Democratic Finance
DTAS delivers our Democratic Finance Scotland programme. Funded by Scottish Government, Acorns to Trees and Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, we offer a programme of support for community and social enterprises to consider and use alternative methods of raising funding and finance to secure their long-term financial sustainability.
The programme aims to:
- encourage a move away from grant dependency
- promote democratically controlled enterprises and community ownership
- boost local wealth and keep money circulating within communities
- activate citizen investment and increase the number of people and communities with an inclusive stake in economic activity and assets
We provide support with:
Securing local sources of money including community shares, community bonds, grassroots legal giving, local philanthropy, and one-off community lotteries
Democratic tools for strengthening local control and involvement including governance models, community engagement, finance and investment training, and best practice on community opportunities from energy transition
Research and development including influencing policy and advocating for communities
DTAS is the leading provider of support with community shares and wider democratic finance offers in Scotland. Our support has led to over £20 million raised through community shares from over 18,000 citizen investors (leveraging an additional £30m+ from other sources). This has helped establish and grow numerous community businesses over the last decade.
Want to know more?
You can find more information on the Democratic Finance Scotland website
Want to get in touch?
You can contact our Democratic Finance Scotland team directly