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hand brings together people or groups who previously did not know each other (Putman 2000).This type of social capital exposes groups to new ideas, resources, disperses information and breaks barriers down (Briggs 2004). Key to generating bridging social capital are those parties in a network that are also part of other networks and therefore act as brokers between the two (Gress 2004;Larsen et al, 2001).

Putman's ideas were developed through comparative studies of democracy in Italy and America (Putman et al, 1993; Putman 2000) that used secondary data to measure elements of these societies that he perceived as having links to the generation of social capital. He was interested in identifying how their presence or lack of influenced the co-ordination of activities and the sharing of information (Taylor 2010). However Putman's critics suggest that his work presents little convincing empirical evidence that getting people to work together and trust each other on a smaller scale can result in social capital for the whole community (DeFilippis 2001; Patulny 2003). Although they agree that there may be a correlation between active communities and societies that flourish, they do not feel that Putman has been able to establish whether social capital was a result of people working together in a united way or whether it causes this cohesion (DeFilippis 2001).

However, the legitimacy of this argument is thrown into question when looking at charities operating today. They are formed by people believing and trusting that by helping each other and working together they can improve the environment in which they all live (Onyx and Bullen, 2000) and are therefore real-life example of Putman's social capital concept in action. It shows that social capital is not only embedded within the original relationships that form charities but also core to their operational success helping to:

'recruit and develop board members, raise philanthropic support, develop strategic partnerships, engage in advocacy, enhance community relations, and create a shared vision and mission within the organisation and its employees' (King, 2004 p471).

With increasing numbers of authors putting forward the idea that nurturing social capital, in the form outlined by Putman (2000), will help charities mobilise the people and resources they need fulfil their missions (Onyx and Bullen, 2000, Strauss 2010, King 2004) empirical research is desperately needed that explores, explains and validates this link between charities and social capital before the utility of the concept can further develop. Such research has been called for by academics such as Strauss (2010) and King (2004).

However, before embarking on such research, it is important to stop and consider where the Putman's idea of reciprocity fits into this process. In their writing on social capital and charity King (2004), Strauss (2010) and Onyx and Bullen (2000) have focussed on the benefits of cultivating social capital from the charity perspective. By looking at charity social capital as an organisational asset, it is easy to forget the reciprocity on which these relationships are built. However, by applying Putman's theory, should this reciprocity be lost, stakeholders would be less likely to work together with the charity towards collective aims, which would have negative consequence