Research for the third sector.
From the largest charities to the smallest community groups, we help Scotland’s third sector organisations answer questions and tell their stories through access to professional research support.
Supporting third sector research.
Professional, independent research gives organisations the knowledge they need to make decisions, improve their services, and prove their social impact.
While third sector organisations excel at stretching limited resources to maximise their impact, many struggle to afford high-quality research. That’s where Sirel comes in.
Sirel operates using a flexible pricing approach that scales according to each organisation’s size and capacity to pay.
As an aspiring Community Interest Company (CIC), we reinvest our profits into subsidising research for smaller organisations, encourage data-sharing across the sector, and support the development and sharing of sector-wide benchmarking.
Who is Sirel Third Sector Research here to help?
- Charities
- Social enterprises
- Community groups
- Unions
- Other non-profits
- Commercial organisations with a strong ethical or community focus
If your group or organisation exists to make your community, Scotland, or the world a better place, then we’re here to help
Supporting your organisation.
Proving impact to your funders
We can gather feedback from your service users and other stakeholders to provide you and your funders with independent and reliable evidence of impact.
Understanding your service users’
needs and opinions
To bring the voice of your service users into your decision-making, we can conduct structured and unbiased surveys and/or in-depth conversations to draw out a more complete picture of their experiences and needs.
Listening to your staff, volunteers and trustees
Gather anonymous, consistent and benchmarked feedback from your staff, volunteers and trustees, to understand their challenges and strengthen your retention and recruitment.
Refining your communications
By speaking to the right people in your audience, we can help you develop and refine the materials you use to communicate with them.
Connecting you to existing data
The third sector has already commissioned a wealth of primary research, often available free. We can help you explore this existing work to reduce the need to commission fresh research.
Helping you collect and use your own feedback
Often, third sector organisations have a history of collecting their own feedback from staff, service users and other sources. We can help organisations use this data accurately and effectively, and provide guidance on future research projects.
Our experience.
Alex Belcher, owner and research director at Sirel Third Sector Research, has spent 15 years conducting public and third sector research in Scotland.
With experience leading major sector research projects such as the Scottish Third Sector Tracker and OSCR’s Trust in Charities Survey, Alex understands the unique challenges involved in conducting research in the Third Sector.
Alex is also a key member of the DJS Research non-profit and employee engagement research team.
Contact Us.
Research needs are different for every organisation, so, to discuss your own situation with no obligation, please complete the form below or give us a call on 07507 834666.