ESRC and NCVO publish report on ICT, social capital and voluntary action

Howard Lake | 9 October 2006 | News

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NCVO, the Economic Research Council and the ICT Hub have produced a handy new report on information and communications technology, social capital and voluntary action.

It looks at how new media is changing how individuals interact with each other, with organisations and with government. In particular, by focusing on the challenges and opportunities of online volunteering it looks at how ICT is having an impact on ‘social capital’ or the reserve of goodwill generated by people’s social interactions.

The report’s authors make it compelling reading. Jayne Cravens has been a pioneer in thinking about and implementing online volunteering solutions. She is a former director of the UN’s Online Volunteering service and the Virtual Volunteering Project. She has been a long-time contributor to some of the earliest online discussion forums and email threads on charities’ and nonprofits’ use of the Internet.

Cravens looks at why voluntary and community organisations simply cannot ignore the Internet. She argues that “very few people substitute online communities for onsite, face-to-face ones. Often, one is an extension of the other…”.

She gives a number of reasons why voluntary organisations should host online communities. She concludes that “if an organisation does not host its own online community, for whatever participants, it can expects its volunteers, clients and advocates – and sometimes, even its staff – to create their own or to participate in those hosted by others.”

Ben Anderson looks at the impact of ICT in local action. He has found that although “most ICT initiatives support the development of social capital in the community, those already rich in it benefit most.” Not surprisingly he has also found that top-top, centrally managed ICT projects are often less sustainable than those developed at grassroots level.

You can download ICT, Social Capital and Voluntary Action as a PDF, as well as view seminar presentations on this subject from both authors.

About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale. He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.