Crowdfunder transparency page

Believe in Scotland is a campaign managed by the pro-independence business group, Business for Scotland Ltd. Business for Scotland Ltd has set up a company called Believe in Scotland Ltd, which was created to provide enhanced legal protection for the brand. That company will remain dormant until such time as a referendum or a de facto referendum campaign is officially announced and then Believe in Scotland Ltd will become active as a separate organisation and act as the lead campaigning group.

Until that time, the funds raised for the Believe in Scotland campaign are unlikely to become sufficient to manage the operations of the Believe in Scotland campaign and therefore the campaign is supported financially and in-kind by Business for Scotland Ltd.

When we crowdfund we have two types of donations: public donations and business donations made by Business for Scotland members. This allows us to ask business donors to make larger, typically £5,000, donations as matching funding based on getting matching funding from the public. In this way, people know that when they make a smaller public donation, their money is doubled by pulling down matching business donations.

The donations from the annual crowdfunder go towards campaigning costs, examples include: printing leaflets, paying for staging and audio/video at our March and Rally events, social media advertising and online campaigning costs such as mailing list management, graphic design, merchandising, office and storage costs for BiS, campaign material distribution costs, posters, Indy Days of Action, billboards, etc.

The Business for Scotland donations and revenues in a year cover admin, equipment and all wages related to Business for Scotland activities. Annual crowdfunder donations as a whole (public and business) cover less than half the cost of running the campaign. Public donations to Believe in Scotland in the 2025 crowdfunder amounted to £54,000 and went directly towards independence campaigning. The eight board members of Business for Scotland have access to all accounts and receive monthly reports from an independent accountant to ensure good governance and financial transparency.

Wage costs for our staff who work exclusively on Believe in Scotland campaigning, such as our Online Engagement Manager and our new paid Independence Campaign Interns, are paid through a combination of direct donations and a £4,000 grant from the Scottish Independence Foundation.

Everything people need to know is published on our About Page here

When Business for Scotland ltd was audited by OpenDemocracy it received an A grade - the highest grade for financial transparency.  https://www.businessforscotland.com/who-funds-us