The Scottish Third Sector Tracker ================================= Wave 12 dashboard snapshot ========================== Data specific to Borders ------------------------ On this page, you'll find a snapshot of information about the state of the voluntary sector in the Scottish Borders. The information is taken from Wave 12 of the Scottish Third Sector Tracker which is a growing research community that captures the experience, views and concerns of voluntary sector organisations based in Scotland. To see and compare with other regions and the national data, you can use our [interactive dashboard](https://westeurope.displayr.com/Dashboard?id=c1ed8d65-83fc-4b85-bad2-3a0eaf8f391e#page=e693625b-f9b8-4b17-aa4a-d6dd7904bd98). For a full report, visit [Wave 12's site](https://scvo.scot/research/scottish-third-sector-tracker/waves/wave-twelve-spring-2026). ### Expand the boxes below to see the Wave 12 dashboard snapshot specific to the Borders area **Challenges faced** ### Common challenges this wave 59% +48   Rising costs and/or inflation 41% +30   Financial or cash flow constraints   35% \-20 Volunteer shortages (including trustees) ### Recent changes in turnover   16% \-33 reported an **increase** 56% +29   reported **no change** 25% +1   reported a **decrease** **[Visit the interactive dashboard for more detail](https://westeurope.displayr.com/Dashboard?id=c1ed8d65-83fc-4b85-bad2-3a0eaf8f391e#page=e693625b-f9b8-4b17-aa4a-d6dd7904bd98)** **Staff** ### Staff recruitment, retention and pay **In the six months prior, among organisations employing paid staff…** 25%   saw staff numbers **increase** 64%   saw **no change** 11%   saw a **decrease** 44% experienced a moderate or significant challenge managing staff **recruitment** 14% 0 experienced a moderate or significant challenge managing staff **retention** **[Visit the interactive dashboard for more detail](https://westeurope.displayr.com/Dashboard?id=c1ed8d65-83fc-4b85-bad2-3a0eaf8f391e#page=e693625b-f9b8-4b17-aa4a-d6dd7904bd98)** **Volunteers** ### Volunteer recruitment and retention **In the six months prior, among organisations using volunteers…** 36% +24   reported an **increase** in volunteer numbers   58% \-30 reported **no change** 6% +6   reported a **decrease** **The three most common challenges reported in terms of volunteer recruitment or retention were:** 77% **Fewer people** coming forward to volunteer 51% Volunteers are **reluctant to claim expenses** 44% Volunteer **fatigue/burnout** **The top three actions taken to address challenges in volunteer retention were:** 55% +10 Looked to increase volunteers through diversifying the volunteer pool, e.g. recruiting from a specific demographic group such as younger volunteers 43% +23 Sought advice from local TSI or other infrastructure organisation 41% +16 Ran a recruitment campaign **[Visit the interactive dashboard for more detail](https://westeurope.displayr.com/Dashboard?id=c1ed8d65-83fc-4b85-bad2-3a0eaf8f391e#page=e693625b-f9b8-4b17-aa4a-d6dd7904bd98)** **Financial reserves and future outlook** ### Financial reserves **Current levels of financial reserves reportedly held:** 54% +19   **0–6 months**   27% \-9 **7–12 months** 19% +4   **12+ months** **Since September 2025:** 19% have used their financial reserves in response to financial challenges 66% believe their current usage of financial reserves is unsustainable ### Future outlook **Expected operating capacity in 12 months’ time** 41% expect to be **expanding their services** or activities compared to now 53% expect to be **continuing to deliver services/activities at a similar level** 3% expect to be **delivering services/activities at a reduced level** 3% expect to **change the way they operate** (e.g. restructuring, partnership or merger) 0% expect to **no longer be delivering services/activities** **[Visit the interactive dashboard for more detail](https://westeurope.displayr.com/Dashboard?id=c1ed8d65-83fc-4b85-bad2-3a0eaf8f391e#page=e693625b-f9b8-4b17-aa4a-d6dd7904bd98)** --- ## About SCVO SCVO (Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations) is the national membership organisation for Scotland's voluntary sector. Our role is to champion the role of voluntary organisations in Scotland and to support them to do work that has a positive impact. SCVO supports members and the wider voluntary sector with all aspects of setting up and running a voluntary organisation. SCVO represents the needs and concerns of the voluntary sector to the Scottish government in Holyrood and UK government and Westminster. Through our learning and events programme SCVO offers training and development opportunities to the sector. Members access an extensive membership benefits package including specialist, in-depth, 1-to-1 guidance from our Information Services team and from professional service partners. Access to exclusive membership networks (including comms, employers, governance and policy) supports members to grow their connections, stay up to date, exchange ideas and views with peers, and learn through tailored, learning opportunities. SCVO members enjoy free access to Funding Scotland Premium to stay on top of funding opportunities to support their organisation’s financial resilience. Discounts and savings savings on SCVO products and services (including our HR service, managed IT support, payroll service and events and training) and partner offers provide members with support to allow them to focus on delivering their organisation’s goals. Further SCVO products and services include [extensive digital support](https://scvo.scot/support/digital), a climate action resource [Growing Climate Confidence](https://climateconfident.scot), a voluntary sector publication [Third Force News](https://tfn.scot) and a voluntary sector jobs and recruitment service [Goodmoves](https://goodmoves.org). For more information on SCVO membership, visit [SCVO membership](https://scvo.scot/membership)