Small Charity Week 2023

In Scotland, most charities are small. SCVO’s research shows that 80% of Scottish charities have incomes under £100k. But whilst they may have a small financial footprint, they have a huge impact on the lives of individuals, communities and causes across the country.

Now it’s time to celebrate them all during Small Charity Week where you can sign up to online webinars across the UK and attend our own free lunchtime webinar on Trustee Roles and Responsibilities on Tuesday 20 June. Don’t worry if you can’t make that, we have a rich source of webinar recordings on topics ranging from safeguarding to setting up a charity, and board diversity and recruiting trustees. If you’re looking to brush up your skills and knowledge we’ve also got lots of training courses over the next few months and a free SCOPE e-learning platform for volunteers and staff which provides entry-level information and learning to help you run your charity.

64% of SCVO members are ‘Grassroots’ with an income of under £100k. That means they get access to 1-2-1 support from our Information Service on topics ranging from constitutions and charity law to data protection and good governance. Running a charity can be tough at times, but there’s also help available from our legal, VAT and tax, and investment advice partners. Offering specialist professional support, for over a decade these services have provided nearly 2,000 hours of expertise to organisations across the country.

If you’re big enough to take on staff but too small for a HR advisor, then our new HR Service is for you. With free templates, resources and information, plus bespoke 1-2-1 support from our own HR experts, it’s a one-stop shop for all your employment and HR questions and concerns.

We all know that money’s tighter than ever right now and any successful charity should have a diverse range of funding sources. If it’s grant funding you need, take a look at our free online search engine Funding Scotland with over 1,000 funding opportunities.

And what about your board governance? If you’d like to check out how you measure up against the five core principles of the Scottish Governance Code for the Third Sector, take a look at our Good Governance Checkup This will take you through a series of questions about your organisation and give you a personalised action plan at the end. Once you’ve used the Checkup to identify areas where you're doing well, check where you can improve and monitor your progress over time, you can book a 1-2-1 with us to go through your results.

Small Charity Week is about celebrating and also looking to the future. We’ll be celebrating on Friday at the Scottish Charity Awards which highlight the very best of the voluntary sector, and then after that we’re planning a packed programme of workshops, seminars and activities at the Gathering. On 7 and 8 November in Edinburgh, you’ll get the chance to connect, visit a wide range of exhibitors and learn and be inspired. We’d love to see you there.