an analysis of national voluntary
and community organisations\u2019 experience
of the Compact and independence

This research on independence and the Compact is important and extremely
welcome. The report captures very well the tremendous importance that
people place on independence. It also describes some of the tensions
experienced by these organisations as they work with government and try to
maintain their independence.

Some of the people involved in the research reported here directly question
the relevance and power of the Compact to help organisations preserve their
independence. And yet, the substance of the threats to independence that
people say they are experiencing - criticising a funder leading to a threat to
cut funding, funding arrangements directing what organisations do and the
way they do it, burdensome monitoring, mistrust, inconsistent funding
practices - correspond exactly to provisions and codes set out in the
Compact. Compact principles on funding arrangements, procurement,
consultation, policy appraisal and so on, are all founded first on the
importance of the independence of the voluntary and community sector from
government.

The Baring Foundation has a long standing interest in supporting the
independence of the sector. We have always felt that the Compact has a
prominent role in helping to achieve this, and this report provides further
support for this belief.

Independence is not an airy principle. It is real and has a tangible effect on the
ability of organisations to be effective. It is something that can be functionally
built into the structure and operations of an organisation. Most of all,
organisations need to take responsibility for their own independence and to do
this in strategic and planned ways, rather than in response to a sudden threat.
The Compact provides a tremendously useful source of strength in support of
this. It is up to us to use it as such.