SCVO has set out the principles of Fair Funding they’ve developed with Scotland’s voluntary sector. This version of the principles includes asks of Scottish Government, and can be read in conjunction with asks for local government and other actors developed by the TSI Scotland Network based on the Fair Funding principles.
After years of underfunding and upheaval, the pandemic and cost-living crisis are the latest chapters in a longer story of instability and unpredictability in voluntary sector funding.
The cost-of-living crisis has, for many organisations, increased demand for the essential services and support the sector provides while organisations, like households, struggle with rising costs.
This increasingly unsustainable situation intensifies SCVO’s calls for a fair funding approach to voluntary sector funding, developed in collaboration with organisations across the sector. Fair funding – a long-term, flexible, sustainable, and accessible approach to funding – is central to a sustainable voluntary sector which can offer Fair Work, support volunteers, meet demand, and delivery quality outcomes.
In December 2022, the Deputy First Minister announced as part of the Scottish Budget that the Scottish Government would adopt fair funding principles in investing in the voluntary sector during the coming year. This paper focuses on the actions that the Scottish Government could take to ensure that funding arrangements with voluntary organisations are fair. These fair funding actions are also relevant to funders across the statutory and independent sectors.