The voluntary sector is vital to Scotland’s economy and society, and we need to define our role to help achieve its ambitions
Anna Fowlie reflects on six months within the third sector, and how listening to everyone she’s been meeting is shaping the future of the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations.
It’s now six months since I arrived as chief executive of the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO). It’s been a whirlwind of getting to know people inside and outside the organisation, and reconnecting with others wearing a new hat. During that time, we’ve launched our new TFN magazine and it feels timely to offer some reflection.
SCVO has been around for 70 years. Over that time, we have changed to meet the changing needs of the sector and the changing policy context; like many voluntary sector organisations we’ve also started and stopped doing things to generate income or just because it seemed like a good idea at the time.
I have been working alongside our equally new convenor, Andrew Burns, to review what SCVO is for, what we do and how we do it. We’re doing that along with the board, our colleagues and our members. And indeed anyone else who has an interest. Our aim is to clarify SCVO’s purpose and make sure our activities contribute to that purpose.
As a national body with a leadership role, we also need to set an example in terms of integrity and values to earn the credibility we need to fulfil our purpose
As part of this, we are also reviewing our membership offer and how that interacts with our offer to the wider sector. I’m in the middle of a mini tour of Scotland, engaging with third sector interface and intermediary organisations and others to hear their views. This will all be reflected in a wider online consultation exercise in January 2019.
For now, we’re looking at our purpose being to support, promote and develop a confident voluntary sector in Scotland. I’ve also been speaking about reframing SCVO as an enabler, connector and champion for the sector. That is because we believe that the voluntary sector is vital to Scotland’s economy and society, and we need to define our role to help achieve its ambitions.
Naturally, I’ve been hearing lots of stories about how SCVO has done things in the past. I think it’s important to have a clear set of principles that guide how we work, and why we take on new bits of work. As a national body with a leadership role, we also need to set an example in terms of integrity and values to earn the credibility we need to fulfil our purpose. Like all voluntary sector organisations, we need to demonstrate the impact of what we do – what positive difference are we making? I’m not a believer in hard targets because too often organisations hit the target but miss the point. I do believe in outcomes so we will be setting out the outcomes we are trying to achieve and how we will know when we have achieved them.
Our role as a membership organisation is one I’m keen to explore in more depth. Why would you choose to be a member of SCVO and what can you expect from us? This is a debate that has been rumbling on for a long time, and I suspect will always be around. But we need to tackle head on the challenge of being a membership organisation that’s truly representative when Scotland’s third sector is so incredibly diverse in terms of size, areas of interest, location and charitable status (or not). I know our current membership offer is not particularly attractive for medium to large organisations. I do, however, believe there is a need for a strong, authentic national voice for the third sector and that SCVO is best placed to offer that.
We are therefore proposing to reframe our membership offer so people and organisations will join because they support our belief statement and believe in our work, not just because they value the member benefits we offer. Many third sector organisations use this model, and I believe it is more authentic than simply delivering benefits. We also recognise that many members, particularly smaller organisations, value the benefits they receive and there are new areas where we could add value. We will therefore also put together a revised package which reflects what the sector needs, and that it is possible and appropriate for SCVO to deliver.
If you are already aware of SCVO, it could be for a variety of different reasons. You may be a member, you may contribute to our policy and influencing networks, you may subscribe to Third Force News or advertise with Goodmoves. You might participate in our wide range of digital developments. You may buy your payroll or IT service from us, participate in Community Jobs Scotland or share space in one of our five offices. You might receive funding from one of the grants we disburse or access information from Funding Scotland or our information service. Or you might just follow us on social media.
Whatever your relationship and engagement with SCVO, I’m keen to hear your views and I’m full of optimism for the future.
Anna Fowlie is chief executive of SCVO.
