Tracey Bird

Over the last year I’ve worked with Scotland's Third Sector Governance Forum to draft a new Scottish Governance Code. We’re now looking for your views on whether we’ve got it right. The Code sets out five broad principles of good governance that can act as a point of reference... Read more

Good governance is vital to the success and sustainability of third sector organisations. But good governance doesn’t just support the day-to-day running of organisations, it also helps maintain and strengthen public confidence in all of the third sector. That’s why Scotland’s... Read more

As a trustee it’s a vital governance responsibility to ensure the safe stewardship of your organisation’s assets. OSCR have some great guidance on Banking for Charities and SCVO have just updated our charity bank account comparison table. It doesn’t just feature the high street... Read more

This year will see SCVO celebrate a ten year anniversary for our free legal advice service. In that time our legal partners have provided essential support to over 500 SCVO member organisations. Just last year, our survey of service users found that 100% would recommend the... Read more

Did you know that all charity trustees are collectively responsible for the effective financial management of their organisation? No, it’s not just down to the treasurer… That’s why it’s essential, if you’re a trustee, that you have a handle on your charity’s finances, and are... Read more

Never mind the countdown to Christmas, there’s only 241 days left to get ready for Data Protection D-Day! Last Thursday saw me at the SCVO Data Protection conference in Edinburgh. The event sold out remarkably quickly - evidence that the third sector has concerns about GDPR – the... Read more

The big stooshie over what the BBC pays its stars made for interesting reading last week, and anyone from the third sector who thinks this bad news story has no bearing on what we do, should think again… Last week’s BBC Annual Report and Accounts not only showed seven figure... Read more

Any successful charity should have a diverse range of funding sources. Income generation through trading, by selling goods or services for a profit, can be an attractive prospect, but you need to look before you leap! There’s a lot to think about before considering trading, and... Read more

I had a rare day out of the office last week and went back to school to learn more about how charities in my local area could access £3,000 of funding by engaging with students at the local High School. On a rainy General Election day I took cover from the developing storms (and... Read more

We all know how hard it can be to recruit trustees, but a new report has found that it’s not that people aren’t interested in being on a board - the problem is down to poor recruitment practices that are in danger of damaging the effectiveness of charities across the UK. The... Read more