By its very nature, our sector is collaborative, and we hope that the materials and resources we create are widely circulated and used to support third-sector groups and organisations.

We own these materials and their intellectual property unless stated otherwise. Therefore, there are restrictions on the intended use and reproduction of our materials, as detailed below:

What restrictions apply?

Our goal is to ensure that materials are available to support the third sector but are not used for the commercial gain of others. Therefore, we limit the re-use of GCVS materials and intellectual property for commercial purposes and apply Creative Commons licenses where applicable. We define “commercial purposes” as activities primarily intended to generate commercial advantage or monetary compensation.

This license applies equally to private companies and not-for-profit organisations.

Creative Commons Licences

Typically our materials are protected by the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license, which enables reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon our materials in any medium or format for non-commercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to GCVS. If you remix, adapt, or build upon the material, you must license the modified material under identical terms.

Using our materials and content covered by the CC BY-NC-SA license: 

• BY: credit must be given to the creator (GCVS). 
• NC: Only non-commercial uses of the work are permitted. 
• SA: Adaptations must be shared under the same terms. 

We occasionally use the Creative Commons BY-NC-ND license, which enables reusers to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form only, for non-commercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator, GCVS.

Using our materials and content covered by the CC BY-NC-ND license:

• BY: credit must be given to the creator (GCVS). 
• NC: Only non-commercial uses of the work are permitted. 
• ND: No derivatives or adaptations of the work are permitted. 

Wherever possible, the applicable license will be visible on our materials, for instance, on the final slide of a training presentation or the end of a video. However, for any questions about using our materials, please don’t hesitate to contact us at comms.team@gcvs.org.uk

How to attribute our work 

This depends on whether you are modifying the content, creating a derivative or have multiple sources of which we are one. The Creative Commons attribution Wiki provides guidance.

As a minimum, anyone using our materials and resources should include Title, Author, Source and Licence.
For example: ‘Funding Guide by GCVS is licenced under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0‘