ABSTRACT
The third sector challenges people as citizens, as governments and as businesses to recognise it for what it is and for what it does. There are signs that the third sector is facing a period of transformation and possible decline. The membership of many third sector organisations is declining, in some cases in absolute terms, in other cases as a proportion of the population. Examples include mainstream Christian churches, unions, traditional political parties, community service clubs and traditional youth organisations such as scouts and guides. Business provides considerable support to the third sector, but the character of that support is changing from being a gift to being a business transaction. This often demands more of the nonprofit and sometimes means that their goals have to be modified to fit with the interests of its business supporter. Governments have damaged the third sector in the past by nationalising small sections of it.
