Scotland Funders Forum Minutes of 24 th meeting, held 25 th October 2011 Big Lottery Fund, 4 th Floor, 1 Robertson Street, Glasgow Present: Mary Craig, Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland (Chair) (MC) Mary Allison, Sportscotland (MA) Alastair Davis, Social Investment Scotland (AD) Caroline Docherty, Creative Scotland (CD) Fraser Falconer, BBC Children in Need (FF) Alastair Goudie, Scottish Government (AG) Diane Gray, Heritage Lottery Fund (DG) Douglas Guest, Equality and Human Rights Commission (DG) Naomi Johnston, Firstport (NJ) Iain Johnstone, Faith in Community (Scotland) (IJ) Judith Lowes, Comic Relief (JL) Maureen McGinn, Intelligent Funders Forum (MM) Andrew Muirhead, Inspiring Scotland (AM) Susan Murray, SCVO (SM) Alison Smith, Scottish Local Authorities External Funding Officers (AS) Don Williamson, Shared Care Scotland (DW) Keith Wimbles, Voluntary Action Fund (KW) In Attendance: Pat Armstrong, ACOSVO, (PA) Evelyn Boyd, Big Lottery Fund (EB) Alison Campbell, Cattanach Charitable Trust (AC) Rachel Cowper, Inspiring Scotland (RC) Paul Dickson, Inspiring Scotland (PD) Thekla Garland, Scottish Government (TG) Fiona Grant, Big Lottery Fund (FG) Clare Hutchinson, People s Postcode Trust (CH) Alex Johnston, Big Lottery Fund (AJ) Patti Lozano-casal, Evaluation Support Scotland (PL) Steven Marwick, Evaluation Support Scotland (SM) Lesley MacDonald, The Robertson Trust (LM) Louise McDonald, Young Scot (LMc) David McNeill, Young Scot (DM) Jean Robertson, SLOG (JR) Carolyn Sawers, Big Lottery Fund (CSa) Chris Smith, Voluntary Action Fund (CS) Celia Tenant, Inspiring Scotland (CT) Connie Williamson, Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland (CW) 1. Welcome and approval of minutes MC welcomed members to the 24 th meeting of the Scotland Funders Forum. MC welcomed members of the Funders Forum Frontline who were attending the first part of the meeting to discuss the 2012 work plan. 1
The meeting also welcomed Andrew Muirhead, Alastair Davis and Don Williamson to their first Funders Forum meeting in their current roles. MC welcomed Thekla Garland from the Scottish Government who is shadowing Alex Johnston. MC stated that this meeting will focus on agreeing the 2012 work plan and how we can work together with each other and with the Funders Forum Frontline in delivering our work streams. The Forum noted the following amendment to the minutes: At page 4 SM stated that she expressed an interest in helping with the whole work stream not just the design of the questions. With this amendment the minutes were approved as an accurate record of the meeting. All the actions from the last meeting have been completed or are on the agenda for this meeting. Apologies were received from: Nick Addington, Scottish Community Foundation David Anderson, SOLACE Jessie Bruce, Parish Development Fund (CoS) Clara Govier, People s Postcode Lottery Lynn Henry, STV Appeal Jackie Killeen, Big Lottery Fund Ann Lee, NHS Health Scotland Kevin MacDonald, HIE Dougie Peddie, Youthlink Scotland Jo Rideal, Esme Fairburn Foundation 2. Election of Convenor MC stated that as she had been Convenor of the Scotland Funders Forum for 1 year and the terms of reference state the Convenor of the Forum is elected on an annual basis by members present. Nominations had been requested in advance of this meeting. AJ lead the discussion on the election of the Convenor. CSa nominated MC to continue as Convenor this was seconded by JL. MC was re-elected as Convenor by a unanimous vote of members present. 3. 2012 work plan The Forum noted that at the July 2011 meeting members discussed the 2012 work plan. They considered a number of options but agreed to explore work streams around the Gathering and sharing intelligence and targeting. This has been developed into a draft work plan framework for next year and will include 4 work streams under the theme Funders Working Together. The framework has been submitted to members in advance of this meeting. One of the key learning points from the 2010/11 work plan is the limited capacity of members to take forward 2
work streams. We are proposing to work this year with the Frontline to support the Forum in delivering the 2012 work plan. MC thanked AJ for his work on this. AJ stated that the 2012 work plan will build on what was achieved last year. All the work streams will run throughout the year with progress reported at each meeting. At the October 2012 meeting we will aim to bring all work streams to a conclusion and make decisions on which work streams to continue and any new work streams the Forum want to develop. JL agreed that it is helpful to run the work streams concurrently and this will keep things ticking over. FF stated that work stream 1 fits in with the work of the Scottish Grant Making Trusts Group from a risk management perspective and possible social networking and this could link to the work of the Frontline. KW stated that there is unfinished work with the Capacity Building work stream and it will be interesting to take this forward and share resources. There is an opportunity to open this up to grant programmes round the Forum. As part of this work stream we can agree a group of funders to pilot this and share and then open up to other people. AJ stated that the Frontline will take forward work streams 1 & 2 and EB will provide updates to the Forum. Work streams 3 and 4 will be taken forward by the Forum. BIG will lead on work stream 3. Initial volunteers at this stage for work stream 3 were Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland and Heritage Lottery Fund and for work stream 4 Sportscotland, Creative Scotland and Inspiring Scotland. Action AJ to e-mail members the work plan and ask for further volunteers for work streams 3 and 4. The Forum noted the proposed dates for Funders Forum in 2012 and members noted that BIG will host all the meetings. DG suggested that the meeting scheduled for 24 th July should be moved to August as not many people had attended the July meeting this year. Action AJ to look at an alternative date for the July meeting taking in account school holidays and e-mail members. EB stated that last year a part of the work plan was for Frontline and the Forum to hold a joint event to highlight our work and raise the profile. EB advised that we can participate in the Gathering, which is being held on the 29 th February and 1 st March. This gives the Forum and the Frontline an opportunity to join in something that is already happening. She confirmed that we will have suite (200 max capacity) for workshops/presentations for one day and a stand for both days of the event. There will be flexibility in terms of what we can deliver in the workshop space. For example, we could have a range of presentations and a Q & A session and also a debate. The costs of this will be covered by BIG and will include marketing of our workshops and stand before and at the event itself. The Forum agreed that this was a good proposal and we should go ahead. 3
EB asked for volunteers to be involved in putting this together. The small planning group will be involved in planning what we will deliver, who is involved (presenting and staffing the stand) and how we market the event to our stakeholders. Action, EB to e-mail members of the Forum and the Frontline to ask for volunteers to plan the Gathering event. 4. Beneath the Radar MC told members that the Forum saw the draft publication of Beneath the Radar at the May 2011 meeting. The publication has now been finalised and a copy sent to all members and we have a number of printed copies for our dissemination work. IJ highlighted that the report celebrates the success of small groups. It had been hoped to have a launch event with councillors and Chief Executives of Councils but this has not proved possible. The Forum need to agree who we should disseminate the report to and how to raise awareness. AS told members she had contacted all SLOG network councils but there are challenges in getting this message out as councils are in some cases making difficult decisions to close funding schemes. This is an opportunity to do something to raise the profile of the Forum and this piece of work. It could be piloted on a regional basis. She suggested that there was an opportunity to have a small launch at the SLOG meeting in December in Lanarkshire. EB stated that in general councillors are supportive of small organisations. DG suggested a digital dissemination of the report this could ensure wide coverage as long as it had a good cover note. IJ confirmed that the main dissemination will be the PDF version of the report. AJ suggested following the precedent of Harmonising Reporting. It was successfully circulated digitally and reached a wide audience. IJ stated that there is also a need for a formal launch to promote the publication. CD suggested a breakout event at the upcoming COSLA conference. MM stated that another audience for the report is grant making trusts. It is important to reinforce the value of grants to grant makers of all size. NJ suggested that it would be good for groups who have received small grants to see the report too. DG suggested circulating pages 12 and 13 of the report as a separate document with funder contact details. IJ suggested a small launch with MC and Morag Pavich who compiled the case studies for the report, at a project that has received a small grant. Action, AJ to draft a dissemination plan and circulate to members. 5. Harmonising Reporting MC welcomed Patti Lozano-casal and Steven Marwick from Evaluation Support Scotland to the meeting. The implementation of Harmonising Reporting has been progressing well. Patti has taken over from Dee Fraser and will be leading on the implementation. 4
PL reported that ESS has been contacting funders and funded organisations to follow up on their experience with harmonising reporting, what has worked well and what gaps there are to address in the future. They have indentified two pairs of funder/funded organisations so far to showcase good practice. Two more pairs are currently being arranged. They will present the findings to the Forum at the January 2012 meeting. The pairs have been identified from the baseline questionnaire. SM reported that at this stage they are happy that everything is on track and they are identifying further work. There have been issues with not everybody knowing about Harmonising Reporting. Some funder specific issues have been raised and he asked for permission to contact these people individually about the issues. MC responded that people would like to know if there are issues. AJ stated that BIG is not at the reporting stage yet with lots of it grants. BIG has just made a grant that is being co-funded by another funder. We will explore how to work together with the other funder in reporting of the grant. MC thanked SM & PL and is looks forward to the updates on progress. 6. Intelligent Funders Forum (IFF) MC informed members that MM attends the Intelligent Funders Forum (IFF) on behalf of the Forum. The last meeting was held on 23 rd May 2011 and the next one scheduled for 16 th November. MM gave an update on the IFF. The IFF meets twice a year. It is made up of representatives from UK grant making trusts but is doesn t have representation from either central or local government. There is no frontline equalivent. At the last meeting they had discussed social investment and the social and economic environments that funders are facing today. MM to work with AJ to report what the Forum does to take to update the IFF. MC thanked MM for her involvement in IFF. 7. Scotland s Children s Sector Forum MC reported that the Funders Forum was invited to a meeting of the Scotland s Children s Sector Forum on the 10 th October 2011. MC attended this meeting with AJ and FF on behalf of the Forum. The meeting explored how the two fora can work together in the future which would also raise awareness of the Scotland Funders Forum and its work. The meeting was well attended and there were lots of good questions that gave an interesting external perception of the Funders Forum. Some thought should be given to being more proactive about raising the awareness of the Funders Forum and the work we do. AJ reported that we need to think about how as a Forum we engage with the outside world. KW stated that the profile continues to be raised and suggested that members should have a link on their websites to the Funders Forum website. 5
Action, AJ to add external profile of the Forum as a standing agenda item. 8. ACOSVO (The Association of Chief Officers of Scottish Voluntary Organisations) MC welcomed Pat Armstrong from ACOSVO to the meeting. PA gave a presentation on how the capacity of funded organisations can be built and supported through peer support and good practice sharing in areas of leadership and governance. CSa asked about the tight funding environment and if members of ACOSVO felt they needed and display more hardnosed business skills. PA replied that the third sector is not the same as the private sector and is not as hardnosed. But recognised the need for better run service for their clients. MM asked about the implementation of good governance. PA replied that from studies they had carried out organisations need a mixture of support and training opportunities to implement good governance. There isn t one answer it has to be specific to the organisation. She highlighted the importance of the Chair/Chief Executive working relationship. MC thanked PA for her presentation. 9. Voluntary Action Fund Community Chest Evaluation CS gave a presentation on the evaluation of Voluntary Action Fund s small grant programme, Community Chest. The programme gives out grants of up to 1,000 and training targeted at Scotland s smallest community based organisations. The overall aim of the Community Chest grant programme was to increase the capacity of small community led organisations to achieve their aims ain to increase their impact in helping develop stronger, safer, fairer, healthier and smarter communities across Scotland. MC thanked CS for the evaluation, which had been circulated to members. It highlighted that the fact small grants have a big impact locally and the importance that small grants have. The cold spots highlighted in the presentation are the same for many funders. NJ raised the issue of the ratio of grant award against the cost of delivery. CS stated that as the programme is running at the moment this is under discussion. KW noted that the business model to deliver a small grants scheme is significant with delivery costs at over 20%. The balance isn t measuring the level of the grant but the impact level of grants geographically penetrating into communities. 10. Inspiring Scotland Go Play Outcome & Evaluation Framework MC welcomed Rachel Cowper, Celia Tennant & Paul Dickson to the meeting. RW and PD gave a presentation on Inspiring Scotland s Go Play programme and the evaluation framework. The programme has invested 4M in the capacity of the play sector in Scotland, offering more chances for children aged 5 to 13 years to participate in free play. An outcome of 6
the evaluation framework, which the sector can use to demonstrate the impact of free play has been developed and is currently being disseminated. DG raised the issue that in the cirrculum for excellence play can been used as a negative incentive. For example, pupils can be denied time to play if they have not completed their work. MC thanked RW and PD for their presentation. 11. Young Scot MC welcomed Louise McDonald and David MacNeill from Young Scot to the meeting. LM gave a presentation on the key priority work areas for Young Scot and their latest major development the Young Scot National Rewards Platform. This platform for young people will provide a new tool for youth engagement for all those supporting young people in the voluntary and statutory sector. LM highlighted the importance of cross-sectoral collaboration around the work with young people. The opportunities to encourage participation of funded organisations as point s providers and/or reward providers. Also developing thematic strands for rewards such as care leavers, young offenders and LAAYP. MC noted that this is a good opportunity to get behind what Young Scot are doing and seeing how Forum members can involve young people in the everyday things that they do. DG asked how young people receive their reward points from organisations. LM responded that they had kept the system simple. Organisations can buy a swipe card machine so that the young people can download the points for individual activities once they have finished or organisations can download vouchers to give to the young people. She highlighted that organisations set the tariff for activities and it is about the effort that young people put in. MC thanked LM for her presentation. Action, AJ to e-mail the Young Scot presentation to members with the minutes of the meeting. 12. AOB The meeting noted that AOB will be circulated by e-mail. Action, AJ to circulate AOB by e-mail to members MM highlighted a report she had found useful from the Cass business school called The Art of Refusal: Promising Practice for Grant Makers and Grant seekers. Action, AJ to find a link to the electronic copy of the report and circulate to members. 7
Table of Actions Action Who Page e-mail members the work plan and ask for further volunteers for AJ 3 the work streams 3 and 4. Look at an alternative date for the July meeting taking in account AJ 3 school holidays and e-mail members. e-mail members of the Forum and the Frontline to ask for EB 4 volunteers for the Gathering event Draft a dissemination plan for Beneath the Radar and circulate to AJ 4 members Add external profile of the forum as a standing agenda item AJ 5 E-mail the Young Scot presentation to members AJ 7 Circulated AOB by e-mail to members AJ 7 Find a link to the electronic copy of the Cass Business School report and circulate to members AJ 7 8