Study title

Data collection comprising information about public sector procurement from Local Authorities in the UK and Clinical Commissioning Groups in England from 2013-15, funding awards made by foundations and charitable funders, and data on recipient organisations, mainly charities and social enterprises. Data were sourced from a large number of local authorities and Clinical Commissioning Groups by downloading the datasets from authority websites. Each of the datasets were then cleaned, including identifying missing or incomplete rows andconverting dates into a standard format. This data collection represents a formidable resource which has the potential to inform analyses of the distribution of funding to third sector organisations in the form of grants from foundations, government and others; to support further analytical work on the effects of such grants on the subsequent financial trajectories of organisations; to underpin investigations of the extent to which third sector organisations are in receipt of contracts from public sector agencies; and to analyse the balance between public and private provision of welfare services. The aim of this project is to provide comprehensive data on funding flows to third sector organisations in England. We exploit the growing body of data being made available on grant making to voluntary organisations, and on public procurement, to build resources which will allow researchers to improve understanding of the funding mix of third sector organisations. The resources we create will help third sector organisations and policy makers because it will improve their understanding of their environment, particularly funding opportunities and also potential competitors or collaborators. This means they will be able to better support their beneficiaries by, for example, targeting their services or co-operating with similar organisations. The data will meet administrative and research challenges facing the sector by providing a "spine"...