How do you know your organisation's governance is good?
15th October 2019
Chair: Jane Salmonson, CEO, Scotland's International Development Alliance
Speaker: Tracey Bird, Information Officer (Public Affairs), SCVO
Panellist: Philippa Ramsden, Programme Manager (Safeguarding & Mentoring) Scotland's International Development Alliance
Topic: Charity good governance
More about good governance:
Governance is about leadership and the work of the trustees to ensure an organisation is effectively and properly run. But, how do you know if the governance of your organisation is good?
We know that governing a charity operating internationally from Scotland can be both rewarding and challenging. Risks need to be mapped for the Scottish context as well as for in-country projects and programmes. The sector is under increasing scrutiny to be transparent about its use of funds and driven to continually improve its approach to safeguarding. Moreover, there is still progress to be made around diversity, inclusion and pay across the sector.
SCVO have recently created a Good Governance check-up to help charities in Scotland assess five components of good governance. It is designed to work alongside the Scottish Governance Code for the Third Sector.
During this short lunch-time webinar, we heard from SCVO about how you can use their new check-up to practically improve the purpose, leadership, board behaviour, control and effectiveness of your organisation.
Join Scotland's International Development Alliance and be part of Scotland's international development community.
Previous Events & Training
Alliance Annual Conference 2018 “Tomorrow’s World”
On 25th September, the third anniversary of the adoption of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the Alliance welcomed members, stakeholders and partners from across the country to its Annual Conference 2018.
The Alliance AGM 2018
This event brought together Alliance members from across Scotland to join our annual general meeting on 5th of December 2018, to see the launch of our Safeguarding Package and to listen to our keynote speakers; Minister Ben Macpherson and Rae McGrath.
Developing a Safeguarding Policy Workshop 2018
The Developing a Safeguarding Policy Workshop was held on the 26th October 2018 for organisations applying to the Scottish Government International Development Small Grants Programme.
Small Charities Challenge Fund Webinar 2019
Guest speakers from Mannion Daniels and DFID shared information and advice on making a successful application to the UK Aid Direct Small Charities Challenge Fund.
Safeguarding Question Time 2019
The Alliance hosted ‘Safeguarding Question Time’ on Thursday the 21st of February 2019 at The SCVO Gathering in Glasgow.
Digital Fundraising Webinar with the Big Give 2019
The webinar gives a short overview of the digital fundraising landscape, presents the Christmas Challenge as a case study and describes how match funding can work for smaller organisations who don’t have established fundraising or finance teams.
Small Charities Challenge Fund Info Day 2018
Guest speakers from Mannion Daniels and DFID shared information and advice on making a successful application to the UK Aid Direct Small Charities Challenge Fund
Lasting Difference Web Series 2018
The Lasting Difference toolkit is a guide for third sector organisations to strengthen sustainability and impact. The series covered topics including: sustainability, involvement and income generation.
Round-table with Minister for Europe, Migration & International Development 1st November 2018
Notes from round-table meeting with the Scottish Government Minister for Europe, Migration & International Development on 1st of November 2018 in Edinburgh.
Chris Law MP round-table 12th October 2018
These meeting notes summarise the first round-table meeting with Chris Law MP, the Westminster SNP international Development Spokesperson.
Meeting with Ruth Fuller, WWF and Chair of Bond’s SDGs working group 2018
On the 7th of August Ruth Fuller, WWF and Chair of Bond’s SDGs working group, came to Hayweight House and gave an update on the Voluntary National Review (VNR). Here are the notes from that meeting.
Charity Finance Web Series 2018
The three part web series developed by Pamela Redpath covers getting to grips with the basic responsibilities of charity finance, budget setting and annual reporting.
GDPR Training 2018
Presentations and FAQs about GDPR from the Information Commissioners' Office and Bilal Ghafoor an independent consultant.
Fundraising and Communications Training 2018
Presentations from Prospect Research about fundraising and Huw Owens about communications from training held in Edinburgh in 2018.
Project Planning & Monitoring Training 2017
Project planning and monitoring workshop delivered by Judith Lowes in Aberdeen in 2017.
Value for Money Webinar 2017
The webinar presented by Nicholas Warren in 2017 explores the concept of value for money and what this means for organisations.
Annual Conference 2017
Our Annual Conference in 2017 was held in Glasgow on the theme of Scotland for a Fairer World.
DFID Small Charities Challenge Fund Information Session 2017
Presentations by DFID and Mannion Daniels from an information session held in Edinburgh in August 2017.
Theory of Change Webinar 2017
The webinar 'A Quick Guide to Theory of Change' was presented by Ian Gray in April 2017
Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning for Beginners Webinar 2017
New to MEL? Want to refresh your knowledge? This webinar goes back to the beginning and looks at the foundation of MEL.
An introduction to Logframes Webinar 2017
What is a logframe and how do I create one? This webinar looks at what logframes are, different models and how you can create your own.
Lasting Difference Web Series 2018-19
The Lasting Difference toolkit is a guide for third sector organisations to strengthen sustainability and impact. This web series facilitated by Wren & Greyhound's Graeme Reekie and Laura Lebec covered: Improving participation & partnership; Income Generation; Innovation & Improvement; and Monitoring & Evaluation.
Bring your annual reports to life 2019
Rosie McIntosh from Third Sector Labs delivered training on bringing your organisation's annual report to life in Stirling on 13 March 2019. The session identified innovative new strategies to deliver reports via and showcased best practice from across the sector.
Using video to tell your story 2019
Dan Slee from Comms2.0 and Steven Davies from Filmcafe Ltd. delivered training on using video to tell your story in Edinburgh in both August 2018 and January 2019.
Dundee Training Day 2018: Fundraising & Safeguarding
The Dundee Training Day explored innovative fundraising approaches, as well as giving an introduction to safeguarding in the afternoon. It included peer learning session with EMMS International and Scottish Love in Action about fundraising, and Jude Turbyne from OSCR appeared via videolink to discuss notifiable events.
Small Charities Dialogue Day
The first ever Small Charities Dialogue Day was held on the 30 May 2019 in Edinburgh. It provided an opportunity share good news stories and hear about the experiences of three small charities, based in Scotland and working internationally. It was also an opportunity to input members' views into an open and facilitated dialogue with key donors, including: the Scottish Government, Department for International Development and the People's Postcode Lottery.
Theory of Change Training 2015
The Theory of Change training held in 2015 by Ian Gray introduces the tool, describes it strengths and weaknesses and gives concrete examples of how to use one across the programme cycle.
Logframe Training 2015
The logframe training session conducted by Jill Gentle in 2015, in Glasgow, introduces what a logframe is used for, giving an overview of donor requirements and outlines the process of designing a logframe.
Webinar 2016: Innovation for Development and Humanitarian Organisations
In this webinar, strategy and innovation specialist Ian Gray de-mystifies innovation from an international development perspective. He explains how innovation is not a quality that refers only to the private sector, but is something which is invited by donors.
Safeguarding Information Session
An information session on safeguarding tailored for larger organisations was held on Thursday 24 May, facilitated by Sally Proudlove, Head of Safeguarding with UNCEF UK.
Safeguarding, Whistleblowing and Reporting Information Session 2018
The Alliance held a special event on safeguarding, whilstleblowing and reporting mechanism in March 2018. Representatives from OSCR, the Whilstleblowing International Network, SCIAF and BBC Children in Need gave presentations.
Inclusive and gender-sensitive programming
The workshop designed for Scottish Government international development grant holders explored what inclusive and gender-sensitive programming means in practice. The workshop was led by Sadie Watson and held in Edinburgh on 4 September.
Proposal Development Series
This brand-new proposal development series covered the essential stages of writing a fundable project proposal. The five-part series of half-day workshops addressed the component parts and underlying processes that need to be in place to help you write an evidenced and persuasive project proposal. Sessions covered: project design, budgets, monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL), due diligence and writing an application itself.
Alliance Conference 2019: Putting Gender Front and Centre
On 25 September 2019 we gathered with over 200 representatives from across Scotland’s vibrant and diverse international development sector, with the promise of Putting Gender Front and Centre. On the fourth anniversary of the UN Sustainable development goals, we explored practical solutions to the question ‘how can we create sustainable, enabling environments for women and girls?
WEBINAR: What makes a successful application to the Scottish Government small grants?
On 2 October we held a webinar with the Corra Foundation to discuss what makes a good application to the Scottish Government international development small grants window. The deadline for the application is Friday the 8th of November, good luck!
WEBINAR: How do you know your organisation's governance is good?
Governance is about leadership and the work of the trustees to ensure an organisation is effectively and properly run. But, how do you know if the governance of your organisation is good? This webinar introduced SCVO's good governance check-up and the Alliance's safeguarding healthcheck.
DFID Roundtable – preparing for Brexit
Representatives from the UK Department for International Development (DFID) hosted a roundtable discussion event in Edinburgh about how Brexit might affect the international development sector and what organisations can do to be prepared.
Improving MEL for better project outcomes
The training workshop held on 30 October in Glasgow was designed for Scottish Government small grantees, covering what monitoring, evaluation and learning means for programming, why it is important and what it means practically for your project.
Photo Exhibition & Reception 2019
On 6 November, we held our first ever photo exhibition at Edinburgh's City Art Centre, showcasing the most powerful photos exhibited to our 2019 photo competition. There were photos from projects in 13 different countries ranging from Uganda, and Zambia, to India, Nepal and Peru.
Alliance AGM 2019
In December 2019, members of Scotland’s International Development Alliance were invited to join us for our Annual General Meeting (AGM) under the theme of ‘The Sustainable Development Goals: entering the decade of delivery’. It featured the launch of our SDG Report:Working towards the Global Goals, and a panel discussion on the question of whether 2020-2030 will be the decade of delivery for the 2030 Agenda.
Alliance AGM 2019
In December 2019, members of Scotland’s International Development Alliance were invited to join us for our Annual General Meeting (AGM) under the theme of ‘The Sustainable Development Goals: entering the decade of delivery’. It featured the launch of our SDG Report:Working towards the Global Goals, and a panel discussion on the question of whether 2020-2030 will be the decade of delivery for the 2030 Agenda.
Round table meeting with Scottish Human Rights Defenders Fellow Laura Miti
This round table event held on 9 December in Edinburgh was an opportunity to explore issues such as accountability and transparency in aid and service delivery in Zambia, as well as the impact of grassroots education and mobilisation on systemic change.
Online training with GlobalGiving about digital fundraising
This online training run by GlobalGiving on the 8 January 2020 helped participants build their skills and confidence to unlock the potential of crowdfunding and invigorate their fundraising strategy by making the most of digital communications. GlobalGiving covered the basics of crowdfunding, explored tactics for donor retention and presented social media success stories in a two-hour digital session.
Fundamentals of fundraising training
This full day workshop in Aberdeen with Judith Lowes on 21 January 2020 covered a number of topics relating to strategic fundraising.
Online course: an intro to institutional fundraising
This online training course designed for small civil society organisations helped attendees to think strategically about applying for institutional funds and how to factor sustainability it into your fundraising strategies. The course was run over a two-week period by Rachel Haynes in January 2020, and comprised an introductory exercise, a live webinar, post-webinar challenges and a discussion forum.
The ‘how’ of the SDGs: enhancing coherence across sectors
At the 2020 SCVO Gathering the Alliance hosted a learning lab about creating a common language around policy coherence and helping attendees to put joined-up thinking into practice. Speakers from the Scottish Government's National Performance Framework team and the Scottish Parliament's Information centre spoke at the event.
Project Management Training Perth
This training course in Perth on the 3rd March delivered by Northern Star Associates covered the basics of designing and managing a project. We shared examples of best practice, adaptive management and helped attendees leverage solutions to common project management problems.
Webinar: Top tips for developing and using a Theory of Change
Whether you are a small charity, large federated NGO, consultant, or international development researcher you will likely be asked to develop a Theory of Change for a development project or programme. This lunchtime webinar with Isabel Vogel helped attendees understand what creating and using a Theory of Change looks like in practice.
Telling my story: Analysing and Reporting on Outcomes
This workshop facilitated by Evaluation Support Scotland in Edinburgh helped participants get to grips with preparing an end of year donor report. It war primarily for Scottish Government international development small grants recipients.