Introduction

How we understand and represent the world through a spatial lens is changing. Spatially referenced data are ubiquitous, and analytical tools such as geographic information systems (GIS) are increasingly accessible and more intuitive than their predecessors. The fruits of the Fourth Industrial Revolution embed novel socio-spatial ontologies into not only our knowledge of the world but our lived experience. Policy initiatives such as the UK's Cabinet Office-led Geospatial Commission see great economic and social value in widening access to spatial data. In the social sciences, proponents of a spatially integrated social science espouse the elucidating power of spatial perspectives and methods for pertinent social challenges.

This chapter shows how this rapidly changing field has been, and can be, applied to study the voluntary sector. It starts by outlining the utility of a spatial orientation for academic and practice-based studies of the voluntary sector, before turning to the benefits and idiosyncratic challenges of regulatory data, grant-making data, spatial indexes and classifications and local government data for exploring the voluntary sector. Relevant data sources having been explored, the tools and approaches to spatial data visualisation are shown and then critically explored in the light of established methodological and ethical concerns. Finally, innovative approaches are encouraged in order to further our spatial understanding of the voluntary sector.

While the chapter draws heavily on the work of academic voluntary sector scholars, it is hoped that it will not only stimulate spatial thinking but also provide practical guidance for practitioners and scholars alike who wish to map and examine the spatial manifestations of the voluntary sector. My primary research interest, the use of spatial data by voluntary sector practitioners, has showed the need for such guidance. To give a broad overview and maintain a focus on the voluntary sector, the chapter only touches on matters of spatial statistics and instead refers readers to indepth resources.

Understanding the spatial nature of voluntary action

Scholars in this field have utilised a broad range of data sources and methods to present spatially orientated perspectives of the voluntary sector. Studies range in scope from simple analyses of organisational density at varying spatial scales, to understanding the impact of spatially prevalent political ideologies on the aims of voluntary organisations. The question that has received the most attention concerns the spatially equitable distribution of voluntary effort in response to social need.