Embracing the challenges this Remember a Charity Week

During this year’s Remember a Charity Week, Simon Massey, Head of Development & Engagement at Children in Scotland, reflects on the challenges facing many charities and what some of his plans are over the coming months.

Sustainability, budgets, income generation, funding gaps… All things children sector organisations constantly talk about. Things are not getting easier and, after years of austerity, the impact of Covid and the cost-of-living crisis, they feel like they are only getting harder. We know this ourselves, and we hear it from our Members, partners and wider network.

While we have been very lucky to receive extra government funding to expand some of our direct additional support needs services, our work to secure funding or generate income in other areas is becoming increasingly difficult in a very challenging environment.

Many funders are reviewing the way they offer money – this will work for some but put in new barriers for others. More charities are chasing the same grants and funding pots and, ultimately, there just isn’t enough money available. And so many charities, including ours, have seen reductions in capacity and staff taking on additional responsibilities to cover gaps.

With all this mind, we have made the decision to try and invest in our income generation capacity. We have recently re-jigged a vacancy with some other roles which meant we were able to recruit a new Senior Income Generation Officer, Debbie Hunter, who joined us in August. We have also been exploring social investment options and hope to hear soon that we have secured some funding to allow us to recruit to an Income Generation Manager post.

Following a bit of a restructure, this new team (of two!) will sit in my department and coordinate and support income generation activity across the organisation. When it’s broken down, there is a lot going on besides finding and applying for grants and other funds.

We have our Membership service. Pre-Covid this created a small level of surplus but a drop in income due to organisations having to cut what they spend, the need to keep fees as low as possible and our desire to support the sector via a free offer for smaller organisation, means the income just about covers the costs to deliver it.

Our Learning Programme has really been hit over the past few years with a combination of organisations having less money to spend, but also a change in what delegates want post-Covid. In response to this, we’ve streamlined our Open Learning Programme with a focus on our Members’ learning opportunities and the commissioned training offer – something many organisations are finding the best way to meet their training needs. While our partnership with Open University in Scotland provides a gateway to lots of free learning opportunities for the sector.

Despite the challenges in the world of events, our Annual Conference this year was real success. In part because we had such an amazing uptake on Exhibiting opportunities and Sponsors or Partners supporting it. This means we can keep our ticket prices as low as possible to ensure as many delegates can afford to come, while Exhibitors and Sponsors get to raise awareness of their organisations and share the work they do with a super engaged audience.

Then another way we generate some income is through our advertising offer – in our digital News Update or Insight / Children in Scotland Magazine, our bi-annual Member publication. This isn’t a massive income stream, but it provides a great service to people wanting to advertise jobs or promote their services and, from a financial point of view, every little helps!

I am always impressed by the range of things we do at Children in Scotland, but I am also very conscious that the above list of activities and offers is often made to a sector that is struggling and has limited money. This makes it a very hard ‘sell’ and organisations have to be very clear about where they are spending their money. That’s why we always strive to offer the absolute best quality service – whether that’s an event, advertising or joining us in Membership – while also making sure everything we offer aligns with our values and helps us achieve our vision that every child has an equal chance to flourish.

An area we have dipped our toe into over the last couple of years has been fundraising and donations, with some success. Our CEO did her 30 Hills challenge in 2023 and last year we did the Kiltwalk – both showing us that we can bring in some funds in this way, we just need to have the time to coordinate it and get people on board. We’ve also been a member of Remember a Charity for just over two years and have found their information and resources really helpful.

And of course, the money raised through all of these small initiatives helps fund projects, advocacy work, and services that ensure children’s voices are heard, their rights are protected, and their wellbeing is promoted. Our supporters directly contribute to creating positive change in policy and practice, helping us make a lasting difference in children’s lives.

Simon Massey is Children in Scotland’s Head of Development & Engagement