Welcome to the Scottish Third Sector Tracker!

The Scottish Third Sector Tracker is a growing research community made up of representatives from third sector organisations based across the whole of Scotland, who are willing to share their experiences, views and concerns as the sector faces both new and ongoing challenges.

The Tracker is run by an independent research company called DJS Research on behalf of SCVO, the Scottish Government, the William Grant Foundation, Bank of Scotland Foundation and the National Lottery Community Fund.

Those involved in the running of a third sector organisation operating in Scotland are invited to represent their organisation as a member of the Scottish Third Sector Tracker.

What does it involve?

Every six months, members of the Tracker will submit a small amount of detail about their organisation’s current situation via an online survey. These details will be anonymised and then aggregated alongside the responses from all of the other Scottish Third Sector Tracker members. This will give SCVO and its partners a clear and up-to-date picture of the health of the third sector in Scotland and will enable them to identify where they can provide support to the sector most effectively.

There will also be opportunities to take part in focus groups in between waves to help shape the future of the tracker, and short one-off surveys to discuss important topics in more depth.

What has been achieved so far?

As a direct result of research since 2021, SCVO has been able to make informed decisions on its influencing and media work. Information from the Tracker is also used by Government and funders to inform decision making, and by voluntary organisations to plan and to evidence need. If you are interested in finding out more information on the impact of the first phase of the Tracker, please read this blog post by Steven Marwick (Former Director of Evaluation Support Scotland) which can be read here.

To register your interest

To register your interest in becoming a member of the Scottish Third Sector Tracker, please click the ‘Register interest’ button below to give us a few details about you and your organisation. Once the next wave of the survey launches, you will then receive a call from a DJS researcher, or an email inviting you to complete the survey.

For further information

You can find more information about the tracker, as well as the latest findings from the research, on the SCVO website.

If you have any questions about the Scottish Third Sector Tracker, please email the DJS Research team at STSTracker@djsresearch.com and they will be very happy to provide you with more detail.

Frequently Asked Questions

How often will I be asked to complete the survey?

Once every six months.

How long will it take?

For most, the survey will around 15 minutes to complete each time.

How do I complete the survey?

Once a new edition of the survey is live, you will receive an email notification to the email address you supplied when you first registered. This will contain a link to an online survey.

What if I can’t complete the survey

A complete picture of the sector is crucial to the success of the project and so we ask, where possible, that members submit a response for all surveys. We appreciate that this will not always be possible due to a change in roles, leave or illness. In these cases, we would ask for another colleague to complete the survey in your absence.

If you leave your organisation altogether, we ask members to let us know so we can organise for someone else in the organisation to take your place in the community.

Who is DJS Research?

www.djsresearch.co.uk

DJS Research is a research company and is a full member of the Market Research Society (MRS) and are bound by the Market Research Society Code of Conduct, which you can find here: https://www.mrs.org.uk/standards/code_of_conduct