Voluntary sector and
social enterprise

OPM’s work with the voluntary and community sector is led by Sophie Ahmad, while Phil Copestake leads our work with social enterprises and mutuals.

For more than 20 years OPM has supported a wide range of organisations including charities, community organisations, employee-owned businesses, mutuals, co-operatives, trades union and social enterprises. We have particular expertise in equality, inclusion and cohesion issues and have helped organisations that work in health and social care or with children. Much of our work in the voluntary sector involves supporting organisations, their commissioners and funders to work more productively together. Many of our experts have worked with voluntary-sector organisations or are trustees of charities.

Our partnership with NCVO

OPM and the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) are working in partnership to support public services and a thriving civil society. We share the common goal of building the capacity of organisations to improve the lives of people and transform communities. Together, we already have a strong record of research, evaluation and engagement for a range of organisations, including Action for Children and the National Audit Office.

Demonstrating impact and value for money

OPM's evaluation team uses the latest frameworks and techniques to help voluntary organisations clarify the contribution they make to public value, understand the cost effectiveness of their services and embed cultures of continual improvement. Recent clients include: the National Children’s Bureau, Macmillan Cancer Support, Marie Curie Cancer Care, the Health Foundation, The British Heart Foundation, the Community Development Foundation, the Office for Civil Society, the Home Office and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation.

Strengthening leadership and governance

Our coaching practice (download our coaching brief) provides leaders with a safe space to explore organisational challenges and develop the resilience, optimism and confidence to lead in uncertain times. Our top-team and board development work help managers to clarify strategic choices and embed cultures that achieve the right balance between collaborative working and robust challenge. Our open leadership programmes offer participants the opportunity to hone their skills alongside aspiring public-sector leaders and to develop networks. Our clients include: The Children’s Society, I CAN, Burdett Trust for Nursing, Save the Children, TACT, The Day Care Trust and Capacity Builders.

Researching need and understanding practice

Our research and engagement teams help voluntary organisations to make the best use of consultation findings and research evidence to understand their communities’, users’ and clients’ current and future needs, to inform the development of new services, and to lobby for change. Our clients include: Mencap, RNIB, the Essex Coalition of Disabled People, Inclusion London and the Charity Commission.

Creating new organisational forms

Our ground-breaking research into the potential contribution of mutuals and social enterprises to the delivery of local services led to OPM being appointed as one of the expert mentors to the Cabinet Office’s mutual pathfinders. We continue to support the creation of mutuals and social enterprises around the country. In addition, our organisational development specialists provide feasibility and ‘incubation’ support to voluntary sector organisations that want to develop new services and programmes. Our clients include: Action for Children, Age Concern (now Age UK), Shelter, Turning Point and YMAG.

Key reading

• How to decommission public services delivered by civil society organisations and maintain value for money (OPM and NCVO).
• Our Evaluation health and wellbeing clinics [1.24 Mb PDF] for Macmillan Cancer Support has been published on the National Cancer Survivorship Initiative (NCSI) website (a joint initiative by Department of Health/NHS Improvement/ Macmillan). We also produced separate economic case studies using a 'cost consequence technique'. Read more on the NCSI website.
• OPM conducted a literature review and evaluation of Creativity, Culture and Education’s preventing violent extremism programme [PDF].
• OPM wrote a report on the strategic role of directors of nursing [PDF] for the Burdett Trust for Nursing.
• How to become an employee owned mutual: an action checklist for the public sector (Baxi Partnership, Field Fisher Waterhouse, OPM, March 2011).
• Shared ownership in practice (OPM, December 2010).
• New models of public service ownership: a guide to commissioning, policy and practice (OPM, July 2010).