A to Z of funding (S)
S
- Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO)
- Scottish Government
- Scottish Government Voluntary Issues Unit
- Service level agreement, SLA
- Service planning
- Set-up costs
- Signatory
- Single Regeneration Budget (SRB)
- Small Charities Coalition
- Social economy
- Social enterprise
- Social entrepreneur
- Social exclusion
- Social responsibility
- Sponsorship
- Sport England
- Staff development and management
- Stakeholder
- Stakeholder pensions
- Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA)
- Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP)
- Statutory, statute
- Strategy, strategic planning
- Surplus
- Sustainable
- SWOT
Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO)
Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations. SCVO is the main generalist umbrella body for voluntary organisations in Scotland. It has offices in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Ayr, Dundee, Elgin, Perth, Wick and Inverness.
In Edinburgh
The Mansfield
Traquair Centre
15 Mansfield Place
Edinburgh EH3 6BB
Tel: 0131 556 3882
Fax: 0131 556 0279
Textphone: 0131 557 6483
email: enquiries@scvo.org.uk
In Glasgow
3rd Floor, Centrum Building
38 Queen Street
Glasgow G1 3DX
Tel: 0141 221 0030
Fax: 0141 248 8066
In Inverness
Fairways House
Fairways Business Park
Castle Heather
Inverness
IV2 6AA
Tel: 01463 258 800
Fax: 01463 716 003
Information helpline: 0800 169 0022
Website: www.scvo.org.uk
SCVO have developed a comprehensive web portal at www.workwithus.org which they describe as "a 'one-stop' gateway to charitable life". It has lots of useful links and information for Scottish voluntary groups.
Scottish Government
The Scottish Government was known as the Scottish Executive when it was established in 1999 following the first elections to the Scottish Parliament. The current administration was formed after elections in May 2007 and is currently governed by the Scottish National Party. The Executive is led by a First Minister who is nominated by the Parliament and in turn appoints the other Scottish Ministers who make up the Cabinet.
Website: Scottish Government
Scottish Government Voluntary Issues Unit
The Voluntary Issues Unit (VIU) is based in the Scottish Government Development Department, within the Social Justice Group. The Voluntary Issues Unit is the lead division for taking forward the partnership between Scottish government and the voluntary sector.
Voluntary Issues Unit
Scottish Government Development Department
3-H Victoria Quay
Edinburgh, EH6 6QQ
Telephone: 0131 244 3649
fax: 0131 244 1824
Website: Scottish Government Volutary Issues Unit
Service level agreement (SLA)
SLAs are used by local authorities to fund particular services provided by many voluntary organisations. They are more like a contract than a grant; more often than not they are contracts.
Service planning
Local authority jargon. Key questions are:
- What is the need?
- What will the need be?
- What services are in place now?
- Where are the gaps and the overlaps?
Signatory, signatories
The person, or people, who sign a document or cheque.
Single Regeneration Budget (SRB)
The Single Regeneration Budget (SRB) was a major source of regeneration funding between 1995-2001. However, since April 2002 the SRB has been merged with a number of other regeneration funding streams into 'Single Pots' controlled by the Regional Development Agencies. Each RDA has almost total control over these funds, which are drawn down from central government.
Small Charities Coalition
The Small Charities Coalition exists to help small charities access the skills, experience and resources they need to achieve their aims. The Coalition are like a voluntary sector matchmaking service, matching small charities with other organisations that have the skills, experience, and in some cases resources, that the small charity lacks. These skills and experience may come from a fellow small charity - known as a friend to the Coalition - or from a supporter, for example a larger charity or a business. Becoming a friend of the Coalition is FREE based on the premise that friends donate 24 hours of their time over a year to help their fellow small charities.
Small Charities Coalition
24 Stephenson Way
London
NW1 2DP
Social economy
The French term l'économie sociale is widely used in Europe and refers to co-operatives, mutual organisations and 'associations' (which are like our voluntary organisations). In the UK the term generally means organisations that have social objectives instead of, or as well as, commercial ones. Co-ops, credit unions, community businesses, self-help groups, professional associations and charities might all be considered part of the social economy.
Social enterprise
Social enterprises are businesses with primarily social objectives whose surpluses are principally reinvested in the business or in the community, rather than being driven by the need to maximise profit for shareholders and owners.
The Social Enterprise Coalition - the UK trade body that brings together all types of social enterprise to promote the sector and share knowledge - gives a clear definition: If you generate the bulk of your income from trading (over 50%, or at least 25% for start-ups) and use the majority of your profits to further social or environmental goals, then your business or charity could be classed as a social enterprise.
Well known social enterprises include Cafedirect, The Big Issue, The Co-operative Group, Welsh Water (Glas Cymru), and the Eden Project but there are many other social enterprises operating in a wide range of industries from farmers markets and recycling companies to transport providers and childcare.
The Government has introduced a new regulated legal structure, the Community Interest Company, for social enterprises. Some social enterprises will choose not to become CICs and remain as charitable companies or governed by constitution/trust deed and so will retain their charity status. A kitemark has now been developed for social enterprises.
For more information about Social Enterprise go to the Social Enterprise Coalition website. The government's Business Link website contains some guidelines and advice, see: Develop Your Social Enterprise Idea.
Social entrepreneur
Social entrepreneurs are people who are active in communities but not necessarily involved in traditional community groups or voluntary organisations. The term is sometimes used specifically for people who are the prime movers in establishing social enterprises, sometimes more widely to take in all sorts of community activists.
Social exclusion
A phrase first used by the EU bureaucracy and now commonly used in the UK, particularly by government. It is often used instead of the word 'poverty' in discussions about disadvantage. It refers to people who are 'excluded' from society and so do not play an active part in the life of the country. What causes people to be excluded is usually lack of money, jobs, opportunities and training, but other factors may also cause social exclusion.
Social responsibility
The idea that organisations and individuals have a responsibility to the society in which they operate and should contribute to it. Many companies do their grant-making through departments of social responsibility.
Corporate social responsibility is also a widely used term that describes a company's commitment to social needs.
Sponsorship
Sponsors give money to good causes in return for the right to have their name connected with that of the good cause. How much of a connection they get has to be negotiated and will depend on the nature of the cause, the nature of the sponsor, and the amount of money involved.
Sport England
Used to be called the English Sports Council.
One of the bodies distributing lottery money.
3rd Floor, Victoria House
Bloomsbury Square
London WC1B 4SE
Tel: 020 7273 1551
Fax: 020 7383 5740
Email: info@sportengland.org
Website: www.sportengland.org
Staff development and staff management
If you employ staff, funders may want evidence that your organisation follows good employment practices. They may want to know about terms and conditions of employment, about your equal opportunities policies and they may also want to know what procedures you have in place for supervising, appraising and reviewing staff. As usual, having something on paper gives them confidence that you have thought about it and have implemented a policy.
Stakeholder
People or organisations who have a stake in an organisation, or an interest in a service or issue.
Stakeholders in a voluntary organisation include management committee members, other volunteers, staff, users of the service, funders, customers, suppliers, neighbours in the community.
Stakeholder pensions
Stakeholder pensions are designed for people without access to employer sponsored pension arrangements. Most organisations that employ 5 people or more have to ensure that their employees have access to a stakeholder pension, though they don't necessarily have to contribute towards one.
If you are employing people and aren't sure if you need to provide access to one, the website of the Pensions Regulator has a 'decision tree' which helps you work it out at www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk.
Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA)
Statement of Financial Activities required by the Charity Commission if charities submit accruals accounts. It is used instead of a statement of Income and Expenditure. What is required is described in the SORP.
The main differences between the SOFA and conventional Income and Expenditure accounts are:
- the SOFA must include capital transactions as well as revenue transactions;
- the SOFA must include transfers between capital and revenue accounts;
- instead of 'income', the SOFA should have a heading called 'incoming resources'; this section should show the value of donated goods or services as well as money income
- instead of 'expenditure', the SOFA should have a heading called 'resources expended'; this section should show the value of donated goods or services used up as well as money expenditure.
'Expenditure' is usually divided up into 'natural' categories like salaries, office costs, printing, whereas if charities have a gross income of more than £100,000 the SOFA divide up 'resources expended' into three categories: The previous 'functional' catergories have since been replaced by three main activity groups:
- charitable activity (achieving the charitys charitable objectives);
- fundraising activity (raising funds to expend on charitable objectives);
- governance activity (overseeing the work of the charity).
The value of volunteers' time should be included in the notes to the accounts, as should details about trustees' expenses.
Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP)
The SORP sets out standards for accounting by charities, including what information should be included in annual accounts. It applies to virtually all charitable organisations in England and Wales. The only exceptions are charities that have their own SORP (e.g. the SORP for Registered Social Landlords).
SORP is a comprehensive summary of how accounting standards, charity law, relevant company law and best practice impacts on the preparation of charity accounts and reports.
Further information can be found on the following page of the Charity Commission website: SORP, Charity Accounts and Reports: what you need to know
The underlying principles of the Charities SORP are unchanged, however there were some key changes made in 2005. For example, there are now more focused recommendations for the content of Trustees Annual Reports emphasising the reporting of activities and achievements against organisational objectives, and a separate appendix summarising the significant exemptions available to smaller charities
Charities preparing accruals accounts should use SORP 2005 when preparing their trustees annual reports and accounts.
Further information about SORP 2005 can be found on the Charity Commission website.
Statutory/statute
A statute is an Act of Parliament; hence statutory bodies are organisations set up by Act of parliament. They often have statutory responsibilities - things that they must do by law. For example, local authorities have a statutory responsibility to provide appropriate care for people with disabilities.
Strategy, strategic planning
Being strategic is about thinking ahead. Strategic planning concentrates on the steps an organisation needs to take to achieve its goals. It takes into account what else is going on, and the impact that other agencies or events might have. Organisations look at what might happen and what might go wrong, as well as what they expect to happen.
Surplus
If you receive more than you spend over a given period the difference is a surplus. It is the opposite of a deficit. If the organisation is a commercial one, the surplus is usually described as profit.
Sustainable
If something is sustainable it can be kept going. Funders may want evidence that a project is 'sustainable'. This means they want to know how the project will be paid for once their money comes to an end.
SWOT
A SWOT analysis considers Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats. Like a PESTLE analysis, it involves looking at the factors that have a bearing (or might do) on your organisation, and can provide a good starting point for planning.
SWOT is not the same as risk assessment but could feed into one (by identifying weaknesses and threats).
