Useful Facts & Stats

SCVO continues to build a collection of evidence and data that supports our Fair Funding calls. The following facts and stats may be of use or interest when discussing Fair Funding (all stats come from SCVO unless otherwise stated):

• There are over 46,000 voluntary organisations in Scotland, 89% of those are local and 36% are in rural or remote areas.
• In 2022, Scotland’s voluntary organisations had a combined annual turnover of over £9.2bn and employed over 133,000 staff.
• In that same year, 1m people volunteered – around a fifth of Scotland’s population.

The Scottish Third Sector Tracker report on waves one to six shows that:

• From August 2021 to April 2023, the frequency with which organisations have reported financial challenges has consistently increased from 47% to 71%.
• A third of organisations have reported having made use of their financial reserves in the 3 months leading into April 2023, an increase compared to the same period in 2022.
• Almost half (44%) of the organisations using their financial reserves felt that this use is unsustainable.
• In August 2021, 56% of organisations reported an increased demand, in core services and activities, rising to 63% by April 2023.
• There has been an accompanying significant drop in the number of organisations that have indicated a decreased demand for their services: from 22% in August 2021 to 6.2% in April 2023.
• In August 2021, a third of organisations reported issues relating to staffing and volunteers as one of their top challenges, increasing to two thirds by April 2023.
• As organisations have faced more internal pressures from rising costs, the most recent data reports that half of organisations sought additional funding (52%) and just over a third were forced to reduce or cease services (35%).

Rising inflation and the resulting cost-of-living and running costs crises have put pressure on voluntary organisations, exacerbating financial and operational challenges. The findings from Wave Eight of the Scottish Third Sector Tracker suggest that:

• As of Spring 2024, rising costs and inflation continues to be the biggest challenge for organisations in the sector. It is far from the only challenge, with volunteer shortages; difficulties fundraising; financial and cash flow restraints; and uncertainty about the future all having increased since December 2023.
• Almost two-thirds (61%) of organisations report that rising costs are having a negative impact on their ability to deliver their services or activities. The costs contributing the most include staffing and energy costs.
• In addition, organisations provided more details on the challenges they are facing, including financial precarity (there has been a significant increase in the number of organisations reporting that the use of their reserves is unsustainable, 60% compared with 40% in the Winter); the often-poor relationships, partnerships and engagement with the public sector, including a broader sense of the sector being undervalued; governance and reporting challenges, particularly for smaller organisations; and challenges recruiting and retaining volunteers and the wellbeing of staff and volunteers.
• Fewer organisations reported being able to meet the demands for their services or activities than in Winter 2023, a 6% drop. The main difficulties in meeting this demand included: staff capacity (54%); raising funds to meet the demand (50%); and voluntary capacity (41%).
• The number of organisations reporting that they had made one or more members of staff redundant had doubled from 5% to 10% since Winter 2023.
• For the first time, respondents were asked what changes they expected to make to remain operational in 12 months time. The most common themes included funding and fundraising; staffing changes; reducing or adapting activities; and looking for new premises.

In Wave Eight of the Scottish Third Sector Tracker, organisations were asked two questions relating to funding for the sector - the first asked respondents about the main features of good grant management in the sector, the second asked for any improvements they would like to see made to ensure reporting is proportionate:

• The key themes to emerge in response to the first question included flexibility; clear communications; transparency; timely payments; ongoing support and relationships; and a good understanding of the sector and the specific challenges faced by different types of organisations, eg. small and rural organisations.
• When it came to what improvements respondents would like to see made to ensure that reporting is proportionate, the key themes included the frequency and deadlines for reporting; proportionate reporting based on grant size; flexible and adaptable reporting; feedback on reporting; reducing duplication; and simplification and standardisation.

SCVO has spoken to many organisations who have not received an uplift for many years, including one who reported no uplift for 13 years, a 27% cut in real terms at the time.