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.
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Support & learning blog
The Decelerator offers information, tools and hands-on support for better organisational endings: anticipating and designing closures, mergers, CEO transitions, programming ends, and all sorts of endings as just part of the everyday life of organisations and inevitable cycles of... Read more
In this blog Anna Fowlie discusses what charities can do to increase diversity on boards. Read more
Ben Cairns (co-founder and director of IVAR) and Chris Mills (Research Associate at IVAR) explore what strategic charity reserves management means and its benefits, in their latest blog for Small Charity Week 2023. 'We’re a small charity with a small turnover. We know we’re... 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
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
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
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
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
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
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
The gyms are full, the diets everywhere, and the alcohol all dried up. But what are you doing to ensure a healthy board for 2019? November 2018 saw the launch of the new Scottish Governance Code for the Third Sector and my New Year’s resolution (in a work context…) is to promote... Read more
This is the final blog in a series celebrating Trustees Week and the launch of the Scottish Governance Code for the Third Sector. I hope you’ve found them useful and have maybe managed to attend an event to celebrate all that is great about trustees and Scotland’s third sector... Read more
The principle of the trustees being in control of their organisation is essential to good governance, and is one of the five main principles of the Scottish Governance Code for the Third Sector. As with all of the Code principles, how a board might demonstrate and implement the... Read more
Board behaviour, both collectively and individually, can have a far-reaching impact on an organisation’s reputation and success. While working on SCVO’s Information Service I have seen too many organisations seriously damaged by dysfunctional boards where mutual respect... Read more
Today I’m excited to be at the Trustees Week Conference in Glasgow, which marks the start of Trustees Week to celebrate all the great work that trustees do across Scotland. Today also marks the launch of the new Scottish Governance Code for the Third Sector. The Code has taken... Read more
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
We know that charities are still not fully engaged with cyber threats and the risks they pose; phishing scams, ransomware and accidental loss of data. But now, with policies changing and GDPR looming, inactivity to these threats could soon come with sanctions. Over the last six... Read more
The issue of a Scottish Governance Code for the third sector has been discussed in the past but has never got off the ground. At Scotland’s Third Sector Governance Forum, that troubled us. We think the Scottish third sector could really benefit from its own Governance Code. Good... Read more
Scotland’s Third Sector Governance Forum was set up in 2009 after a roundtable meeting to discuss findings from study into leadership and governance that showed that boards consistently rated their organisational effectiveness higher that the CEO and staff of the organisation. At... 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
How to avoid becoming bad news Read more
A taste of what we have planned for Trustees - and there's still time to book Read more
Efficient ways to get information, monitor performance and make decisions Read more
Four Trustees reflect on their experiences Read more
How a meeting with Iraqi MPs chimed with #TrusteesWeek Read more
How developments in technology, politics and society affect the work of trustees Read more
As our #trusteesweek blogs continue, the focus is on having a clear understanding of what's expected Read more
A special guest post for #TrusteesWeek about managing relationships Read more
First in a special series of #TrusteesWeek blogs on the rewards of being a charity Trustee Read more
New support package offers a range of tools for Scottish international development organisations Read more
Hints and tips on dealing with election fever Read more
When no news really is good news… Read more
Trustee recruitment is about knowing what skills you’re looking for and making your new trustees feel welcome. Read more