By Harriet Skinner Matsaert.

"While living in Bangladesh and working in the not-for-profit sector, I’ve been continuously interested, amazed and even perplexed by the activities of not-for-profit organisations. Bangladesh is so often portrayed as a disaster prone area, a passive recipient of aid. In fact this unique and dynamic country has many positive experiences to share. Talking to people in the UK not-for-profit sector has made me realise that there are areas where Bangladeshi non-profits could provide inspiration to their UK counterparts.

This report aims to help voluntary organisations better understand the nature of the current technological revolution and plan for the future accordingly. A key theme runs through the report; new communications technologies, including the internet, digital TV and mobile telephones, allow charities to do more with less, to punch above their weight, to reach new audiences, develop new services and to remorselessly achieve their goals more effectively.

The Innovation Roadmap is designed to guide homelessness and other voluntary organisations towards a culture of more systematic innovation. It provides a sector specific analysis of the innovation process, explaining why it is important, how it can be incorporated into an organisation’s culture, and what the barriers are likely to be. It also provides insights about just how innovative the homeless sector is seen to be and highlights a number of inspirational projects which have, in one way or another, challenged the status quo.

The impact of social and economic change on the voluntary and community sector is far-reaching. It is a fallacy that the sector is insulated from the wider world in which it operates - yet many charities remain largely uninformed about the future they face.