Befriending Networks are an intermediary organisation who involve their members in their evaluation, learning and improvement. They have developed their income generation strategy to ensure their services are sustainable across the UK from a range of income sources.

“I hope that by becoming a symbol holder and maintaining our close links and using the new resources we can inform our thinking and practice over the next two years to continue our journey and ensure that we don’t grow too quickly or become unsustainable by poor planning, leadership or decisions.”

Camphill has developed their own self-assessment tool, drawing on some of the principles from the Lasting Difference and Lasting Leadership guides. They’ll be using this to involve their teams in identifying priorities. They’ll also be using the Lasting Difference self-assessment to review their sustainability as an organisation. This will then feed into a new sustainability plan for the organisation.

“It will provide us with the tools to understand change and adapt to it without compromising future capacity.”

Cerebral Palsy Scotland use the Lasting Difference Toolkit in their ongoing conversations. They have harnessed the capabilities in their development sessions by using the prompt statements and 10Ps to focus their reflection and planning.

“This symbol is an important reminder for our fundraising and communications team to revisit some simple but thought-provoking questions.”

The toolkit enabled the CHSS Board and senior leaders to engage in a straightforward discussion on organisational sustainability and identify concrete actions they could take. It was an excellent foundation for this work and they will be using it more widely across the organisation to inspire conversations and challenge the team to be the best they can be for people living with our conditions.

“Being awarded The Lasting Difference Symbol means a lot to Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland as we build our sustainability to deliver ‘No Life Half Lived’ in Scotland. The toolkit itself is clear and focused and – most importantly – usable by anyone in your organisation. You don’t need special training – just a commitment to being a sustainable organisation. The symbol will be a live reminder for us to continue on our sustainability journey, to contribute to the wider issues of third sector sustainability and fellow The Lasting Difference organisations.”

The toolkit’s concepts have been used by Children 1^st as a framework and touchstone to support strategic and operational development, so the organisation can continue to make a lasting difference to children and families right across Scotland.

Dyslexia Scotland have embedded sustainability thinking into their strategic planning processes, supporting good governance, developing funding plans and involving volunteers.

“We found the resources and ways of working dyslexia-friendly, accessible and inclusive. I would encourage other organisations to use the practical and inspiring resources and ideas in this toolkit – and to join a new community of practice, to support the ongoing challenges of sustainability in the third sector.”

Future Pathways are a national service who support people who experienced childhood abuse or neglect in Scotland. Sustainability is firmly embedded in their work,  providing sustainable impact for those they support; promoting reflection and learning through their quality assurance tools and generating a legacy of learning for future services.

Merida Associates are the first commercial partner to be awarded the symbol. The Lasting Difference licence permits non-commercial use only, but intermediary organisations and consultancies like Merida can apply for a separate commercial licence. The Merida team now support clients using Lasting Difference principles in their consultancy throughout the West Midlands.

The Oxygen Works provide oxygen therapy and personal support in the Scottish Highlands. They have used the Lasting Difference to inform a re-brand and re-launch to ensure their work meets their core purpose and is clear to stakeholders.

Through their Lasting Difference self-assessment, SIAA have identified the need to focus on involvement and impact. They have adapted their approaches to better understand and respond to their members’ needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. They have improved their approach for data collection to better understand and report on their own impact.

“As a small organisation, the way we keep organisational sustainability as a central consideration has been to have regular discussions internally and with the board around member involvement and impact measurement and shape our work plan around member feedback.”

Starcatchers have embedded sustainability thinking and tools into their planning cycle, with successful use of the Exit Strategies section of the toolkit and Income Analysis template.

“The Lasting Difference provides such a clear framework for our organisational development. It fits perfectly with our purpose-led approach with clear processes for decision-making.”

Stop It Now! Scotland were part of a programme which developed the Beyond Survival toolkit of resources to enable survivor support organisations become more sustainable. They took the learning from this back to their organisation and conducted a sustainability self-assessment to identify their main challenges. They now have an action plan in place and are starting to conduct self-assessments for each of their projects. They are embedding sustainability thinking into their work and it is now a standing item during staff development meetings.

“Integrating sustainability into our forward planning will allow us to have clear exit strategies for each project. It has also encouraged us to identify potential challenges which may threaten our long-term future and encourage us to have action plans which identify clear lines of responsibility. It allows us to identify and consider any threats to sustainability in good time so that a potential problem does not become a crisis.”

As one of our earliest clients, Support in Mind Scotland have ridden the sustainability journey with us. Most recently, they have been looking at how they how they widen involvement in strategic planning and leadership across the organisation.

“Being involved in developing The Lasting Difference changed how I understood sustainability and removed the mystery that surrounded this ‘holy grail’ of funding services in a climate of austerity. I learned that sustainability is achievable and that it is not just about funding, but about quality, change and development.”

VSS have a sustainability focus across the organisation, including: involving  staff and volunteers in strategic planning; leadership team development sessions; and lateral leadership programmes with Learning and Improvement Groups.

“The toolkit has opened our eyes to the ways that we can ensure our sustainability and future as an organisation, which ultimately will help victims and witnesses across Scotland.”

Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire are ambitious in their aims to build the sustainability of local voluntary organisations. They have developed an action learning programme where participants can build their capacity with peer support. Alongside this, they have focus on their own strategic development.

“We have refocussed our strategic objectives, strengthened our Board, reviewed organisational structure, in the process of recruiting and exploring funding to support the achievement of our strategic objectives, and starting the process of systematising our evaluation and learning approach.”