2022 Conference Theme: Solutions that Help Us Help One Another
Those who administer or study the broader non-profit or voluntary sector have largely focused on philanthropic giving that fund increasingly professional services, but there are also very old traditions of self-help, mutual aid, and small-scale forms of community support. Older forms of ‘mutual benefit organisations’ or ‘friendly societies’ now co-exist with newer ‘ground up initiatives.’ There is now a wide variety of ways that communities can engage in mutual aid and support one another. This ranges from informal locality-based groups amongst neighbours to ground up initiatives leveraging on social media to mobilise mass support. Decentralised and distributed organisational forms afford new kinds of tech-enabled peer-to-peer collaboration alongside more traditional associations structured to represent members’ interests. Innovative forms of social care, worker-owned and platform cooperatives are also emerging to re-imagine what and how social impact can be achieved.
The theme for this year is ‘Solutions that Help Us Help One Another’, where we will highlight the often neglected ‘impulse from the ground’ and how non-profits can harness existing assets and consider new ways to help communities help themselves. We will examine how mutual aid, professional help and philanthropic giving can play mutually supportive and complementary roles in the non-profit sector to unlock the hidden potential and untapped capacities of communities.
Conversation with Colin Rochester on "The Impulse from the Ground": Rethinking Mutual Aid and Voluntary Action