Democratic Finance Scotland Newsletter June 2026

July 1, 2026

Our newsletter is back! We will be sending this newsletter once a quarter to communities, partners, and supporters interested in our work.

Whether you’ve worked with us before, are exploring a project idea, or are simply interested in democratic finance approaches, we hope this newsletter gives a useful snapshot of recent activity, new resources and opportunities for support.

About the Programme:

Democratic Finance Scotland is a programme of support run by DTAS, helping community-led organisations explore and use alternative methods of raising finance from their local community.

Our support areas include:

community shares
crowdfunding
local legacy giving
community energy & shared ownership
community bonds
community lotteries
CBS governance support

Get in touch with us to discuss a community project or idea that we could support with!

Email: info@democraticfinance.scot

Keep an eye on the below organisations who are planning a share offer launch!

This year so far we’ve:

Launched 14 Democratic Finance offers

Supported 1,591+ citizens investing into community-owned businesses

Helped community-owned businesses create 36 job

Read our full annual report to find out more about the Democratic Finance programme and the wonderful community organisations we support!

Democratic-Finance-Annual-Report-25-26-Final-1.pdf

10 years of community shares!

This year marks over a decade since the programme launched in its original form as Community Shares Scotland. Over the last 10 years, the team has supported:

70 community share offers
£21 million raised
21,468 citizen investors

Our new report, A Decade of Community Shares in Scotland, reflects on that journey and the diversity of projects communities have delivered through local investment.

From community shops and pubs to renewable energy and Scotland’s first community-owned whisky distillery, it’s been inspiring to see communities using democratic finance to retain and strengthen important local assets.

Read the report here: A Decade of Community Shares in Scotland – Democratic Finance Scotland

Democratic Finance in Action

We’ve recently published two new case studies highlighting the role community shares can play in strengthening community ownership.

Action Porty raised £190,000 from 1,064 shareholders to support the redevelopment of Bellfield’s Celebration Hall. A Democratic Finance microgrant supported a creative engagement campaign including events, videos, flyering, social media and PR activity.

Read the case study: Action Porty – Democratic Finance Scotland

We’ve also published a new video case study with the community behind the Red Lion Inn in Culross, developed with Plunkett UK.

Their 2021 share offer raised £100,000 from over 400 investors, helping secure community ownership of the pub.

Watch the video: Red Lion Inn, Culross – Democratic Finance Scotland

Community Energy and Shared Ownership:

We have recently been expanding our community energy work and are happy to announce our part in the Community Energy Launchpad, delivered with Community Energy Scotland and Local Energy Scotland. We support communities at the early stages of exploring community energy and shared ownership projects.

Our team can help you explore:

Democratic governance structures
Community-led finance and funding options
Shared ownership opportunities
Early-stage community engagement and developer relationship building

We are also working with Development Trusts across Scotland to explore opportunities for collaboration around shared ownership developments.

To find out more about this support contact: morven@dtascot.org.uk

We also run a shared ownership peer learning group for those interested in finding out more about these opportunities.

This event is only open to DTAS and Community Energy Scotland member organisations. Follow our Eventbrite page to stay up to date on the next session and other events.

Policy and Sector Update:

How can Scotland’s renewable energy transition deliver wider, long-term community benefit through a Scottish Community Wealth Fund?

The Scottish Community Coalition on Energy, Development Trusts Association Scotland, Community Energy Scotland and Community Land Scotland, recently commissioned a new study from CLES exploring this question.

Read the study here

New Resource – Crowdfunding:

We’re pleased to share a new practical guide to crowdfunding, produced in partnership with the New Futures: Former Places of Worship programme at DTAS.

It includes: