Voluntary organisation: Difference between revisions

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#REDIRECT [[Voluntary associations]]
A '''voluntary organisation''' is a structured group of people who have come together of their own accord for a social rather than a commercial purpose.  The structure may be of various legal forms,depending on the local legal framework.  The term can include, for instance, sports clubs, welfare organisations, local interest groups and pressure groups.  There is an immense range of sizes.  Although the possible usage is very wide, it is often restricted to organisations in the welfare field.
 
This article lists some related terms.
 
 
== Voluntary sector ==
The Wolfenden Report on the ''The Future of Voluntary Organisations'' brought the term '''voluntary sector''' into fairly common use, at least in the United Kingdom.<ref>Harris, M and Rochester, C, eds.  Voluntary Organisations and Social Policy in Britain.  Palgrave. 2001. Introduction</ref>  Conceptually the term has proved useful by directing attention to possible areas of overlap between this and other sectors: the governmental, the business/commercial, and the informal.
 
 
== Non-profit organisations ==
The wording [[nonprofit organization|non-profit organization]] is often regarded as the US equivalent of "voluntary organisation".  Seeking a positive rather than a negative description, Peter Drucker wrote that "Non-profit institutions are human-change agents.<ref>Drucker, P F.  Managing the Non-Profit Organization.  Butterworth-Heinemann. 1990. Preface</ref>  This narrows the field somewhat.  It would not, for instance, include a bridge club, or even, perhaps, an environmental body.
 
 
== Civil society ==
Some definitions and descriptions of [[civil society]] appear to make it virtually identical with the voluntary sector.  In general, however, civil society is seen as something both wider (as potentially including some activities of statutory bodies, and also unstructured groupings), and narrower (as being more purposeful).  See the separate article.
 
 
== Charities ==
The English legal system developed the legal concept of "trusts" and from it the concept of "charities" as a particular type of trust.  Charities have objectives which judged to be socially desirable, and experience greater legal constraints in return for tax and other benefits.
 
 
== Non-governmental organisations ==
The term non-governmental organisations (NGOs) is in theory identical to "voluntary organisations", but in practice it is mainly used for international bodies and those which have been granted consultation rights by inter-governmental bodies such as the [[United Nations]].
 
== Self-help organisations ==
 
 
== Voluntary workers/volunteers ==
 
 
== References ==
<references/>

Latest revision as of 12:11, 2 September 2020