Global Action Plan International

"The good news is that the daily life of civil society activity is thriving – with no signs of long-term decline and decay, or for that matter any rise in selfishness and other ills, despite the pressures of recession. Civil society is made up of a myriad of circles of freedom and circles of cooperation that have proved to be remarkably resilient.
"But it’s also clear that civil society is less than it could be. For a century or more it has been pushed to the margins by commerce and the state, which have claimed the lion’s share of resources and power. It has been paid lip-service, but generally neglected. And it has lost ground in areas it was once strong, like finance or childhood.
"The short-term push to strengthen civil society comes from the coincidence of three crises: the financial crisis and its economic effects; the ecological crisis, which has moved centre-stage as never before; and a crisis of political confidence.
"Each crisis poses very different questions. But it is now impossible to imagine plausible answers to these questions which do not involve a widened role for civil society associations."

Download summary or full reports from this study, commissioned by the UK government, from the Carnegie UK Trust. The reports include advice to organisations like ours.