Private aid and philanthropic charities are often considered part of a neo-liberal strategy to reduce state responsibility for the provision of many services considered essential to securing social rights, with the devolution of welfare responsibilities to non-state actors a means to minimising social expenditures. Such a construction ostensibly depicts philanthropic non-state actors as agents of social justice that, in contributing to poverty reduction, play a role in social transformation. This article questions the assumption that private aid delivered through philanthropic activities and faith-based organisations (FBOs) can fulfil the state's responsibility in terms of social protection and transformation. It questions whether partnerships between the state and institutions that are not democratically elected and do not fit within a robust accountability framework can fulfil this remit. This is examined through the prism of a case study of the relationship between the Turkish state and philanthropy, focusing on FBOs that fund poverty reducing activities.

In South Africa, government cannot take sole responsibility for meeting people’s basic physical, economic and psycho-social needs as well as addressing social issues. Collective responsibility and co-operation with organisations in civil society is strongly promoted by the South African government. In a media release from the Department of Social Development, it was said that Minister Skweyiya had been meeting with the religious sector since the year 2000, to discuss government's efforts at fighting poverty and exploring the partnership between government and the religious sector (Minister and Catholic Development and Welfare Agency work together to assist orphans and other vulnerable children, 2003). Government has committed itself to partnerships with various religious organisations of which the Catholic Development and Welfare Agency and the Dutch Reformed Church are examples. This study was an exploration of the management of volunteers within Lewende Woord Ministries Trust , a faith-based organisation (FBO) situated in Pretoria. The focus of the study was on current volunteers involved in Lewende Woord Ministries Trust. The organisation was established in February 1986. At first it functioned as a church organisation, looking only after the church members’ spiritual and physical needs, but later changed its operational structures to function as an FBO. Today the organisation greatly relies on volunteers for a variety of services, both in the congregation and the surrounding communities. The objectives of the study were to determine the dynamics of volunteerism in FBOs within a broader theoretical framework of volunteerism; to investigate volunteerism within the context of Lewende Woord Ministries Trust, with specific reference to the structure, functioning, activities, motivation, and the management of volunteers; and to provide guidelines for the management of volunteers in an FBO in order to achieve the goal of the study, namely to provide guidelines for the management of volunteers in an FBO. From the research findings, it became clear that to effectively manage volunteers in FBOs, there are key aspects that need to be taken into consideration, namely motivational factors, needs, recruitment, effective training and retainment of volunteers. The main recommendation of the study is that FBOs implement the proposed guidelines for the effective management of volunteers, in order to make the utilisation of volunteers more efficient. / Dissertation (MA (Social Work))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Social Work and Criminology / Unrestricted

This thesis explores the ways in which Christian faith ‘adds value’ to the ‘carescape’ and ‘caringscapes’ of statutory hostels for people experiencing homelessness in the United Kingdom. The ways that a distinctively Christian organisational ethos is created and experienced through the material, regulatory and performative dimensions of space, place and subjectivity, are explored through a case study of the Salvation Army’s contemporary statutory accommodation services for single homeless people. Drawing upon Cloke’s notions of ‘theo-ethics’ and Conradson’s concept of ‘therapeutic landscape experience’, the links between spirituality, care and ‘value added’ are examined from the perspective of staff, volunteers and service users. This analysis extends the debate on the potential for faith-based organisations to make a distinctive and valuable contribution to care for people experiencing homelessness, by foregrounding the spiritual and emotional dimensions that texture these organisational landscapes of care. A feminist epistemological approach is taken to illuminate the nuances of care-giving and care-receiving, with particular attention paid to the emotional and spiritual sensitivities underpinning social interactions, and how these dimensions are perceived, narrated and experienced from a variety of perspectives. Using an ethnographic methodology, this study involved the undertaking of 91 semi-structured interviews, a six-week period of participant observation in a specific Salvation Army Lifehouse, and attendance at four professional social service and chaplaincy conferences run by the Salvation Army UK. The research findings suggest that Christianity adds value to these institutional spaces of care in a highly nuanced way, dependent on one’s subjectivity. A second observation is that the potential for faith to add value within statutory arenas of care for the homeless is being compromised due to the pressures associated with the incumbent neoliberal contract culture within which Lifehouses are embedded. A third contribution concerns the potential for a faith-based organisation to act as a crucible for the emergence of postsecular rapprochement: it is suggested that an intersectional approach to analysing this socio-spatial process is necessary, due to the strategic role that gender, age, sexuality and race were revealed to play in fostering, or dissipating, the affective relationships that underpinned fragile moments of rapprochement.

In South Africa there are great polarities in terms of needs in resource–poor communities versus communities with available resources. This is evident during visits to Sir Lowry's Pass Village and when available statistics on trends in the community are taken into account. A potentially valuable resource in resource–poor communities is outreach programmes by a faith–based organisation (FBO) such as Jabulani Africa Ministries (JAM). JAM is a Christian FBO with a strong community focus. This study focuses on the resource–poor community of Sir Lowry's Pass Village, situated in the Helderberg Basin in the Western Cape. Sir Lowry's Pass Village is just one of a few resource–poor communities to whom JAM reaches out on a weekly basis since through their outreach programme aimed at middle–childhood children. The aim of this study was to explore and describe the content of this outreach programme of JAM in Sir Lowry's Pass Village aimed at middle–childhood children in order to provide guidelines to more specifically target the needs of the particular group of children. Data were collected from various sources according to principles of participatory action research. Data were organised through thematic data analysis to identify themes. Two core themes emerged; one theme is a mutual lack of understanding of the broader field by JAM members and the target of their interventions, middle–childhood children. The other theme centred on the moral value system of the particular group of children. The central theoretical argument of this study is that outreach programmes by faith–based organisations (such as JAM) in resource–poor communities should be directed as effectively as possible to meet the needs of middle–childhood children. / http://hdl.handle.net//10394/7006 / Thesis (M.A. (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

In South Africa there are great polarities in terms of needs in resource–poor communities versus communities with available resources. This is evident during visits to Sir Lowry's Pass Village and when available statistics on trends in the community are taken into account. A potentially valuable resource in resource–poor communities is outreach programmes by a faith–based organisation (FBO) such as Jabulani Africa Ministries (JAM). JAM is a Christian FBO with a strong community focus. This study focuses on the resource–poor community of Sir Lowry's Pass Village, situated in the Helderberg Basin in the Western Cape. Sir Lowry's Pass Village is just one of a few resource–poor communities to whom JAM reaches out on a weekly basis since through their outreach programme aimed at middle–childhood children. The aim of this study was to explore and describe the content of this outreach programme of JAM in Sir Lowry's Pass Village aimed at middle–childhood children in order to provide guidelines to more specifically target the needs of the particular group of children. Data were collected from various sources according to principles of participatory action research. Data were organised through thematic data analysis to identify themes. Two core themes emerged; one theme is a mutual lack of understanding of the broader field by JAM members and the target of their interventions, middle–childhood children. The other theme centred on the moral value system of the particular group of children. The central theoretical argument of this study is that outreach programmes by faith–based organisations (such as JAM) in resource–poor communities should be directed as effectively as possible to meet the needs of middle–childhood children. / http://hdl.handle.net//10394/7006 / Thesis (M.A. (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.