An assessment of the willingness of organisations to borrow money in the Third Sector : findings studies in Yorkshire, North East England and Cumbria

Chapman, Tony

Abstract

There has been much speculation over the last few years about the level of demand for loans in the third sector. This paper aims to estimate the level of demand for different types of loans by third sector organisations (TSOs) in Cumbria. Furthermore, the paper will present new findings on the characteristics of those TSOs which are most likely to borrow money, how much, from whom and for what purposes by drawing upon date from a wider range of organisations in North East England and Yorkshire and Humber. Research on the level of demand for loans generally has been undertaken at a national level. Most studies have been quite small, considering the attitudes and practices of just a few hundred TSOs. Often such studies draw upon ‘self selected’ samples of organisations which are more likely to respond positively because they are conducive to the idea of borrowing money.1 Consequently, until now, little reliable data has become available on: the attitudes of the third sector as a whole towards borrowing; on the proportion of organisations which are in a position to borrow; and, reasonably reliable estimates on the number of organisations which may become more interested in taking loans in the future. Furthermore, existing research tends to have been undertaken by, or on behalf of, organisations which are driven by an eagerness to demonstrate that there is a large marketplace for borrowing in the third sector. Consequently, projections (often based on flawed data and over-ambitious multipliers) on levels of interest in borrowing money by TSOs may have been exaggerated to some extent.

Citation

Chapman, T. (2015). An assessment of the willingness of organisations to borrow money in the Third Sector : findings studies in Yorkshire, North East England and Cumbria. Northern Rock

• Report Type: Project Report
• Acceptance Date: Mar 18, 2015
• Publication Date: 2015-01
• Deposit Date: Mar 18, 2015
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 18, 2015
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1636867
• Publisher URL: http://www.nr-foundation.org.uk/third-sector-trends.php
• Related Public URLs: http://www.nr-foundation.org.uk/downloads/Assessment_wiliingness-Third_Sector.pdf
• Additional Information: Publisher: Northern Rock; Type: monograph; Subtype: project_report