Lauren Pluss explains how SCVO's new charity feedback platform GoodHQ can help boost public trust in your cause
Charities in Scotland and the UK are increasingly in the spotlight. Critics and journlists watch the sector with eagle-eyes, ready to pounce at the first sign of weakness.
But charities need not be afraid. That's because the vast majority in Scotland are well run, efficient and provide the public benefit they were set up to deliver. That's why the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) has set up GoodHQ to help organisations demonstrate this.
We know how important the support of millions of loyal volunteers, fundraisers and advocates across Scotland’s towns and cities is. But, let’s be honest, most organisations are not great at capturing and recording all the goodwill of their supporters.
SCVO is committed to supporting charities to become even stronger so Good HQ provides a digital platform for the public to share their experiences about charities and discover new ways to get involved.
The site gives people the opportunity to review their experience with a charity whether that is as a service user, a campaigner, a donor or a volunteer.
I appreciate that some organisations find the idea of opening up to public feedback scary, but it doesn’t need to be. My experience is that the majority of people have positive things to say about Scottish charities, and when they don’t, it is much better to know about it than not.
There are already over 200 good causes in Scotland gathering the views of their supporters on Good HQ. Take a look at RNIB, who has been using the platform to effectively demonstrate the impact of its work, or Grassmarket Community Project, which has been encouraging customers to review their experience after they’ve used its facilities.
The great thing about Good HQ is it is a free and easy to use platform, it won’t take up lots of staff time to manage, and it gives your fans and service users a really easy and simple way to provide feedback.
Good HQ gives you the chance to embrace conversations with your supporters, service users, volunteers and donors and make your organisation and the whole sector stronger.
We’ve set up a page for all registered charities in Scotland, so all you need to do to boost public trust in your organisation is claim your organisation’s page now.
Lauren Pluss is GoodHQ community ,anager at the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations. If you’d like to talk about GoodHQ in more detail, she will be at the Gathering at the SCVO Digital Stand in the exhibition hall and will be running drop-in sessions on Wednesday and Thursday. You can also email her at [email protected].
