Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations

The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO), established in 1943 as the Scottish Council of Social Service amid wartime needs, is Scotland's nationally recognised membership body dedicated to supporting, championing, and advancing charities, voluntary organisations, and social enterprises. Its core mission is to empower the voluntary sector to foster a flourishing, fair, and inclusive Scotland through advocacy, capacity building, collaboration, and systemic change. Guided by values of equity, transparency, good governance, inclusion, community empowerment, and continuous learning, SCVO acts as the sector's trusted backbone, providing infrastructure support, leadership development, policy influence, and services like payroll, cyber resilience training, digital transformation guidance, and funding advice rather than direct grants.

SCVO prioritises strengthening the voluntary sector itself, focusing on themes such as governance, sector campaigns, child poverty alleviation, essential services, health, education, employability, culture, and minority inclusion. It supports activities like capacity building for grassroots groups and larger organisations, convenes events, lobbies for multi-year flexible core funding, and partners on innovative pilots—such as Scottish Government Fairer Funding initiatives with groups like Scottish Refugee Council and Poverty Alliance—while guiding charities to suitable funders.

Eligible entities are UK-registered charities and social enterprises based exclusively in Scotland, across urban and rural areas, with no income or size restrictions. SCVO does not accept unsolicited applications or award direct grants; instead, it collaborates with pre-selected partners on sector-wide initiatives via membership portals and website resources. This distinctive non-grant-making model, combined with its representative governance and pivotal role in resilience and advocacy, sets SCVO apart as an essential umbrella for Scotland's voluntary ecosystem.