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The third sector is not about making a profit but rather making a difference to society.

Third sector organisations are categorised into:

• charities and community groups
• social enterprises

Charity

Charities receive grants from many fund raising organisations such as the National Lottery. Money is also raised for them by sales in charity shops and through public donations.

All money goes to help the specific cause or to pay for the operation and running of the charity.

Examples of charities are:

• Oxfam
• Save the Children
• Cancer Research UK

Charities are controlled by elected or appointed trustees. They provide support to the Chief Executive and delegate the day-to-day running of the charity to voluntary staff. However, in smaller charities with few staff, trustees may take hands-on roles too.

Community groups

Community groups exist to provide a service for people. They are non-profit making and all of the profit goes back into the organisation to ensure it can keep running.

Examples of non-profit making organisations are:

• rugby clubs
• golf clubs

Social enterprise

A social enterprise is an organisation that exists with a clear goal to help the community but runs the organisation like a business. All profits are reinvested back into the organisation.

Examples of social enterprises include:

• Street Soccer Scotland is a non-profit social enterprise that delivers a range of football-related services to socially disadvantaged adults and young people across Scotland.
• Social Bite is a chain of retail stores and catering concessions in Scotland which employs a quarter of its workforce from a homeless background.