Welcome to IVAR. We are an independent charity that works closely with people and organisations striving for social change. From the very small that directly support the most vulnerable in their local communities, to those that work nationally – across the voluntary, public and funding sectors.
We use research to develop practical responses to the challenges faced and create opportunities for people to learn from our findings. This site is home to our bank of research and resources, providing insights that can help organisations adapt to change and make informed and confident decisions.
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Latest publications
Duty to Care?
How to ensure grant-making helps and doesn’t hinder
We believe that foundations could be making adaptations to their grant-making practices in response to the circumstances and needs of small to medium voluntary organisations.
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The value of small
What is distinctive and valuable about small charities relative to their larger counterparts and public sector bodies? We found three features that set them apart, and explored current funding challenges.
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The Future for Communities
How can people in our most disadvantaged communities feel and be more powerful in the future? This report concludes an 18 month research project that heard from over 800 people.
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Blogs
05 February 2019
All funders owe it to the sector to continue to improve their thinking on continuation funding
Dan Paskins | Senior Head of Portfolio Development at the National Lottery Community Fund
What many charities want isn’t just a single grant for one, three or even five years, but some funding to try things out, and then more funding to keep their activities going and develop them further.
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18 December 2018
Core funding is the answer - whatever the research question
Ben Cairns
Ben reflects that in recent years whatever our research question, the answers often included something about the need for core funding.
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