“Close Encounters of the Third Kind” Volunteering, Infrastructure and Governance

This paper explores the relationship between voluntary sector and governance using England as a case study. One of the key issues in recent times is how voluntary organizations sustain themselves. Although the spate of studies have undoubtedly advanced the state of knowledge about voluntary organisations, we still know very little about the internal composition and operation of volunteer organisations and even less about the way in which internal factors interact within the external world. This research article assesses the factors such as governance and quality, leadership, workforce, performance, partnerships and finance and funding. These different critical success factors are part of the inter-locking infrastructure tools of voluntary organizations that keeps them sustained.