Stuart Duffin makes an impassioned and important call for funding parity for our small charities

As someone deeply involved in Scotland’s voluntary sector, I am compelled to raise a growing concern - one shared by many grassroots leaders - about the direction of our nation’s most influential charitable funders.

For years, governments (local and national) and philanthropy have publicly championed fairness, equality, and life's potential in Scotland.

Yet, behind this inspiring vision, the reality is more troubling: smaller and medium-sized charities serving the hardest-hit communities are finding themselves squeezed out of funding, while most resources are channelled towards large-scale 'trophy projects', headline infrastructure schemes and services which replace hard-pressed NHS non-clinical initiatives.

The evidence is clear. Over the past five years, the funding portfolio open to charities across Scotland, and at all levels, has been dominated by ventures that attract institutional endorsements and expensive media campaigns. These invariably benefit organisations already well-resourced and networked - organisations with the tools to navigate competitive application processes and deliver polished reports. Meanwhile, the quieter but vital work done by local groups - those woven into communities and led by people who understand poverty, trauma and exclusion first-hand - continues to be sidelined.

This is not just disappointing; it’s dangerous. Real progress against inequality is made on the ground, where relationships are built and lived experience guides good decisions. Funding frameworks that value profile over proximity erode the capacity of smaller charities to do what they do best: support vulnerable people persistently, creatively, and with genuine accountability.

If Scotland is serious about turning the tide on poverty and disadvantage, our approach must change. It’s time to ask hard questions:

• What proportion of funding actually reaches locally-led, community-based organisations?
• How transparent and fair are its application processes for groups without professional fundraising teams?
• Do we really measure the long-term impact of funding on inclusion and poverty reduction, especially across rural, ethnic minority, disabled, or marginalised populations?
• Are people directly affected by disadvantage meaningfully represented in our advisory and decision-making bodies?
• How can outcome-based budgets, believing what we see rather than the imagined and sophisticated data produced by large agencies, make vital impacts?
• If data is to drive decisions this data needs to be good and true. 

... I can go on.

True philanthropy is not about prestige or scale, but humility and presence - the courage to listen to what communities need and the commitment to respond without fanfare. Government and philanthropy must look beyond annual reports and ask themselves whether they are truly helping Scotland’s disadvantaged people, or simply supporting the most visible players.

The most effective way for government and philanthropic funders to support genuine change is to truly listen to people and communities - not through layers of complex application forms, but by inviting charities to share their stories in their own words.

When organisations are forced to filter experiences through rigid frameworks focused on outputs and measurable metrics, the voices of those living and working amidst disadvantage are lost in translation. Instead, funders should create space for informal dialogue, narrative submissions and open conversations that prioritise humanity over bureaucracy.

When charities and community groups are trusted to articulate their needs, challenges, and aspirations directly, funding decisions become informed by real-life contexts and relationships. This approach values insight over managerialism, fostering partnerships rooted in empathy and local accountability. Funders can nurture meaningful engagement by simplifying processes, encouraging storytelling, and actively listening - whether through roundtables, engagement or facilitated forums.

By reducing administrative barriers, government and philanthropy demonstrate respect for the wisdom of lived experience. Funding rooted in dialogue - not paperwork - enables communities to shape solutions that are authentic, sustainable and transformative. Less management, more humanity: let the story lead, and the impact will follow.

In addition, the increase in the Real Living Wage in Scotland, while ethically important and reflective of fair pay principles, poses a severe challenge for small and medium-sized charities already operating on tight margins.

Many frontline organisations deliver essential community  services funded through static or long-term grants that fail to rise alongside wage obligations. Without an uplift from funders to match the new pay requirements, charities face impossible choices: cutting staff hours, reducing service capacity, or even closing projects that support vulnerable groups.

For relationship, counselling, and wellbeing charities, the impact is particularly stark. These services rely on highly skilled but modestly paid practitioners whose wages now exceed what restricted budgets can sustain.

Unless local authorities, national funding bodies and trusts provide proportionate uplifts to meet the new wage threshold, the very organisations that embody Scotland’s social justice values will be forced to contract rather than grow.

The Real Living Wage must not become a mechanism that undermines the sustainability of those most committed to equality and care. Uplifting grants is the only equitable way to keep these lifeline charities thriving and able to pay staff fairly while continuing to serve communities in need.

And not to mention, how Scottish charities spend countless hours drowning in paperwork to apply for funding, then face onerous monitoring and evaluation requirements from multiple funders, which undermines capacity and diverts energy from frontline work once the money finally arrives.

Therefore, I urge our funding leadership to pause, reflect, and undertake a transparent review of our funding framework. Restore equity. Put humility and proximity at the heart of their practice. The rhetoric of fairness will mean little until it matches the reality experienced by Scotland’s local charities and the communities they serve.

Stuart Duffin is CEO and company secretary of RS Counselling Services Glasgow.