Annual Review 2014/15

ACOSVOThorn House5 Rose StreetEdinburgh EH2 2PR

Charity No. SC030547 Company No. 211359

T: 0131 243 2755

E: office@acosvo.org.uk

W: www.acosvo.org.uk

Twitter: @acosvo

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/company/acosvo

Established in 2000, ACOSVO is a membership organisation for third sector leaders and senior staff in Scotland.

We have a growing membership of over 390 leaders and this membership ranges from those who lead smaller, community based organisations to those who head up some of the largest charities in Scotland.

ACOSVO exists to support, strengthen and inspire leaders. We do this by providing a wide range of topical events, development opportunities and relevant services.

Our vision is:Excellent third sector leadership in Scotland

Our mission is to:Shape the future of Scotland’s third sector by providing every leader with opportunities to develop, influence and excel

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Pat Armstrong Chief Executive

Ian McLaughlan Chair

Welcome to our Annual Review of 2014/15, which records a year of growth and development for ACOSVO! This review provides a glimpse of how we support excellent third sector leadership in Scotland and shape the future of Scotland’s third sector by providing every leader with opportunities to develop, influence and excel.

Over the last year, we ran 52 events for over 900 participants and have seen our membership increase by 23% from 320 to 393. We were also delighted to attain IIP gold status and were finalists in the Excellence in the Third Sector category. But membership is about much more than just an events programme. It’s an underpinning ethos of peer support, good practice sharing, leadership development, and most of all it’s about being part of a community of third sector leaders.

We continue to pride ourselves on being a member-led organisation and tailor everything we offer based on feedback from membership applications, at events and through surveys, while at the same time looking ahead to make sure we are best placed to meet future needs as they emerge. Along with many other projects our Leadership Exchange Programme has gone from strength to strength this year and we were delighted to have a full-time post added to the team to take this work forward – a growing team with eight core staff members.

As we move into our 15th year, we would like to thank all our funders, especially the Third Sector Unit at Scottish Government; our supporters; our Board of Directors; and most importantly our members who have worked with us throughout this period. You continue to inspire us to excellent third sector leadership in Scotland and a thriving sector that is well led and able to perform to its full potential for people and communities across Scotland.

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ACOSVO in 2014/15

• Continued to grow membership with a 23% increase

• Delivered 52 leadership development events

• Hosted 6 Scottish Leaders’ Dinners across Scotland

• Paired over 100 leaders through the Leadership Exchange Programme

• Gained IIP Gold accreditation

• Finalists in IIP’s ‘Excellence in the Third Sector’ national award

• Became a Living Wage accredited employer

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Event report2014/15Over 1000 third sector Chief Officers and senior staff members have attended ACOSVO events in the last year...

Thanks to @ACOSVO for such a great conference yesterday, one of the very best since I joined the charity sector.

- Conference feedback”

“

Very pleased we joined ACOSVO and really getting a lot from the events

- Regional Network feedback

”“

Of these there were:

6 Scottish Leaders Dinners; 4 Masterclasses; 12 Regional Networks; and

2 conferences

Along with many other training, discussion and networking events.

The content is enormously relevant.

- Masterclass feedback

”“

Speakers have included:

Would you recommend this conference to a colleague?

NoYes

Over 50 eventsacross Scotland

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Scottish Leaders DinnersOur popular Scottish Leaders Dinners have focused on the themes: ‘Better by Design’, ‘The Enabling State’, ‘The Third Sector and Public Services - The Way Ahead’, ‘Trends in Funding’, ‘My life in the Third Sector’, and ‘Ten Steps for Charities and the #Indy Ref’.

The dinners are kindly supported by RBS.

MasterclassesOur RBS supported masterclasses have continued to be popular.

The topics of this period have been: ‘BOOST your Teamwork’, ‘BOOST Engagement & Motivation in your Organisation’, ‘How to Create a Positive Organisation’, and ‘The Change Series: Innovation - Taking Meaningful Risks’.

Leadership ExchangeThis highly successful, free cross-sector programme is now open to leaders from middle, senior, and executive level and has been rolled out to all sectors in Scotland. Leadership Exchange sits as part of a wider suite of workstreams within Workforce Scotland. The programme has now matched over 150 participants.

Regional NetworksRegional Network events are an opportunity to informally meet your local network for discussions in a relaxed and confidential space, share experiences and build new networks across sub-sectors, discussing the main issues that Chief Officers are dealing with. Networks are: Highlands & Islands, North East, Forth Valley, Tayside, Edinburgh, Glasgow, South West and the Borders. Regional Networks are supported by The Robertson Trust.

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Membership

Our membership has continued to grow, with 73 new members in this period. ACOSVO membership continutes to be spread across Scotland with a wide variation of sectors represented.

Our members collectively manage over £1 billion, have over 20,000 members of staff and over 50,000 volunteers.

Over the last three years ACOSVO has offered 142 leadership development opportunities to a total of 1636 leaders in the sector.

We communicate with our members through Twitter, our private members LinkedIn Group and through regular e-news and email bulletins.

Total Members

Year

No

of M

embe

rs

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Looking ahead

With the challenges facing Scotland’s third sector arguably increasing, ACOSVO’s role in supporting, strengthening, connecting and inspiring leaders is more important than ever.

We aim to provide the events, developmental opportunities and services you, the membership, have asked for and require.

Our focus for the next year will be as follows:

• Funding, fundraising, change management and governance are your key challenges – these will be our key themes

• Strategic planning, networking, leadership and change management are your priorities for professional development - these will be the core of the 2016 Events Programme

• Regional Networks remain a key tool through which you share information and network at local level - we will continue to run monthly networks across Scotland

• To fit with your busy lives, we will give at least 2 months notification of events

• You agree that membership represents ‘value for money’ - we will maintain membership and event prices at 2013/14 levels

• To improve your membership experience, we have already introduced a new website and are designing an integrated membership and booking system

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• You remain enthused by our FREE Leadership Exchange and Mentoring programmes – opportunities for you to participate will be increased over the next period

• Although you continue to enjoy the FREE member benefits that accompany your membership, you do not feel that all benefits are relevant to your needs - we are in the process of reviewing and refreshing all member benefits

• Your glowing testimonials about the benefits of ACOSVO membership and recommendations to your colleagues are ensuring that membership totals continue to grow year on year

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What Our Members ThinkThe ACOSVO membership is vital and the staff team at ACOSVO enable me to make good use of the

services offered.

It has been such an important connection for our organisation for information, learning and networking as well as effective support

for me as a chief officer.

ACOSVO means learning in leadership, and also friendship & solidarity with leaders across

Scotland.

ACOSVO offers an excellent opportunity to network and connect

with peers in the sector.

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Board:

Ian McLaughlanChief ExecutiveYouth Scotland

Louise MacdonaldChief ExecutiveYoung Scot Enterprise

Meg WrightScotland DirectorEngineeringDevelopment Trust

John WilkesChief ExecutiveScottish Refugee Council

Steven MarwickDirectorEvaluation Support Scotland

Jane-Claire JudsonNational DirectorDiabetes UK Scotland

Ian FindlayChief OfficerPaths for All Partnership

Iain ForbesStrategic Development ManagerScottish Mentoring Network

Petra BiberbachChief Executive OfficerPlanning Aid Scotland

Sandy FarquharsonChief ExecutiveThe Marie Trust

Jayne StuartDirectorWEA Scotland

Pat Armstrong, Chief Executive

Caroline Christie, Director of Finance

Emily Martin, Leadership ExchangeDevelopment Officer

Kirsten Smith, Programme Officer

Andy Dey, Operations & Development Manager

Isla McCurrach, Finance & Office Manager

Danielle Rowley, Marketing & Communications Officer

Jody Rae, Projects Officer

Staff:

Chair TreasurerVice Chair

Financial Report

Income

Expenditure

£303,384

£252.653

Core funding from SG: £217,697, 72%

Grants & Project income: £32,289, 10%

Events & Conference: £23,831, 8%

Membership: £29,270, 10% Interest:

£297, 0%

Staff Costs (incl project delivery costs): £198,075, 78%

Governance Costs: £1,973, 1%

Admin & Support Costs: £24,948, 10%

Event Costs: £21,948, 9%%

Project Costs(excl staff costs): £5,709, 2%

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Thanks to our Strategic Partners:

Thanks to our Funders:

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ACOSVOThorn House5 Rose StreetEdinburgh EH2 2PR

Charity No. SC030547 Company No. 211359

T: 0131 243 2755

E: office@acosvo.org.uk

W: www.acosvo.org.uk

Twitter: @acosvo

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/company/acosvo