted over a ten year period to draw out organisational challenges faced by nonprofits engaging in collaborative behaviour and the responses that were made to those challenges.

In April 2011, the British Association of Settlements and Social Action Centres (bassac) and the Development Trusts Association (DTA) merged to form Locality, the leading nationwide network of settlements, development trusts, social action centres and community enterprises.

This report offers a detailed account of the merger, based on re-examination of documents generated during the merger process and on interviews with five of the key participants. We also give our perspective as facilitators of the merger.

TACT Fostering & Adoption (TACT) is the UK’s largest charity and voluntary agency providing fostering and adoption services in England, Scotland and Wales. Between October 2004 and August 2007, TACT merged with four smaller organisations operating variously in the fields of fostering, adoption and campaigning to promote better justice for children.

Beyond money: A study of funding plus in the UK was launched at a debate event entitled, ‘Funders should stick to making grants’.

Making a difference celebrates ten years of IVAR's work. The publication presents ten projects in the words of those we have worked with to illustrate the diversity of our work and the difference that IVAR makes.   

This chapter in Hybridity and the third sector: Challenges for practice, theory and policy draws on findings from a study of community anchor organisations to examine the pressures on such organisations to engage in public service delivery and the implications of going down this route. 

This paper describes and discusses the dilemmas for voluntary and community organisations (VCOs) in carrying out the twin roles of delivering services and acting as advocates for their client groups and other stakeholders. It draws on a study of a particular subsector of VCOs, namely 'multi-purpose community-based organisations' or 'community anchor organisations', which explored the challenges that they experience in acting as both advocates and service providers.

This report presents findings from IVAR-led research, conducted by community researchers in seven English locations, which examined the contribution of Community Matters members to formal and informal political participation. In particular, the research aimed to understand and explain the contribution of community-based multipurpose voluntary organisations to maintaining and building good levels of formal and informal political participation in otherwise deprived areas.

This article is a review of IVAR's work on community ownership and management of assets drawing on its recent research including Organisations Controlling Assets: A better understanding (2011) and the evidence review Community Ownership and Management of Assets undertaken in 2008 - both published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation - and other writing on social enterprise.

Margaret Harris (IVAR's academic adviser) presented a paper to the Annual Meeting of ARNOVA (2010) on business and the voluntary sector.

Download the paper - Business and the voluntary sector: Foundations for a research agenda