Voluntary Action Fund

Showing That A Little Can Go A Long Way

VAF has now published the results of an evaluation of the first 3 years' operation of the Community Chest, its small grants programme. Download a copy of the report from the right-hand side of this page.

Through a survey of 319 organisations and research drawn from information held by VAF, the evaluation sought to answer 3 questions:

1. What difference had the grant programme made?
2. What type of activity was delivered and who benefited from this activity?
3. What changes, if any should be made to the grant programme?

The findings suggest that overall the evaluation found that the Community Chest Programme (CCP) has been innovative and successful in growing the capacity of small community-led organisations. Capacity and skills developed via the workshops, combined with the increased activity funded through the grant, will help these small groups continue to build and sustain activity whilst making them more resilient going into a period of austerity.

More specifically the evaluation found:

1. The Community Chest has successfully engaged with very small community groups across Scotland with grants made in every local authority area.

69% of applications were from and 74% of grants awarded went to groups with an income of under £10,000. 63% of available funding was awarded to non charitable community groups or voluntary organisations. Over a quarter of applications came from groups that had been operating for less than a year. For the majority of groups who responded to the survey, this was their first funding application.

2. The Community Chest successfully attracted applications from and awarded grants in 6 local authority areas from which VAF and other funders had traditionally received few applications.

The unique approach taken by VAF to penetrating those local authority areas where historically there has been a very poor uptake of mainstream funding was highly successful. Over the two and half years of the grant programme operated an average of 40 applications came from each of the 6 priority areas. This is compared with an average of only 24 applications from each of the other 26 local authority areas.

3. The Community Chest successfully helped over 500 small local organisations to build their capacity to sustain and develop their activities or services.

While only 20% of grant funding was for capacity building activities, the combination of a very flexible grant along with the delivery of free training was a powerful tool to engage small groups and build the confidence and skills of volunteers and staff to sustain and develop services. Concrete outcomes were delivered by the grant programme for volunteers, the funded organisations and the wider communities in which they operate.

The training programme, delivered to 441 individuals from over 400 organisations in 21 Local Authority areas, was particularly valued by groups with 92% of survey respondents who had attended the training reporting that their group had benefited from the training.

4. The grant successfully helped sustain services to some of Scotland's most vulnerable people.

Applications came from and awards went to organisations delivering vital services such as; advocacy advice or information; support groups and befriending; childcare or tackling health and disability issues, to some of the most vulnerable people in our communities. 66% of groups responding to the survey stated that their activity could not have gone ahead without the grant they received from the Community Chest

5. The size of grant, the funding criteria and operation of the Community Chest grant programme is successfully meeting the needs of very small local community groups and the community within which they operate.

At a maximum of £1,000 the grant is large enough to make a big difference to a small group, yet small enough manage and allow the application process to be as simple as possible. The application process was considered by respondents to the survey to be "straight forward" and "fairly easy". The guidance notes and application form were "clear and easy to understand".

The flexibility of the grant is an important component of the Community Chest grant programme. It allows groups to really address locally identified needs which they are well placed to both understand and react to when equipped with the skills and resources to do so.

While most applicants received a response to their application within 8 weeks, holding 4 grant rounds per year did mean that a small number of applicants could wait up to five months before hearing whether their application had been successful or not.

A number of respondents to the survey also asked for more detailed feedback on why their application had been unsuccessful.

Recomendations

In the light of the findings a number of key recommendations were made for improving the Community Chest grant programme. These are:

1. Consideration could be given to encouraging applications which focus on capacity building activities that help an organisation grow and develop. A target could perhaps be set for this.
2. Consideration should be given to exploring delivering the capacity building training through local third parties, who could be provided with the course materials and training in their delivery.
3. Consideration should be given to how the delivery and uptake of Measuring Success, the training course on monitoring and evaluation, can be increased.
4. A more detailed explanation for why applications were unsuccessful should be supplied wherever possible.
5. Consideration should be given to reducing the time from application submission to notification of decision.

These recommendations will be considered by VAF should VAF receive funding for the continuation of the Community Chest or similar grant programme beyond March 2012.