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3. Views of support recipients

The following section presents findings from consultation with a broad range of voluntary organisations across Scotland. These findings are based on focus groups, interviews and the electronic survey. The views represented primarily focus on broad-brush aspects, rather than the detail of needs and perspectives of a particular sector or geography. It was not possible to fully cover all perspectives. A full breakdown of participant demographics is provided in Appendices A1 and A2 and a more in-depth analysis of the survey results is provided in a separate Annexe.

3.1 Support needs

3.1.1 Support priorities

Voluntary organisation representatives participating in the focus group discussions were asked to prioritise the core areas of support analysed in this review. The figure below shows the average priority assigned to each of the five core areas.

Figure 2: Priority Support Areas

Income generation was clearly the highest priority for support, followed by organisational development and workforce development. Lobbying, networking and technical support were generally rated as lower priorities. The specific support needs in each area are explored in the following sections.

3.1.2 Income generation

In the electronic survey, the main activities which organisations reported having accessed external income generation support for included ¹⁷:

• Identification of funding sources: trusts and foundations (24%);
• Identification of funding sources: government - local and national (20%);
• Support to complete funding applications (18%).

The main areas where organisations anticipate needing future income generation support are:

• Developing an income generation or funding strategy (29%)
• Identification of funding sources: trusts and foundations (26%)
• Identification of funding sources: government - local and national (23%)

This shows that the majority of external support has been accessed for very traditional methods of income generation: identifying funding sources and support to complete applications. Few organisations reported internal capacity or use of external support for trading activities, social business approaches and tendering. Only 2 organisations reported using external support to help access loans, and this was the lowest anticipated future support need. Identifying costing levels is an area where support has generally not been used in the past but is a high priority for future support.

Additionally, focus group participants consistently raised income generation as the key area where support for the voluntary sector is required. This did not only relate to the need for greater resources but specifically:

• Voluntary sector organisations need support to achieve full cost recovery and sustainability and this requires 'buy in' from funders, particularly local authorities, which is not currently happening.
• As part of the full cost recovery agenda voluntary sector organisations need to be able to include costs for support services in funding applications. Organisations reported that, in their experience, funders are generally unwilling to include costs for support services such as training or consultancy.
• Although some support exists for identifying funding sources ( e.g.CVS newsletters, online FunderFinder) these are not sufficiently focused and voluntary organisations still spend a great deal of time trying to identify appropriate sources. Focus group participants identified the need for a service that is able to further narrow down funding sources so that they can target their time effectively.

3.1.3 Organisational development

The survey found that the main activities which organisations reported having accessed external organisational development support for included:

• Communications systems (32%)
• Business and strategic planning (29%)
• Legal issues - organisational structure (29%)

The main areas where organisations anticipate future support needs are:

• Capacity building for Board or Management Committee (37%)
• Measuring the impact of your organisation (33%)
• Marketing (33%)

Capacity building for boards and management committee is one of the main priorities in terms of anticipated future support needs, with 19% of organisations reporting having accessed capacity building previously but almost double (37%) anticipating it as a future support need. During the focus groups, some voluntary organisation staff reported a lack of effective support from their boards or management committees. This deficiency was partly due to a lack of skills or capacity and partly due to a lack of understanding on the part of trustees about their role and responsibilities expected of them. This issue was particularly acute in smaller organisations and those who have recently made a transition from being completely voluntary to employing staff.

Support for legal issues is one of the main areas where external support has been accessed and is also an area where the lowest proportion of organisations reported having internal capacity. Participants in the focus groups also reported a significant gap in terms of legal expertise available to the voluntary sector. Costs were said to be prohibitive and some believed there was a lack of understanding of the sector amongst the legal profession. This issue was mentioned frequently in focus groups and is another area which is not generally covered by funding or provided by the traditional voluntary sector support infrastructure. The need for legal support related primarily to employment issues but also included areas such as purchasing or leasing premises.

While communication systems is the most commonly accessed external support need (32%), it is considered as a much lower priority for future support (18%). Conversely, marketing and change management are areas where there appears to be a much higher anticipated future support need than in the past: with 22% previously accessing marketing support but 33% anticipating it as a future support need, and 7% using support for change management but 22% anticipating a need in the future.

Participants in the focus groups suggested that the voluntary sector is increasingly being encouraged (sometimes unwillingly) towards a social enterprise model. This shift is beginning to give rise to changing organisational support needs; for example an increased need for organisations to produce business plans, to enter into formal agreements with statutory agencies and to look at generating income through the delivery of services. In addition, a CVS highlighted that the move towards longer term (3 year) funding would necessitate greater support with aspects of organisational development and highlighted the particular challenge this poses for smaller organisations:

"If you're a small organisation run by volunteers, organisational development is a huge mountain to climb."

Some voluntary organisations suggested that the current voluntary sector support infrastructure (particularly the CVS network) lacks the capacity to provide the types of support that is needed. The move towards a more businesslike model means that organisations may need more individual, tailored support.

"Having someone that can write a constitution is no longer appropriate… we need experts that can provide help and spend time with us."

A number of voluntary organisations reported having engaged with the business support infrastructure ( e.g. Business Gateway) to seek help with business planning and growth. This had been successful in some cases but overall it does not seem that these services are appealing to the voluntary sector. Some organisations were unaware that they could access these services or sceptical that they would have the knowledge and expertise required to support the voluntary sector.

3.1.4 Workforce development

The survey identified the main activities which organisations have used external workforce development for support as:

• Developing the skills and knowledge of paid staff (34%)
• Understanding and updating on employment legislation (26%)
• Disclosure requirements (21%)

The main areas where organisations anticipate needing future workforce development support are:

• Developing the skills and knowledge of trustees (29%)
• Developing the skills and knowledge of paid staff (28%)
• Understanding and updating on employment legislation (26%)

Developing the skills of paid staff is by far the most commonly accessed area of external support (34%) and it remains a highly anticipated future need (28%). However, many organisations in the focus groups reported that funders are often unwilling to allocate funding for staff or volunteer development. Voluntary organisations often find the cost of attending training or conferences prohibitive, both in terms of financial cost and in terms of staff time being diverted away from the main functions of the organisation. Local authorities were seen as a key provider of training for some sectors, with voluntary organisations often able to link in to training being provided for local authority staff.

Understanding and updating on employment legislation is also an area where external support is often used (26%) and is a high priority for future access (26%). The need for support with basic human resources issues and employment law was the most commonly raised issue in relation to workforce development in the focus groups. Support in this area was reported to be available, although this is often not specifically targeted at the voluntary sector (for example, the Royal Bank of Scotland's Mentor scheme) and costs can be prohibitive. The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service ( ACAS) appears to be a well used and highly regarded source of support for workforce issues.

Developing the skills and knowledge of trustees is the highest anticipated future support need in the survey for workforce development. Similar to the issue raised in relation to organisational development, support to develop the skills, capacity and role of board and management committee members was again seen a key priority for many organisations in the focus groups. However, some organisations described receiving significant support from their boards or management committees, although it was noted that this is given on a voluntary basis by people who generally have many demands on their time (for example most have full time professional jobs).

"The main problems that all voluntary initiatives in small communities have is getting enough people in the community with the right skills - organisation, fundraising, project management, financial management, treasurer, secretariat, promotion - who are available and willing."

Very few organisations reported in the survey having accessed external support for more advanced workforce development issues, such as career planning (1%) and performance management systems (3%), although many more organisations saw these issues as future support needs (12% and 16% respectively).

3.1.5 Technical support

3.1.5.1 ICT support

The survey identified the main activities which organisations have used externalICT support for as:

• Developing websites (32%)
• Basic ICT support (23%)
• External support contracts (18%)

The main areas where organisations anticipate needing ICT support are:

• Developing enhanced ICT skills and confidence (25%)
• Developing websites (23%)
• Development of databases (22%)

Websites and basic ICT support are the most commonly accessed areas of external support for voluntary organisations. Many organisations in the focus groups reported a desire to create or improve a website, although cost was often reported as a barrier. There was an identified need for greater support with setting up, and fully utilising, websites.

"We desperately need help with our website. We should be able to use it for online donations and membership."

Many organisations in the focus groups reported that they struggled with basic ICT issues, such as setting up systems (including purchasing appropriate software) and day-to-day troubleshooting. Support was required but considered inaccessible by some due to the high cost of private contractors. Larger organisations were more likely to report having in-house ICT expertise but this is a key support need for smaller organisations who often have to rely on the skills of staff, committee members or volunteers. Additionally, smaller organisations often need support with basic, practical issues such as setting up an office.

"There's always something wrong with our IT systems."

In the survey, organisations anticipated a greater need in the future for more advanced support, including: enhanced skills and confidence, websites, databases and developing ICT strategies. The development of management and performance systems is also an area where very few organisations reported previously using external support, but is an area where many more say they anticipate needing support in the future.

3.1.5.2 Financial management

The survey identified the main activities which organisations have used external financial management support for as:

• Annual Accounts (41%)
• Payroll (33%)
• Insurance (20%)

The main areas where organisations anticipate needing future financial management support are:

• Annual Accounts (29%)
• Support for Trustees to understand financial management responsibilities (22%)
• Understanding how to cost your services, including systems such as full cost recovery (22%)

The most commonly accessed areas of financial management support are basic organisational requirements: annual accounts and payroll. Over a third of all organisations have accessed external support for these activities. However, larger organisations tended to report that they have internal capacity rather than use external support, with 75% of organisations requiring support for payroll having an annual turnover of less than £500k per year.

One of the major anticipated future support needs is that of helping trustees understand financial management responsibilities. This is similar to the findings from the focus groups and other core topic areas, which highlighted the need to increase capacity and understanding of roles and responsibilities in many boards and management committees.

There was little reported internal capacity or use of external support for understanding how to cost services (including systems such as full cost recovery) but this was one of the main anticipated future support needs. Reporting to OSCR is also a high priority for future support.

3.1.6 Lobbying and networking

3.1.6.1 Lobbying

The survey identified the main activities which organisations have used external lobbying support for as:

• Producing print materials (18%)
• Producing web-based materials (14%)
• Connecting with national political structures (10%)

The main areas where organisations anticipate needing future lobbying support are:

• Developing a communications strategy (18%)
• Producing web-based materials (16%)
• Media training (16%)

The proportion of all organisations accessing external support for the different activities of lobbying was relatively low in comparison with other core topic areas. Many of the features identified in the reported use of external support and anticipated future needs were similar, in that, they focused on basic communication; for example: producing materials, media training and connecting to national political structures. The highest reported internal capacity was for connecting at a more local level: identifying partner organisations and connecting with local political structures.

A key need identified in the focus groups was support for voluntary sector organisations to engage at a local level with planning structures and the statutory sector. This mostly relates to capacity to participate, either in terms of size of staff team to provide time for individuals to attend the plethora of partnership structures or having staff who are sufficiently skilled and experienced to engage effectively at a strategic level. Community Planning was mentioned frequently and seen as increasingly important to supporting the voluntary sector, as well as the route to establishing partnerships with statutory agencies (for example, through service level agreements to deliver services). There was a strong feeling that the voluntary sector are not viewed as equals by statutory agencies and that there are difficulties for the sector in engaging with statutory bodies on which they often rely for funding. More generally, some voluntary organisations reported difficulty in understanding how and who to contact in statutory bodies for particular enquiries.

"Serious imbalances mean that voluntary organisations don't have a voice [in relation to the planning process]."

"The Scottish Executive believe that SCVO and the CVS are representative… although those who are not connected [to those networks] are excluded… [for example] in Community Planning."

Lobbying institutions and influencing political parties came out in the survey as very low priorities in terms of internal capacity, use of external support and anticipated future support needs. However, focus group participants pointed to a lack of lobbying expertise at local levels and this presented challenges in relation to influencing big partners like the National Health Service ( NHS) and other Community Planning partners.

A number of organisations in the focus groups mentioned frustrations in relation to local authorities having contracted large national organisations or companies to deliver services instead of local organisations. This was viewed as part of the undervaluing of the voluntary sector, and in particular of smaller local organisations, by local authorities and seen as allowing money to leave the local economy.

Another issue frequently discussed was the need for support for voluntary organisations to promote themselves (particularly locally), undertake marketing and effectively monitor and evaluate in order to demonstrate their impact.

3.1.6.2 Networking

The survey identified the main activities which organisations have used external networking support for as:

• Sharing information and practice (21%)
• Sharing information between partners (17%)
• Creating networks (13%)

The main areas where organisations anticipate needing future networking support are:

• Measuring network/partnership performance (20%)
• Creating networks (15%)
• Providing a shared voice (15%)

Sharing information was where the majority of external support for networking had been accessed. There was also relatively high levels of reported internal capacity to share information and create networks. Networking and peer support was regularly identified in the focus groups as one of the most valuable sources of support for voluntary organisations across all support areas.

There were low reported levels of internal capacity to measure network/partnership performance, and this was the highest anticipated future support need.

3.1.7 How support needs are identified

Participants in the focus group discussions reported very little systematic approaches to identifying their support needs. Indeed, many went further and reported that developing their organisations was often secondary to the need for ongoing 'fire fighting'. For example, one organisation noted requiring support to deal with a staff disciplinary matter which had occurred and this was made more challenging as it had not been an anticipated support need in the past and policies had not been put in place.

Smaller organisations reported having very few external contacts and little time or capacity to focus on looking to the future or identifying support needs for the organisation. Many organisations were prompted to analyse their own support needs when hearing what a CVS offered, sometimes by chance.

Internal analysis of support needs is often inter-linked with the requirements of existing service delivery plans. Systematic approaches to identification of support needs are often dictated by requirements of these plans. This leads to voluntary organisations being more influenced by reacting to external pressures than making their own proactive assessments. It would be preferable if internal and external pressures were more equally weighted in assessments of support needs.

25% of organisations who participated in the survey identified tools they have found useful to identify, prioritise and meet support needs. Tools and approaches commonly identified included:

• Learning and Evaluation Planning ( LEAP);
• The Big Picture;
• Training Needs Analyses;
• Board / staff away days or strategic review / envisioning days;
• Coaching and mentoring;
• Networking with other organisations.

It was reported that business planning approaches are becoming more commonplace within voluntary organisations. Anticipating future support needs is a corollary of this to some extent.

The overall lack of a systematic approach to identifying support needs was best summed up by the following (representative) comment: "How do you know what you don't know?"

3.1.8 Anticipating future support needs

Discussion about the extent to which voluntary organisations are supported to identify future support needs was met with a range of responses from "do we need support with that?" to "we are aware of the rhetoric about the need for long-term planning (for example, from Rank Foundation's commitment to longer term funding) but very sceptical about this in practice, we are always reactive rather than proactive". Very few organisations reported being supported to look towards the future.

"Nobody is helping me in terms of the future… it's me thinking about where we want to be 3 or 5 years time"

A small number of existing sources of intelligence were highlighted as helping to anticipate future support needs including the Social Entrepreneur Network, Scotland ( SENSCOT) and Volunteer Development Scotland ( VDS) research work.

The potential importance of local authorities and community planning partnerships in helping anticipate future support needs was reported, although this was seriously limited in practice.

"Community planning partnerships are supposed to do this but don't."

"It is difficult for the voluntary sector voice to be heard within relevant local planning forums."

"what tends to happen is you get one token rep from the voluntary sector, then three from the police, three from NHS and three from social work and you get out-voted"

3.1.9 The specific needs of small organisations

Many of the issues raised by smaller voluntary organisations mirror those raised across the review. However, for smaller organisations these issues may be more pronounced or cause greater difficulties. For example a common issue was staff not having sufficient time to access support services and this is particularly problematic for organisations with few staff (in some cases as little as one part time co-ordinator) or with no paid staff.

The survey found that while most small organisations were likely to agree with the statement ' I am clear of my organisation's support needs in relation to these areas', larger organisations tended to agree more strongly and therefore be more clear of their support needs. The areas of similarity between small and large organisations' key support needs were: legal services; assistance with working in partnerships with local statutory agencies; and support with marketing and promoting the organisation. A number of small organisations also mentioned full cost recovery and, in common with large organisations, identified networking as a crucial source of support. Small organisations generally favoured local support mechanisms and used the CVS as their first port of call.

Need for broad package of support

Smaller organisations tend to have more limited internal capacity (both in terms of time and skills) and so rely more greatly on supporting agencies to provide a comprehensive package of in-depth support. This applies particularly at the start up stage which is generally followed by an ongoing need for ad hoc support. The tendency for small organisations to look for a broad range of support was also reported by a CVS which said that while large organisations generally approach their CVS for help with a very specific (and usually significant) issue, smaller organisations want support with a range of issues spanning organisational development, workforce development, income generation, technical support, and lobbying and networking.

Beyond the start up phase small organisations are likely to continue to have a relationship with their CVS and to rely on accessing ongoing support on an ad hoc basis as and when it is needed.

Income generation as key support need

Income generation was identified as the primary support need across the voluntary sector and this is even more pronounced in the case of small organisations. This often relates to seeking funding to start up an organisation or to move from being volunteer run to employing paid staff. The capacity of small organisations to identify appropriate funding sources and to undertake the application process is often limited and CVS frequently provide in-depth assistance.

Views of current support

The survey tended to indicate some small organisations were very clear about where to access support and others were not. 86% of responses from medium and large organisations (with an annual income of over £100k) suggested that they did know where to go for support, while responses from smaller organisations were more polarised. 50% of smaller organisations indicated that they knew where to go for support, while the other 50% were neutral or agreed with the statement 'I do not know where to go for support in these areas'. One potential explanation for this difference is perhaps the level of awareness and connectedness to networks of individual organisations. It was extensively reported during the focus groups that access to support was dependent on individual networks, with one person commenting: 'It's definitely about what or who you know".

Small organisations that had accessed their CVS were generally very happy with the in-depth, accessible support they received and appeared to rely heavily on this.

Small organisations did not tend to be engaged with the national support infrastructure and some were critical of national bodies, particularly in terms of the cost of some of the services offered.

3.2 Source and quality of support provision

This section presents an overview of results from the survey which showed which organisations are used for external support in relation to each of the five core areas of support. More general thoughts on support provision from focus group participants are presented in section 3.3.

3.2.1 Income generation

The table below shows the top three agencies and organisations who have provided external income generation support and the average quality score of that support.

Table 2: External Income Generation Support

Local Authorities and Local CVS offices are the most common source of external support for income generation, used by 12% and 10% of all organisations respectively, but there was no especially dominant type of support provider. However, compared with the priority that income generation was given in the focus groups, there was a surprisingly low overall proportion of organisations reporting accessing external support in this area.

Support from local CVS offices and SCVO are reported as relatively low (but not poor) quality, while other voluntary sector organisations are reported as providing the best quality support. The lack of tailored support for finding funding streams for different types of organisations was identified in the focus groups as a key problem with existing income generation support from more generic voluntary sector support providers.

3.2.2 Organisational development

The table below shows the top four agencies and organisations who have provided external organisational development support and the average quality score of that support.

Table 3: External Organisational Development Support

Private companies / consultants, local CVS offices, SCVO and Local Authorities are the most common source of organisational development support. Local enterprise companies are not reported to have been used extensively.

Charitable trusts receive the highest scoring (4.2) in terms of quality of support provided, although this is based on a relatively low number of ratings. 37% of organisations have received support from private companies / consultants for organisational development and they are reported to be one of the highest quality providers. SCVO receive the lowest scoring for quality of support, although a score of 3 indicates average rather than poor quality.

3.2.3 Workforce development

The table below shows the top four agencies and organisations who have provided external workforce development support and the average quality score of that support.

Table 4: External Workforce Development Support

Private companies or consultants are the most common source of external workforce development support, with over a fifth of participating organisations accessing their support. They are also rated highly in terms of quality. SCVO, local authorities and local CVS offices are also used regularly.

Intermediary bodies are also one of the highest rated sources of workforce development support (4.2).

Quality of external workforce development support is rated fairly high across all types of providers, with learndirect Scotland receiving the lowest (but not poor) score of 3.3.

3.2.4 Technical support

3.2.4.1 ICT Support

The table below shows the top three agencies and organisations who provided external ICT support and the average quality score of that support.

Table 5: External ICT Support

Private companies were clearly the most common source of external ICT Support, used by over a third of organisations responding to the survey. Quality of that private support was rated highly. Very few respondents reported seeking support for ICT issues from the public or voluntary sectors.

3.2.4.2 Financial management

The table below shows the top three agencies and organisations who provided external financial management support and the average quality score of that support.

Table 6: External Financial Management Support

Almost 40% of participating organisations had used a private company for external financial management support, with very low reported use of public or voluntary sector providers.

Quality of support is rated highly across all providers. However, in contrast with other core topic areas, the public sector organisations tended to score higher on quality than the private companies, although this does reflect a much smaller number of responses.

There was a surprisingly low reported use of local CVS offices and SCVO for financial management, as many focus group participants said they used these organisations to mange their payroll.

3.2.5 Lobbying & networking

3.2.5.1 Lobbying

The table below shows the top three agencies and organisations who have provided external lobbying support and the average quality score of that support.

Table 7: External Lobbying Support

Only a small proportion of organisations have accessed external support for lobbying in comparison to other core topic areas. The most common sources of lobbying support are either from private companies or national organisations: SCVO, intermediaries and other national voluntary organisations. Quality of support is scored high for all these organisations.

3.2.5.2 Networking

The table below shows the top three agencies and organisations who have provided external networking support and the average quality score of that support.

Table 8: External Networking Support

A broad range of different organisations are used for external networking support and quality was reported as fairly high across many different support providers. Intermediary bodies, local voluntary organisations and local CVS offices score very high in terms of quality.

Unlike other core topic areas, almost no organisations used private companies or consultants for networking support.

3.3 Cost, value for money and impact of support

3.3.1 Cost of support

Survey respondents identified the cost of support provided for each core area where they had received external support. While the cost of support increased for larger organisations, a summary of spend in each area is shown below to provide an overview of costs for each area of support. A more detailed analysis of spend by organisation size is provided in the full survey analysis in Appendix A2

Figure 3: Cost of External Support

Support for organisational development and ICT areas had cost over £5,000 for almost 30% of organisations who had received external support. The cost of external support was much lower for networking, income generation and lobbying, with most organisations spending less than £500 per year. Spend on workforce development and financial management was more varied.

Figure 4 shows the proportion of support received free of charge for each core area. Less than a quarter of support is free of charge for most areas, indicating that the majority of support received is paid-for. Income generation and networking are the areas most likely that support has been provided for free, with 29% and 35% of organisations respectively receiving the majority of support for free.

Figure 4: Proportion of Support Received Free of Charge

3.3.2 Value for money

The figure below shows the proportion of organisations who had paid for external support who said it had provided value for money in each core area.

Figure 5: Value for Money of Paid for Support

Across all core support areas, more than 70% of respondents said that external paid-for support had provided value for money. Networking is the area least likely for external support to provide value for money, with 20% saying it did not.

In the more general attitudes questions in the survey, respondents were asked whether they agreed with the statement 'external support received always presents value for money'. There was reasonably high agreement with this statement, with 40% of organisations agreeing but 28% disagreeing. However, some focus group participants noted that paying for support in the first place was often difficult. One participant reported that: "Often affordability means we can only afford poor quality." 60% of organisations in the survey disagreed with the attitude statement 'we can usually afford to pay for relevant support once identified'.

3.3.3 Assessing the impact of support

Survey respondents tended to be very positive about the effectiveness of support provision and the impact it has had on their organisation. In the attitudes questions, the majority of respondents (59%) agreed that the support they have received has always added value to their organisation, while only 9% disagreed. This, combined with the finding that 60% of organisations believe that support always contributes to making their organisation more effective, demonstrates the perceived positive impact support has on an organisation.

However, focus group participants indicated that they often were unable to demonstrate the specific impact of support on their organisation. Many participants reported increased awareness of the need to measure their distance travelled as a result of support received, but reported that they rarely assess the impact of support and there is little clarity about the best way to actually do it. Some participants made specific mentions of using evaluation systems such as LEAP.

"It is difficult to measure impact of support which is designed to help us get on with our primary purpose."

The lack of assessment of impact of support was not helped by widespread reporting of a lack of measurement of impact by support providers themselves.

"Intermediaries need training in evaluation and measuring impact."

However, it was widely reported in the focus groups that business planning has become more effective across the voluntary sector as a result of the types of support received.

"There are current attempts (by CVS) to create 3 year funding programmes to force us [voluntary organisations] to think about what we will do with the money and to use business development support from CVS."

3.3.4 Problems with current support

Survey respondents were asked to identify up to three main problems they have encountered with current external support services. 22 organisations (16% of survey respondents) said that they did not have any problems with the current available support. The figure below shows the problems identified by the remaining 115 organisations.

Figure 6: Problems with Current External Support Services

The cost of using support providers was the most commonly reported problem, identified by almost 40% of participating organisations. Other common problems with support agencies included a lack of understanding of the support needs of the voluntary sector (23%), a lack of integration of support organisations (23%) and a lack of tailored support (22%).

Interestingly, 'no idea where to go for support or advice' was an infrequently reported problem, however this is in contrast to findings from the focus groups where people often reported not knowing what support was available. However, this problem tended to be specific to small organisations. 60% of respondents noting that they had 'no idea where to go for support or advice' were those with an annual turnover of less than £25k. Larger organisations rarely reported this as a problem.

The problem of support agencies not working together was a problem reported more regularly by larger organisations. 70% of those reporting this problem had an annual income of over £100k.

Other problems with support identified by respondents themselves included:

• National bodies not understanding local needs and issues;
• National umbrella bodies focusing on the needs of local organisations rather than the strategic picture;
• Support providers not catering for large voluntary organisations;
• A lack of a co-ordinated approach to support for the voluntary sector;
• A lack of resourcing of support providers / ability for support providers to give in-depth support;
• Lack of 'professional' support available to management committees ( e.g.HR, legal advice).

3.3.5 Characteristics of good and bad quality support

Focus group participants were asked to describe what constitutes good quality support. Participants reported that good quality support is characterised by:

• Being timely;
• Being affordable;
• Having confidence in the provision (usually in the individual providing support);
• Being individually tailored;
• Delivering value for money;
• Having a clear understanding of the organisation;
• Being personal one-to-one support;
• Helping to build relationships;
• Having good links between local and national networks;
• Being objective / neutral.

Participants characterised bad quality support as:

• When the voluntary sector is not prioritised;
• When a company is trying to 'sell a product' rather than trying to understand needs;
• When consultants are chosen by a funder;
• Where there is a lack of flexibility from support organisations relating to technical staff;
• Where there is high staff turnover within support providing agencies;
• Where there are inconsistencies in support provision;
• Where the provider does not understand the organisations' support needs;
• Where training opportunities are pitched at voluntary organisations at the wrong level because there is an assumption of being 'amateur'.

3.4 Support agencies working together

Survey questions probed respondents' attitudes on whether they thought support agencies worked well together and whether there is a lot of overlap in support available.

The figure below shows that 50% of participating organisations disagreed with the statement 'organisations providing support always work well together'. Less than a fifth of respondents thought that support organisations always work well together.

Figure 7: Organisations working together
Statement: Organisations providing support always work well together

Mean = 2.60 ¹⁹

Figure 8 shows that 45% of people agreed that there is a lot of overlap in the support available. Just over a fifth of respondents disagreed with this statement with the greatest single selection being a neutral opinion.

Figure 8: Overlap in Support
Statement: There is a lot of overlap in support available

Mean = 3.25

Focus group participants' perceptions of voluntary sector infrastructure varied extensively. Lots of people reported very little knowledge about the role and structures at a national level. Many participants reported that local infrastructure is not organised effectively but rather is dependent on the initiative and knowledge of individual voluntary organisations. Others reported that, worse than this, the local infrastructure is often confusing:

"It's a maze."

"It needs a complete re-jig if I'm brutally honest."

"Business Gateway used to be good but now they don't focus on social enterprise."

Furthermore, a lack of strategic approaches was highlighted as a major obstacle to effective local support infrastructure:

"More strategic thinking on their part could make much better and more efficient use of everybody's time."

" CVS should be there to find the best person to sit at the table not to sit at the table themselves."

Where the local support infrastructure was reported to be working well, this was attributed to 'a real focus on issues of common concern' and a 'shared sense of where we want things to go locally'.

Additionally, some of the focus group discussion pointed to structural shortcomings with the links at all levels between SCVO, CVS and local voluntary organisations. Some felt that there was a disconnection between many local organisations and the CVS, with several organisations reportedly not seeing the CVS as relevant to them, which raised questions as to whether they can truly be representative of the sector. Some also felt that SCVO was not performing in terms of driving forward issues which are common across the whole sector, as it has become increasingly focused on other activities.

"It is not obvious to us how SCVO find out what CVS's need."

"Large CVSs and SCVO have become industries in themselves. They have so many resources that they have become removed from the community."

3.5 Future support

40 organisations who completed the survey commented on what they thought support services should look like in the future. Comments tended to fall into the following five categories:

1. The need to be well connected and co-ordinated;
2. The need to be well promoted, accessible and help with the identification of support needs;
3. The need to be locally relevant;
4. The need to provide the appropriate skills and expertise;
5. The need to be affordable and properly funded.

Some individual comments are shown below under each of these headings. More detail is provided in the full survey analysis in separate Annexe.

The need to be well connected and co-ordinated

• "Well funded, connected and promoted!"
• "Joined-up with clear remits"
• "I would like to see more clarity / honesty about what each support agency actually provides."

The need to be well promoted, accessible and help with the identification of support needs

• "There should be more 'one-stop-shop' support where clear directions can be given as to where and how to obtain support."
• "As a new voluntary sector organisation, looking to raise funds and recruit staff, we need to be provided with a clear idea of the areas where we may need support ( e.g. employment law) and where we can access that support and advice."

The need to be locally relevant

• "The support should be local and reflect community provision and strengths, not a one size fits all approach. Geographic and network approaches can be different and appropriate to what is on the ground locally. It is local networks that should be strengthened and supported rather than a national body. There must be recognition of the differences between voluntary sector agencies and volunteering and the variety in the third sector."
• "Support in the future should be local, independent but assessed/approved to provide a range of 'professional' advice and assistance to a diverse range of organisations. The wealth in the sector will be distributed more widely as a result."

The need to provide the appropriate skills and expertise

• "Support services should be developed centrally by the Scottish Executive in key areas of common need for the voluntary sector. e.g. They should centrally employ a voluntary advisory group including legal, personnel and accountancy professionals skilled in voluntary sector aspects of their profession."
• "Support services in the future will be shifting and responsive to the needs of organisations. They work with organisations to forecast future needs rather than rolling out a fixed plan of events"

The need to be affordable and properly funded

• "Support services should be offered free of charge to voluntary organisations or at least at a much reduced cost."
• "Any infrastructure bodies set up by a particular part of the sector [also need]… supported themselves to the degree necessary for them to carry out their mandated role."

The most common suggestion from focus group participants about future access to support services was a strong desire to see a 'one-stop shop' for signposting to support (rather than providing it directly) which would have information about the full range of support available. The perceived benefits of this service would include: being able to inform voluntary organisations about the full range of support available; acting as a quality control mechanism and receiving feedback on the impact of support providers; ensuring that voluntary organisations link in to the appropriate business services; and assisting organisations to identify their support needs as well as issues about how to get the most out of support services ( e.g. writing effective briefs for consultants).

Other suggestions made by participants for future access to support included:

• Raising awareness of what support is available, for example through a comprehensive information pack given to all voluntary organisations when they register with bodies such as OSCR;
• Having a van (like the Young Scot Information van) that contains expertise (in the form of people and documents) that travels around the country taking knowledge and support to organisations - "a travelling bus of knowledge" - and enabling voluntary organisations to speak to someone directly who could either help them or signpost them on.
• Providing a comprehensive, consistent, reliable service including dedicated in-depth support and team with full combination of skills ( SWOT Team) who would spend a few days with your organisation and then advise you on: what to do; what support you need; and where to get it. It was suggested this could be developed by Scottish Enterprise and could take an approach which would build capacity within organisations;
• Co-ordinating legal professionals who are willing to do pro-bono work for the voluntary sector. The Volunteer Centre Network was suggested as perhaps having a role in establishing this;
• Creating a charter for minimum quality/standards for support services that providers could sign up to or be awarded. This might include provision for those who have used the service to provide feedback (for example, like an e-bay style user quality rating) along with a list of approved consultants;
• Creating greater opportunities for organisations to share 'back office' services;
• Providing cover to enable staff to access support ( e.g. attend training), either in form of floating team of supply staff or by funders allowing this to be included in applications;
• Creating an employment law helpline for the voluntary sector;
• Rationalising monitoring, evaluation and auditing processes between funders to save a large amount of preparation time.

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