Third Sector OR Special Interest Group

Third Sector OR SIG Aims and Objectives

The Third Sector OR special interest group aims to help O.R. analysts working or planning to work in third sector organisations (charities, social enterprises, voluntary and not for profit groups and NGOs) to do a better job and to promote to O.R. analysts the opportunity to practise in a wider arena.

The Third Sector OR special interest group will achieve this by:

1. Raising awareness of opportunities for analysis in the third sector amongst O.R. practitioners
2. Sharing experience of O.R. projects and practice in the third sector
3. Supporting O.R. practitioners working in the third sector
4. Maintaining an active relationship with the O.R. in the Third Sector project team
5. Helping ensure that O.R. is promoted to third sector organisations

The "OR in the Third Sector" Project is formally recognised and funded by the OR Society. Its aim is to advance the O.R. contribution to the 3rd sector, to help 3rd sector organisations to do a better job, and to promote O.R. across the sector. Its current priority is the establishment and operation of a pro-bono service.

Third Sector OR and the OR Society

The formal objectives of Third Sector OR and the Third Sector Project team are attached.

The "OR in the Third Sector" Project is formally recognised and funded by the OR Society. Its aim is to advance the O.R. contribution to the 3rd sector, to help 3rd sector organisations to do a better job, and to promote O.R. across the sector. The Third Sector Project team is a small group of ORS members specifically set up to manage this intiative. At the moment considerable effort is devoted to providing support to the Cranfield Trust and Reach, consultancies for the third sector which only deal with  certain types of organistion and work. For example, the Cranfield Trust only deals with issues of poverty, disability or social exclusion. The Project Team also manages a database of the skills and experience of members who are availabe for 3rd Sector work. The Team’s current priority is the establishment and operation of a pro-bono service.

The Third Sector OR special interest group is one of 16 subgroups (SIGs) set up within the constitution of the OR Society. These groups are managed by the OR Society, and their Officers are members of the OR Society. But each SIG can also have other members who are not members of the OR Society. Also, meetings of SIGs are open to all, not just members of the OR Society or the SIG.This SIG therefore provides wider opportunities for disussion of the scope for O.R. in the 3rd sector, and can initiate prospects of further involvement.

Third Sector OR Schematic