From an organisational point of view, Venture Scotland appears to be in a great position. We have:
- a staff team of 17 who are trained and experienced in delivering our course.
- an enthusiastic team of dedicated volunteers who are committed to helping us make a difference and give up their time and talents freely.
- a diverse and talented board who really care about our organisation.
- a massive network of referrers, talking about us and encouraging young people to sign up to our programme.
However, 2019 is going to be an extremely challenging year as well. Our Big Lottery funding comes to an end in June this year and we have been heavily reliant on this one funding stream for the last 6 years representing 40% of our budget. We are also funded through lots of small trust funds and competition for these small pots of money (often one-year funding) is increasing as more charities struggle to raise sufficient funds. Funding also comes through local authority money which is being squeezed year-on-year.
The good news is we have a plan! We need to diversify our income streams so if one stream dries up, it doesn’t represent a massive percentage of our budget. We are looking to gain funding from The Scottish Government, who are now recognising the work we do by meeting their targets to support disadvantaged young people. We are looking to develop corporate partnerships with businesses with a social conscious by engaging with their staff. We are looking to raise funds by offering corporate away-days and first aid training and we are looking to increase the amount we raise from individual donors. There might even be Venture Scotland merchandise to buy soon!
By changing the way we raise the funds we need, we hope to minimise the effect of changes in the funding scene and make the future of Venture Scotland more sustainable.