The Scottish Government

« Previous | Contents | Next »

Listen

4. Views of support providers

As well as capturing views of recipients on their support needs this review also sought views of support providers. The investigation explored similar areas to discussions with recipients (see appendices B1 and B2 for aides memoires) with a view to assessing the picture from a number of perspectives. Section 4.1 outlines the views of organisations whose audience is primarily the voluntary sector. Section 4.2 highlights the specific support issues for the voluntary sector identified by organisations that provide support to a broader constituency, including the voluntary sector ( appendix A3 outlines all providers interviewed). We also highlight the views of CVS, Intermediaries and Funders as providers of services.

4.1 Voluntary sector providers

4.1.1 Support needs

The needs of the voluntary sector are extremely broad and vary over time and between organisations. Some of the key needs (either met or unmet needs) mentioned by voluntary sector providers of support were: analysing and identifying implications of policy and legislation for a particular sector; building skills and capacity of management boards and committees; identification of funding sources and making applications; HR and employment law (especially when things go wrong); engagement in community planning; and compliance issues such as Protection of Children Scotland Act, registration of child care providers, and regulation of social landlords. Intermediaries in particular highlighted a key element of their support as being to anticipate future developments (for example new regulations), highlight the implications of these to voluntary organisations and put in place the support that will be needed.

In addition the Association of Chief Officers of Scottish Voluntary Organisations ( ACOSVO) highlighted support needs for chief executives in relation to: leadership; strategic planning (including relationship between chief executive and board); peer support; governance; confidence; accessing training at an appropriate level; fundraising; financial management; and a range of ICT issues.

Identification of support needs

Those providing support to organisations on an individual basis (for example the Voluntary Action Fund, Evaluation Support Scotland and Social Firms) tend to undertake some form of initial needs assessment with each organisation they engage with. This informs the support that is delivered and may help to identify areas where it is necessary to signpost to another support provider.

Across all voluntary sector providers there was a strong sense that needs are identified by those receiving support. This happens in a number of ways:

• Ongoing relationship between providers and recipients, for example at meetings or by representation of stakeholders on management committees or boards
• Requests from recipients which often give a sense of the issues that are giving rise to support needs
• Needs assessment surveys, often as part of annual membership survey

At a more fundamental level it was suggested that the creation of a support organisation often happens in the first place as a result of an identified need. This initial identification of need may be followed by in-depth consultation or research to inform the support that will be provided. For example in advance of the establishment of Evaluation Support Scotland research was done to identify the support needs of the voluntary sector in relation to monitoring and evaluation and the results formed the basis for Evaluation Support Scotland's business plan.

Agencies also reported a general awareness of support needs gained from their position of being part of the voluntary sector themselves, and in the case of intermediaries part of the sector they support.

4.1.2 Support provision

A wide range of support is offered by voluntary sector providers and some of this is also available to the statutory and private sectors (for example the Scottish Council for Single Homeless, Children in Scotland and the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations offer services such as training to local authorities and others).

Broadly speaking the types of support offered are:

Table 9: Types of Support

4.1.3 Identification of support

Support providers communicate the services they offer through a range of means including: ongoing relationships with the sector, meetings, leaflets, mailings, presence at events, e-bulletins, websites, newsletters and magazines. The key way in which voluntary organisations identify the support available is through informal networks and 'word of mouth'. In addition funding bodies play a role in signposting to support agencies.

4.1.4 Future access

As in the feedback from non-voluntary sector support providers (see Section 4.2) there is little evidence of systematic work to help voluntary organisations to consider future support needs. There were however some examples of where this happens:

• Intermediaries scan the policy horizon and identify upcoming developments, threats and opportunities and then work with their respective sectors to respond to, and prepare for, these
• Some funding bodies work with individual grant recipients to plan their future development and part of this is the identification of the support that will be needed to achieve this (one respondent mentioned using 'The Big Picture' tool to do this).
• One provider mentioned having developed tools for its members to use to plan their future development and had run a series of planning seminars to support the use of these

4.1.5 Impact of support

Support providers highlighted a number of objectives of support to voluntary organisations. Overall these can be characterised as involving increasing the capacity of individuals and organisations to deliver their work effectively, thereby leading to better services and ultimately to benefits to the recipients of those services.

The degree to which the impact of support is measured varies and in some cases there is little formal monitoring and evaluation (although all had done some kind of survey). There were some examples of systematic mechanisms, for example Volunteer Centres use the LEAP (Learning and Evaluation and Planning) framework and Evaluation Support Scotland evaluates each recipient organisation's level of skills and knowledge before support has been given and then again afterwards.

Membership organisations have some degree of inbuilt monitoring and evaluation through their annual membership renewal process. All such organisations used this as an opportunity to undertake membership surveys assessing the support provided and identifying gaps and future needs. Those that charge membership fees reported an additional indicator of satisfaction levels in that organisations will not re-join and continue to pay if they do not benefit from the support provided.

Difficulties in measuring impact

Policy and representation work was highlighted as an area with particular difficulties in terms of measurement, as it is often impossible to distinguish the contribution of an individual organisation to the development of policy or legislation. This difficulty was also raised in relation to support services more generally as voluntary organisations often receive support from a number of sources and it may not be easy to untangle which organisation had what effect. In addition some support services, for example payroll services, are simply intended to enable organisations to function so organisations identify difficulty in measuring 'distance travelled' for this support. Similarly support provided by CVS is often about helping an organisation avert or overcome a crisis and so the continued existence of the organisation is an indicator of success.

Improvements in monitoring and evaluation

There was a clear acknowledgement among voluntary sector providers of the need for robust systems of monitoring and evaluation, although there were some issues of the competing priorities of this versus focusing resources on direct delivery of work. There was a suggestion that, in common with the rest of the voluntary sector, monitoring and evaluation is an area where the capacity of support agencies needs to be built and there was mention of looking to the outcomes of the Performance Information Project (being undertaken by Communities Scotland) to assist with this.

4.1.6 Quality of support

Support providers suggested a range of factors that characterise good quality support:

• Responsive to the needs of recipients
• Flexible / responsive - not 'one size fits all'
• Genuinely representative
• Accuracy of intelligence and information
• Practical and with direct application to organisations' work
• Pragmatic and with an understanding of the realities of the context in which voluntary organisations work
• Holistic and able to identify the real need/s (which are not always the same as the need/s being presented)
• Always able to either provide the support needed or to signpost effectively to the right organisation
• Customer focused approach
• Good links between local and national and generic and specialist support

4.1.7 Support agencies working together

Voluntary sector support providers reported a significant level of joint working and signposting currently taking place. This is mainly through the large number of networks operating in the voluntary sector as well as informally through personal contacts and relationships. There was a strong desire to avoid duplication and there were some examples of work being done in partnership, usually in relation to lobbying on a particular issue.

Networks were emphasised as being key to support agencies working together. In particular SCVO was mentioned along with the CVS Network, Volunteer Centre Network and the intermediaries' network.

Working with non-voluntary sector support providers

The most notable gap was in the relationship between traditional voluntary sector support providers and newer non-voluntary sector providers. In the main, this gap related to state providers. There was a perception that some statutory agencies are increasingly looking to serve voluntary organisations, particularly in relation to the social enterprise agenda and the growth of attendant support structures (for example Business Gateway, Communities Scotland, the Scottish Enterprise Network and the growing role of local authorities). There appeared to be little interface between these and voluntary sector providers who raised a number of concerns:

• Non-voluntary sector business support lack the skills and experience necessary to support the voluntary sector effectively and so often provide a poor quality of support to organisations

"[Business Gateway doesn't have expertise in the voluntary sector] and then six months down the line we usually end up having a very disgruntled organisation walk through the door."

• The more recent non-voluntary sector supports have tended to be developed without cognisance of what already exists and so have added to duplication and confusion over the support infrastructure
• Funding has been detracted from support delivered from within the voluntary sector and opportunities to build on what already exists have been missed

4.1.8 Suggestions for improvement to support infrastructure

Voluntary sector support providers made a range of suggestions for the ways in which the support provided to the voluntary sector could be improved. The overriding message was the need to build on the existing infrastructure instead of setting up numerous new structures. This included enabling support organisations to increase their own capacity and skills and become more strategic in contrast to the current situation of having to work on a largely reactive 'fire fighting' basis. Coupled with this was the view that there needs to be greater commitment to support providers and the voluntary sector more widely and that this should be demonstrated by national and local government. As part of this it was suggested that the public sector should ensure that it does not pose a threat to the voluntary sector, for example, by developing support mechanisms that duplicate those already provided by voluntary organisations. This results in voluntary sector providers not feeling valued by statutory bodies as it is unclear why new services are being established. There is a lack of communication with the sector relating to why a new support emerges, i.e. lack of awareness of the voluntary sector, perceptions that they are not providing a quality service or evidence of gaps in service.

There was a strong view that there needs to be greater focus on the quality of support being provided and that shared standards would be useful (similar to those used in advice work) in establishing a minimum quality across agencies. There was also a notable emphasis on the need for support providers to have greater clarity about their roles and remit, to focus on their areas of expertise and to signpost on beyond this.

"Support agencies need to understand where they begin and end."

Although support providers reported a great deal of signposting they also identified the need for improved awareness within the support infrastructure (and among voluntary organisations) of what support is available and from where.

"It can be bewildering [for new or small organisations] to know who to go to, how and when."

There was a sense that, while improvements are always needed, there should be more celebration of the good quality support that does exist and greater encouragement as opposed to the sector feeling that it has to "constantly justify its own existence".

4.2 Non voluntary sector providers

This review included the perspectives of a range of organisations that provide support to the voluntary sector among others. The range and depth of support provided varies across the organisations. Their commonality is that the voluntary sector is not their sole or main recipient of support (list available at Appendix A3).

4.2.1 View of support needs of voluntary sector

Perceptions of voluntary sector support needs tended to vary in emphasis according to the sector and size of the organisation responding. There was consensus, however, that the overriding issue for voluntary organisations was the need to know where and how to access support in meaningful and appropriate ways.

Specific support needs identified, and around which there was some consensus, were governance and fund raising/income generation. Unsurprisingly, the need to build a secure funding base for organisations was seen as a crucial need for voluntary organisations, with recognition that the current environment increasingly required organisations to understand income generation, bidding and tendering processes, and full cost recovery.

"Most of the time, people need help with funding - to identify sources, and to complete funding applications"

The growth of the social enterprise sector meant that a range of more 'business' related needs were also identified, including legal issues, e-commerce, and procurement.

The need for Trustees to operate effectively and within the appropriate regulatory framework was seen as central.

"A lot of people who sit on management committees don't understand their role and responsibilities"

4.2.2 Support provided to the voluntary sector

There was a huge diversity of support provision among the organisations interviewed. Some had a local or regional focus, some operated nationally. In most cases the support they offered was described as re-active - in response to identified need, rather than being planned as part of a conscious strategy.

"As support from many organisations isn't proactive, voluntary organisations are only well supported if they come forward to ask for support"

Since the majority of the organisations interviewed were part of government or NDPBs, support to the voluntary sector was rarely a principal focus of their work. In that context, support tended to fall into three distinct categories:

• All organisations stated that they provided 'signposting' to voluntary organisations, and were able to identify relevant organisations or agencies for this. This was related to the fact that many organisations do not have a role in direct development work.
• A range of direct services were on offer from all respondents, including, grants programmes, training and capacity building, helpdesk facilities, websites, publications, and toolkits. These ranged in scale and scope from comprehensive programmes located within social economy support organisations such as CEIS, to much more general services found within parts of the NHS.
• Several of the respondents described their support as being offered through third party commissioned organisations, whose specialism was matched to the sector served. The Scottish Arts Council ( SAC) provided financial support to Voluntary Arts Scotland. Sport Scotland funded a post in the Scottish Sports Association. Communities Scotland (social economy) fund Senscot who provide online tools and templates, personal response service and longer-term support for a few organisations.

It was recognised that the generally 'cluttered' landscape of support provision for the voluntary sector led to some confusion as to who to choose for what. Some organisations have tried to respond to this by creating structures to enhance understanding and to develop a strategic approach.

"The issue is not about shortage of provision; it's about clarity of provision. This is why we've set up local economy partnerships as we wanted to provide clarity"

Scottish Enterprise is explicit in that it is interested in organisations from whatever sector who exhibit 'business like' behaviour and who are 'aspirational'. It has commissioned an evaluation of its services for the social economy, and on the basis of this is looking to provide a uniform service across lowland Scotland with three levels of support. These range from a broad, generic service through the Business Gateway, through a more sophisticated client management service to account management for 'high impact' organisations. Scottish Enterprise is keen to engage with 'more than profit' organisations that want to develop business potential, but recognises that there is often a lack of knowledge on both sides about what can be offered.

The position in the Highlands and Islands Enterprise ( HIE) area is slightly different, given that HIE has always had a broader social remit and there has been more direct engagement with, for example, the CVS network, looking at ways of devolving small grant programmes. HIE is firmly of the view that if the voluntary sector is to play a more important role, then the CVS network needs to be strengthened.

4.2.3 Identification of support needs

Most respondents described their experience of identifying voluntary sector needs through their routine contact with voluntary sector organisations, by means of joint involvement in various partnerships, and by responding to specific requests. Together, this enabled most to build organisational intelligence about the support needs of the voluntary sector.

"We have a responsibility to work directly with networks and we have to be accountable to that. We know what they (voluntary sector) need in our area because we have a face-to-face connection. Networking is key."

HM Inspectorate of Education ( HMIE) had a more structured approach through its inspection programme of local authority community learning & development services (with their links to local community groups). Relatively infrequent inspections of national voluntary organisations also served to highlight some support needs.

4.2.4 Assisting voluntary organisation to think about the future

There was little evidence of systematic support to the voluntary sector to help it think through its longer term support needs.

Many of the larger organisations referred to government policy documents or organisational strategic plans that could be used by voluntary organisations to consider future trends. Sport Scotland mentioned its corporate plan.

"We are responsible for implementing Sport 21 - including 20/20 vision - what we need to have in place for 2012. Our four year Corporate Plan helps people think about this"

Within the health sector, the 'patient focus and public involvement' agenda was referred to as a vehicle for the voluntary sector to engage in strategic thinking. However this is a relatively new agenda and voluntary organisations have only just been invited round the table in terms of strategic planning (primarily in relation to the Joint Health Improvement Plan). One health department suggested their relative disengagement from the voluntary sector meant they had limited knowledge of the support needs of the sector.

The central role of Management Committees and Boards in helping determine and plan for future needs was mentioned, with the attendant caveat that if an organisation's governance arrangements were weak, their ability to 'future proof' plans would be similarly impaired.

HMIE had a role with individual organisations subject to inspections with regard to making recommendations for future development, and hence implications for support needs. This impacted on relatively few organisations.

4.2.5 Measuring the impact of support

Most respondents did not identify specific tools they used to regularly measure the impact of the support they provided. Some however mentioned specific pieces of research. The Scottish Arts Council ( SAC) had measured the impact of the 'Taking Part' programme on funded projects. Sportscotland mentioned the use of consultants to research the impact of specific initiatives. The Scottish Executive reviewed the needs of the social economy sector through the Social Economy Review (2003) directly led to Futurebuilders Scotland.

It is recognised that the impact of support provision is not well measured and that this would be a complex task. A degree of consistency between CVS was desirable in relation to services provided. CVS are recognised as a key organisation either for signposting or for more strategic involvement in partnerships, e.g. Community Learning and Development partnerships, Local Social Enterprise Partnerships, etc.

Overall, it was agreed that one of the key outcomes for support should be to assist the sustainability (including, but not limited to, the financial area) of voluntary organisations.

4.2.6 Quality of support

There was a fair degree of consensus on what constituted high quality support for voluntary organisations, with several organisations echoing a number of key points.

A critical feature was that the voluntary organisation should be an active player in process of benefiting from support, not merely a neutral recipient.

Characteristics of an organisation providing quality support included:

• Specialist expertise in the required field
• Ability to understand the needs of the voluntary organisation
• Delivered in an appropriate way that respects the integrity of the voluntary organisation
• Provides value for money
• Builds organisational capacity
• Respects the voluntary organisation's ability to choose

4.2.7 Support agencies working together

The overriding impression given by the respondents was that the 'landscape' of support services to the voluntary sector was 'cluttered' and 'muddled'. There was a high degree of recognition of the difficulties faced by voluntary organisations in trying to steer a course through this terrain.

"The last few voluntary organisation reviews we've done, they've not been clear on what type of support they can get from different organisations. They often don't think certain organisations offer these things"

A distinction was made between the generic voluntary sector support infrastructure ( e.g.SCVO, the CVS network) and the sector-specific organisations ( e.g. YouthLink Scotland, VDS, Voluntary Arts Scotland). Several organisations made reference to the former networks and would refer organisations to them. There was uncertainty about how effectively they worked together. Both horizontal and vertical routes to access support was recognised as important as many organisations will require local access (usually generic) or sector-specific support which could be local or national.

Scottish Enterprise (including the Business Gateway) and Communities Scotland (including its management of the Futurebuilders Scotland programme) were mentioned by several organisations. The relationship between the two organisations with regard to voluntary sector support was usually unclear.

There appears to be a lack of clarity about the distinction between the voluntary sector and the social enterprise sector, and the respective infrastructure supporting them.

4.2.8 Suggestions for improvement to support infrastructure

Overall, respondents acknowledged that support services to the voluntary sector should be provided via a 'mixed economy'.

Key areas where tangible improvements needed to be made included:

• Clarify the roles of the generic voluntary sector providers of support ( SCVO, the CVS network, VDS)
• Clarify the role of the generic public sector providers of support (local authorities, Communities Scotland, Scottish Enterprise
• Explore and clarify the role for Local Social Economy Partnerships
• Focus support on governance and sustainability
• Identify a single 'point of entry' for voluntary organisations at local level - both within the voluntary sector (probably CVS), and within local authorities (probably an identified officer)
• Provide clear information on the range of support services available

4.3 Councils for Voluntary Service ( CVS)

CVS provide a broad range of generic support to all types and size of organisations in their respective areas. The issues raised by CVS were broadly similar to those raised more widely by voluntary sector support providers. There was a strong feeling from CVS that action to improve the support infrastructure should focus on building on what already exists; by building the capacity of supporting organisations so that they in turn are better able to support voluntary organisations. A central issue for CVS, as for other voluntary organisations, was a perceived lack of recognition or respect on the part of statutory partners. This was viewed as particularly problematic in the context of an ever increasing emphasis on partnership structures and planning mechanisms such as community planning. CVS reported that those in urban areas were more often involved in this type of strategic activity while those in rural areas tended to provide more practical support.

4.3.1 Support provided

The support provided by CVS is partly developed according to the Core Activities Framework that is agreed across the network of CVS. In addition CVS undertake surveys with the organisations in their respective areas in order to report back to SCVO (as part of the agreement in the Core Activities Framework to profile the voluntary sector at a local level) and to evaluate the services they provide.

Although CVS vary, they all now work to a Core Activities Framework through which they provide the following support ²⁰:

• Understanding the voluntary sector
  • Profiling the voluntary sector locally
  • Understanding the sector's concerns and needs
  • Understanding policy
  • Identifying the economic value of the sector
• Communicating with the voluntary sector
  • Providing relevant and up-to-date information
  • Facilitating networking
  • Promoting opportunities to respond to emerging issues and consultations
• Representing the interests of the voluntary sector
  • Ensuring strategic representation
  • Community Planning Partnerships
  • Local Compact Partnerships
  • Rural Partnerships
  • Social Economy Partnerships
  • Facilitating voluntary sector participation and representation
• Providing support services
  • Advice on funding
  • Business planning
  • Legal frameworks
  • Management systems
  • Monitoring and evaluation
• Promoting good practice
  • Developing skills and knowledge
  • Improving standards
  • Providing training
  • Developing resource materials
• Growing the sector
  • Providing start-up support to new groups and organisations
  • Responding to local needs
  • Strengthening organisations through training and support

CVS provide in-depth, resource-heavy support to small voluntary organisations and would contend that no other service provides this level or type of support. This assertion is reflected in feedback from small local organisations themselves who reported receiving intensive personalised support from their CVS, particularly at the start up stage. It should be noted that this varied across different geographical areas with some small organisations not greatly aware of their local CVS while others were highly satisfied with the support they received. CVS largely respond to the needs of voluntary organisations on an 'as and when needed' basis and tend to prioritise according to the severity of the need.

4.3.2 Challenges for CVS

The issues raised by CVS tend to reflect those experienced by the voluntary sector as a whole. The two main challenges are: lack of time because of the demands of front line work; and a lack of particular expertise. Similarly to other organisations CVS reported the need to spend the majority of their time on providing immediate support leaving little time for planning and development activities. In relation to skills gaps the need was raised for a pool of expertise that could be shared across the network of CVS, and in turn provided to voluntary organisations. This would include professional expertise in: legal issues (especially employment law), accountancy (particularly in relation to Statement of Recommended Practice ( SORP) accountancy now required by OSCR), and business skills (including social enterprise).

Another challenge for CVS is the growing social enterprise agenda and the question of whether or not it is the role of CVS to provide support in relation to social enterprises. At present there seems to be mixed capacity among CVS to provide support to social enterprises or to organisations developing a social enterprise model. In addition there is some apprehension (including amongst voluntary sector providers more generally) about the growth of non-voluntary sector support mechanisms such as the Business Gateway and a sense that funding is increasingly being diverted away from more traditional voluntary sector activities and support. Questions were also raised over the ability of non-voluntary sector providers to deal effectively with voluntary sector organisations.

4.4 Intermediaries

Intermediary bodies provide a broad range of support that is generally specific to the sector they represent but primarily extends to lobbying and influencing policy on behalf of their members. However, an equally important function of the intermediary network and key mechanism by which they deliver support - an assertion endorsed by recipients of support - is appropriate signposting to an array of support providers across the voluntary and private sectors.

4.4.1 Support Provided

Their primary role in terms of support provision, i.e. lobbying, relies on intermediaries remaining abreast of, responding to and communicating the implications of policy changes to their networks. This suggests a degree of pro-activity in identifying the support needs of their membership and the sector more widely. Acquiring this intelligence is further enhanced through their delivery of annual reviews and network surveys, both of which enable support needs to be identified, and through support requests made by recipient organisations themselves.

4.4.2 Challenges for Intermediaries

The issues raised in terms of the limitations of the support service were broadly reflective of those received from both support providers and recipients across the wider voluntary sector. Intermediaries suggest that their ability to respond to particular support requests is often constrained by remit, funding and expertise (either in-house or signposting to external) limitations. This is often further exacerbated depending on the size and geography of recipient organisations. For example, intermediaries cite that the level of service provided is driven by membership fees, which differs according to organisation size; small organisations are, therefore, often excluded. Similarly, support providers' proximity to urban centres often prevents rural organisations' accessing support.

Where intermediaries receive funding to deliver their service, this too impacts on the level of service they are able to provide as it is time bound. While a particular strength of the intermediaries is their knowledge of the support market and their ability to signpost to appropriate, quality providers, they also state that this relies on their capacity to research the market, a resource which is often only available ad-hoc.

Intermediaries found it difficult to quantify the impact of their support on the sector, a view supported by recipients. This suggests a training requirement for intermediaries in evaluating and measuring the impact of their support. This will provide them with valuable intelligence to plan effective and relevant support.

Intermediaries perceive the support market to offer considerable choice to recipients and, while they are supportive of some rationalisation of the support infrastructure, they were not in favour of the creation of a generic, single source of support provision as this would not adequately respond to the myriad needs of the diverse sector. Intermediary bodies consider that their own support role should be retained for its expertise and understanding of their own particular sector and voluntary sector more widely.

4.5 Funders

As we have noted earlier, the voluntary sector is both broad and its needs vary over time. This, in turn means that relationships with funders have taken in a broad range of agencies and have developed over time. Funders have recognised that this can lead to voluntary organisations finding it difficult to access integrated funding and that, in particular, the move towards funding projects has made it more difficult to find resources to cover core organisational costs.

The recent establishment of a Funders Forum in Scotland, convened by the BIG Lottery but with the active participation of public agencies and major grant making trusts, is seen as an important step forward in looking holistically at the voluntary sector and finding 'intelligent' ways to combine funding to deliver comprehensive results. The Forum recognises the need for both a strategic alignment around results and operational alignment around processes and procedures, in particular, where application processes, monitoring and auditing seem to involve unnecessary duplication.

At the strategic level, the SFR is seen as a helpful way of identifying what funders wish to achieve in relation to the voluntary sector, with a focus on fostering sustainability, continuity and integration. However, at a more practical level, in terms of indicating how this can be achieved, funders recognise that there is still some distance to travel. Practical examples of where more work with funders is needed include issues around making procurement from the public sector more accessible to voluntary organisations, full cost recovery and how this can be presented in a fair way and the broader question of cultural change in both funders and suppliers. Though there is improved information sharing and awareness-raising in these areas it is still fair to say that at the local level change has been patchy. A major factor in this is the existence (or otherwise) of a champion within the public sector who wishes to have a dialogue/negotiation with the voluntary sector, and linking this to targets. In Sheffield, for example, the Council is committed to spending 10% of its contract funds through social enterprise and this (though not identical to the voluntary sector) sends a clear message about strategic intent. Lack of local progress is, in turn, often linked to local perceptions of the effectiveness of local intermediaries ( e.g. the CVS network).

Funders, whether relating to the voluntary sector at a geographical or thematic level, were generally confident of their ability to assess and describe its needs. This is because there are well used and tested techniques which enable voluntary organisations to outline their support needs to funders through fora, focus groups and monitoring meetings. This means that funders feel they understand most of the significant gaps and there is a widespread agreement in terms of the key issues identified elsewhere in this report - governance, short-term funding, IT, financial management and marketing.

Funders were also broadly in agreement about a number of key issues in relation to how the sector might develop. They recognised that the lack of funding for core organisational tasks could result in the failure to invest in important longer-term activities such as staff training and development, not because of ignorance on behalf of the organisation, but because of financial pressures elsewhere, notably in direct service provision.

Funders were concerned at the lack of financial expertise in Boards and management committees, not just in smaller organisations, and the issue of awareness of financial responsibility. There was a broad concern that often financial management was one of a wide range of responsibilities in the job description of a project manager and that this was often an area where the person lacked both professional expertise and access to coaching or mentoring from outside. In particular there was concern that significant growth in terms of obtaining funds was not accompanied by an appropriate upgrading of financial systems and expertise.

It was quite natural that funders should be especially interested in the issue of income generation. They commented on the (understandable) fact that voluntary organisations were reactive in this area and pointed to the fact that the desire of grant makers to fund 'innovation' had led to many voluntary organisations losing sight of their core mission in order to chase available funds. One area of concern here was that the reduction in EU funds might lead to many voluntary organisations swamping both public agencies and charitable trusts with applications in order to keep services going. There was a widespread feeling that the Scottish Executive needs to take a lead in working with other funders to resolve this problem between now and the start of 2007.

Funders were quite clear that there is more demand for funding and support than they can provide but that by taking a more collective an collaborative approach it is possible to make much more effective use of the funding and related support that is available.

« Previous | Contents | Next »