Support & learning blog

I work with the Cranfield Trust offering free support for charity leaders. In a recent discussion about the cost-of-living crisis with the chair of a charity I work with, they remarked wryly that, "The cost-of-living crisis isn't like another wave of Covid - this is like a... Read more

In Scotland around 800 new charities are set up every year, and 600 wind up and dissolve. After many years working on the SCVO Information Service, dealing with all the trials and tribulations of charities, from small community groups, right up to big household names, I think... Read more

Our Information Service has always provided help, guidance, and support to third sector organisations in Scotland. This includes a free enquiry service, online guidance, toolkits and webinars. For SCVO members with an annual income of under £500,000, the service also includes... Read more

The Scottish Governance Code for the Third Sector was developed in 2018 and sets out five broad principles of good governance that act as a point of reference for trustees in carrying out their role. They can be summarised under the following broad headings: Organisational... Read more

Good governance matters because it underpins successful charities and is vital for their effectiveness and sustainability. It enables us to serve our beneficiaries and achieve our mission and values, and it also helps to protect and enhance the reputation of individual charities... Read more

SCVO produced this summary of commitments impacting the voluntary sector operating environment. Read more

The death of George Floyd in summer 2020 and the public response that followed made us stop and think. Staff at SCVO felt the same upset, anger and helplessness that so many others did, and we wanted to play an active part in making change happen. Read more

Following a High Court trial and six year investigation by the Charity Commission in England and Wales we now have a report into the failure of Kids Company and the subsequent, very public, fallout. The Charity Commission report, which details serious mismanagement, makes for... Read more

It’s been a busy ten months for the goodmoves team. As the covid vaccination programme rolled out, the recruitment adverts kept rolled in, with organisations keen to press on with pent-up recruitment from various lockdowns and restrictions. From fundraising to community... Read more

Today we’ve launched the 2022 Scottish Charity Awards with the invitation to organisations across the country to share their amazing stories of success and achievement over the past year. Don’t hide your light under a bushel. Every organisation will have a story to tell about the... Read more

Charities are reminded of the importance of keeping personal data secure after the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) imposed fines this year on two UK charities for breaches of data protection rules in the UK. In July 2021, the ICO (as regulator of data protection in the UK... Read more

There is so much good work done in Scotland and throughout the world by charitable organisations and volunteers. The work of many of these charities is closely linked and often critical to many areas of our lives. But there are charities whose original aim has been satisfied... Read more

For many charities the purchase or lease of a property will be one of their biggest financial commitments, to use as an operational base, or as an events or retail space. Charities need to be aware of a number of issues to ensure that any property supports their charitable aims... Read more

As we come to the end of Trustees’ Week 2021, SCVO and members of Scotland’s Third Sector Governance Forum will be looking back at the various events and activities to see what they have learned and what are the key lessons for trustees. I run a charity called Evaluation Support... Read more

November 1-5 marks a week of celebration of the 250,000 trustees across Scotland who all make a difference in our communities for Trustees' Week. At SCVO we’re starting off the week with a Rise and Shine Webinar which will focus on the fantastic finalists from the Trustee of the... Read more

I’ve been involved in the voluntary sector for my whole life. I’ve benefited from services, I’ve raised money and I’ve been fortunate enough to build a career. I’ve also been involved in boards and management committees and became a trustee with the wonderful Paths for All in... Read more

There is much to be gained by diversifying your board and getting the right mix of trustees with a range of lived, learned and practised expertise. Trustees play an essential role for the charities that they lead from setting the charity’s strategic direction to making key... Read more

Trustees’ Week is all about celebrating the work of an estimated 250,000 trustees across Scotland and the role they play in governing our charities and voluntary organisations. Hosted by Scotland’s Third Sector Governance Forum there’s a packed programme of free online events... Read more

When you prepare budgets for submission to the Trustees or Board of Directors, do you include a line anywhere in your Profit and Loss Accounts for Risk? I’m guessing like us, you don’t. But should you? As CEO of Utility Aid, I regularly sit with our Board of Directors reviewing... Read more

Earlier this year I wrote about our HR & Employment Support Service six months after launch. Now, almost a year after launch, I have been reflecting on how the service can make a more long-term impact within the sector. As well as supporting our voluntary sector colleagues with... Read more

Anderson Strathern is delighted to become a new partner of the SCVO legal service which offers free legal advice to SCVO members. I am personally thrilled that our firm has committed to providing this level of support for Scotland’s third sector. I chose to specialise in advising... Read more

SCVO is focussing on board recruitment and diversity during Trustees’ Week 2021. The Good Governance webinar on Wednesday 3 November will explore the benefits of having trustees on your board with experience of the issues your charity works on. Boards need a variety of attitudes... Read more

We live in a world where change can feel constant. Yet, far from finding it an easy process to manage, change brings certain challenges: uncertainty, insecurity and a lack of trust. Regardless of what the change is; forming a new team or installing a new IT system, it's still a... Read more

The disruption caused by the pandemic shone a light into even the darkest parts of the business planning cycle in the charity sector. For many voluntary organisations and charities, far from seeing a drop in demand, the pandemic, and its aftermath, has seen a sharp increase in... Read more

For many, the recent easing of lockdown restrictions could not come soon enough and if, like me, you are optimistic that they will continue then we can refocus our plans for a new normal that hopefully reminds us of pre-pandemic days. The vaccination programme throughout the UK... Read more

Scotland is now ‘Beyond level 0’. The external rules that restricted face to face activity have more or less ended. But we know that many people still feel cautious. Organisations across the voluntary sector want to get the next few months right for employees, volunteers and the... Read more

In Scotland, most charities are small. SCVO’s State of the Sector research shows that 75% of Scottish charities have incomes under £100k. But whilst they may be small, they have a huge impact on the lives of individuals, communities and causes across the country. This week it’s... Read more

As Volunteers Week draws to a close, we can all look back and celebrate volunteers across the UK, who, like us all, have had a year unlike any other. Volunteer efforts didn’t stop during the pandemic, in fact more people got involved in their local communities. From looking out... Read more

The pandemic has changed much about the way we work and as the focus begins to shift to a return to offices, it is time for a radical rethink on what the future of work could look like. Last year saw offices closed and attitudes to remote working changed and as lockdown... Read more

This week is Mental Health Awareness Week. It’s a brilliant initiative, anything that brings mental health issues into focus should be applauded. But when you think about it, it’s also a bit of a strange idea. Why do we need to have mental health awareness events? Every single... Read more

These difficult times mean charities are having to navigate uncertainty, making tough decisions as well as future proofing their organisation. Diversity of perspectives in the boardroom is an essential part of this. By avoiding groupthink, it better ensures all decisions reflect... Read more

As the pandemic swept across the country SCVO realised that our voluntary sector colleagues were struggling to manage the impact on their organisations and especially their people. 'HR' was the second most popular search term on the website. Knowing how often guidelines and... Read more

The next SCVO Good Governance webinar on 5 May is on a theme some trustees might not have considered before – are you a climate confident trustee? Responding to the climate emergency It’s a sad truth that COVID-19 is not the only global crisis we face at the moment. The... Read more

As part of our ongoing commitment to good governance, the SCVO board met last week to continue to explore how, in line with the Scottish Governance Code for the Third Sector, trustees can demonstrate the five principles of the Code, both individually and collectively. Last month... Read more

Thanks to Burness Paull for updating the SCVO model constitutions, providing this blog and further guidance to help you through the process of changing your constitution to allow virtual meetings. At the time when the first COVID-19 lockdown came into effect, the inability to... Read more

Last week the SCVO Board met and one of the items on the agenda was to look at the Scottish Governance Code for the Third Sector and explore how SCVO trustees can evidence good governance, individually and collectively. SCVO is here to support, promote and develop a confident and... Read more

2020 saw trustees challenged in many ways, not least as they had to work virtually to make difficult decisions and ensure their organisations were governed effectively. Most fared well, but some boards saw the dynamics change and trustee relationships deteriorate. This was not... Read more

Starting a new job during a global pandemic is certainly a very unusual experience. Over the past 10 weeks, I have been completing a graduate internship lead by Scotland’s Third Sector Governance Forum. The project involved creating a report mapping the governance training and... Read more

Changing goalposts Responding to the coronavirus pandemic has left voluntary sector organisations to interpret operating guidance and how it applies to them and their services. It can feel like none of us have definitive answers, and the rate of change is fast and confusing. We... Read more

Next Monday marks the start of Trustees’ Week an annual celebration of all the great work that an estimated 180,000 trustees do across Scotland. It’s a chance to showcase trustees and look at what good governance means, and this year it’s all online. From 2-6 November there will... Read more

On Thursday 15 October, SCVO Credit Union and our international counterparts will come together to celebrate International Credit Union Day and the role that financial cooperatives play in improving the communities they serve and the lives of their members the world over. This... Read more

The coronavirus pandemic has transformed all our lives, and as we move to recovery, it’s time for trustees to rethink and rebuild and steer their organisations through new challenges. The future is uncertain, with reduced income, increased demand for services, and the need to... Read more

As lockdown restrictions begin to ease many organisations will be looking forward to restarting fundraising activities. From street fundraising to bake sales, the relaxing of lockdown rules offers opportunities for charities to bring in much needed funds and reconnect with donors... Read more

‘We’re not in the same boat, but we are in the same storm’ has been much quoted as we’ve faced very different challenges during the last few months. If you’re a trustee you’ll have had to focus on crisis management, adjusting to virtual meetings, facing difficult decisions about... Read more

A week may be a long time in politics, as the saying goes, but a week during a global pandemic is even longer. Like many, I’ve found the pace of change, and the pace of work that accompanied it, difficult to keep up with. As a sector we have done a phenomenal job to respond at... Read more

With thoughts turning towards easing lockdown restrictions in the coming weeks, charities and voluntary organisations are looking ahead to how they will adjust to the ‘new normal’. There are differences between Scotland and the rest of the UK, with the Scottish government... Read more

This is a challenging time for everyone and the isolation and stress of living in close quarters can cause, or increase, conflict for families, friends, and roommates, and can create challenges for work teams, charities and businesses. At Scottish Mediation we know that conflict... Read more

We’ve been working with our brilliant partners on SCVO’s Pro Bono Service to create a series of free seminars for both trustees and staff on topics you really need to know to run a successful and sustainable voluntary organisation. We’ve now got our first three lined up in what’s... Read more

The Scottish Governance Code for the Third Sector was launched at the end of 2018 and more and more organisations have been using both the Code and SCVO’s Good Governance Checkup to see where they are on their journey to good governance. Good governance matters, because it... Read more

If you’re as keen as I am on all things Data Protection related you may have read the recent Data Breach Survey from DLA Piper – it’s an interesting read, the number of reported breaches are up and show no sign of slowing down (so are the fines, but that’s another blog!). So, do... Read more

At the end of last year SCVO ran its first pilot to test out our new innovative e-learning platform that we’ve developed with organisations from four other European countries - Ireland, Finland, Latvia and Estonia. The Project – SCOPE, is funded by ERASMUS+, the European... Read more

We get over 1,200 enquiries on the SCVO Information Service every year. Everything from setting up a charity, to taking on a new member of staff, to help with writing a safeguarding policy, or reviewing a property lease. But the top two topics are the same year in and year out... Read more

A Lean culture has two pillars, continuous improvement and respect for people. Great coaching is a place where these two meet. That is why we have made coaching a key part of the Deliver more value through Lean thinking course. The two-day course will fill your head with exciting... Read more

My big adventure this year is working with third sector organisations in Scotland to apply Lean thinking. When I first talk to a team, not many have heard of Lean. A few can relate it to Toyota (where it started) but are not quite sure how it can be useful to their organisation... Read more

Good governance relies on hard work and commitment, mutual respect and open communication, pretty much like building a team. Collaboration and good team work on a board is essential, because if your trustees don’t work well together, you don’t get good decision making, and this... Read more