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 Mansfield Traquair Centre, 15 Mansfield Place, Edinburgh EH3 6BB.
Business planning
Figuring out what the future of your hall looks like is important, both when you're originally taking on a community space and as something that you review regularly. Here are some of the ways that you can plan for your organisation.
Write a business plan
A formal business plan can be a helpful place to gather :
- your aims and objectives
- potential risks and problems
- financial planning - to make sure you can cover costs, build reserves and potentially have funds to invest in development
- plans over time
- your approach to reviewing and monitoring your progress.
Community Ownership Support Service (COSS) provide information and training on business planning.
SCVO have more information on writing a business plan.
Reserves
Charities and voluntary organisations have a duty to use their organisation’s funds within a reasonable time of receiving them. However, organisations need to be able to secure their future, absorb setbacks, and take advantage of change and opportunity. Many provide for this by putting income aside, when they can afford to, as a reserve for future plans, or against future uncertainties.
Find out more, and access a template reserves policy, on SCVO's information pages about reserves.
Managing risks
Inevitably when running an organisation, things will go wrong. But having good processes in place to predict and manage risk can help you respond quickly and minimise any harm or damage.
There are various ways you can analyse potential risks and plan for them - our information on risk analysis and management will give you some ideas.
Business continuity planning
A business continuity plan (BCP) prepares and protects your organisation and community space from unavoidable critical incidents and damaging events, should and when they occur, allowing you to respond effectively with appropriate contingency measures. A BCP serves to:
- protect employees, volunteers and users
- prevent environmental contamination
- protect revenue, assets and information
- prevent loss and to contain loss that occurs
- protect your reputation
- Get you operating again after such an event
Having an up to date BCP may also be a condition of the insurance policy for you organisation and community space.
The Charity Finance Group has produced useful guidance outlining six steps that you can take to develop an effective BCP and minimise business interruptions.
Charity FM has resources and guidance to assist you in identifying threats to your operations, analysing their potential impacts and then taking steps to prepare for them.
More information on business planning is available from SCVO.