The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations is the membership organisation for Scotland's charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprises. Charity registered in Scotland SC003558. Registered office Caledonian Exchange, 19A Canning Street, Edinburgh EH3 8EG.
The Scottish Third Sector Tracker
The Scottish Third Sector Tracker is a growing research community that captures the experience, views and concerns of third sector organisations based in Scotland. Here you can find up-to-date reports on the challenges faced by the sector.
About the Scottish Third Sector Tracker
What is the Scottish Third Sector Tracker?
The Scottish Third Sector Tracker is a group of third sector organisations based in Scotland. Members share information about how their organisations are doing and their concerns.
How does the research work?
DJS Research, an independent research company, collects information from Tracker members four times a year. SCVO then uses this information to produce reports that give a clear, up-to-date picture of the health of Scotland’s third sector.
Join the Tracker
Any third sector organisation operating in Scotland can join the Scottish Third Sector Tracker at any time. Information is always anonymised. Click on the button below to give us a few details about you and your organisation. After this, you will receive a welcome call or email from our partners at DJS Research.
Join the TrackerWhat information can I find here?
We run two types of research:
Waves
- Larger studies, run twice a year.
- Topics include finances, service delivery, staffing, volunteering and key challenges
- Every Wave includes a couple of topical questions. Topics covered include cyber resilience, climate crisis, and increase in National Insurance contributions.
- Members complete a survey (online or by telephone) about their organisation’s current situation.
- Our latest Wave received responses from 663 organisations.
Pulses
- Shorter pieces of research that run between Waves, starting in May 2026.
- Each one focuses on two or three priority topics raised by members in the Wave findings.
- Designed around what we need to understand at the time. For example, one Pulse may use focus groups (qualitative), while another may use a short questionnaire (quantitative).
More information
Read here for more information on how the Tracker is run, its impact, and what participants can expect.
Most recent findings
Wave 11 - Autumn 2025
This Wave reveals a sector that continues to show resilience and adaptability, but one that is increasingly stretched across multiple fronts. See the summary, full report and data tables following the link below.
Interactive dashboard
Use our interactive dashboard to see:
- A visual overview of each Waves’ findings.
- Longitudinal data comparing key topics between Waves.
You can filter and compare data based on number of employees; volunteers; turnover; activity area and geographic region.
Previous Waves & Pulses
- The Scottish Third Sector Tracker: Key metrics Waves 1-10
- Wave 10 (Spring 2025)
- Wave 9 (Autumn 2024)
- The Scottish Third Sector Tracker: Key findings Waves 1-8
- Wave 8 (Spring 2024)
- Wave 7 (Winter 2023/24)
- The Scottish Third Sector Tracker: Summary report Waves 1-6
- Wave 6 (Spring 2023)
- Wave 5 (Winter 2022/23)
- Wave 4 (Summer 2022)
- Wave 3 (Spring 2022)
- Wave 2 (Winter 2021/22)
- Wave 1 (Summer 2021)
Frequently Asked Questions
Once every six months.
For most, the survey will take between 10 and 15 minutes to complete each time.
You complete the survey online. A link to the latest edition of the survey will be emailed to you once it is live.
A complete picture of the sector is crucial to the success of the project and so we ask, where possible, that members submit a response for as many surveys as possible. We appreciate that this will not always be possible due to a change in roles, leave or illness. In these cases, we would ask for another colleague to complete the survey in your absence.
If you leave your organisation altogether, please let us know and we can organise for someone else in the organisation to take your place in the community.
Finally, in the very unfortunate circumstance that your organisation stops operating at any point during the next 6 months, we would be very grateful if you could let us know, so that we know not to continue to contact you.