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 set up 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 seperate organisation and act as the lead campaigning Group. Until that time, the funds raised by Believe in Scotland are not sufficient to manage to the operations of the Belive in Scotland campaign and therefore the campaign is subsidised 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 £5k 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 this 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, campaign material distribution cost, posters, indy days of action, billboards etc.

The Business for Scotland donations and revenues in a year cover admin, office costs, equipment and wages. Annual Crowdfunder donations as a whole (public and business) cover less than half the cost of running the campaign. Believe in Scotland donations by the public in the 2024 crowdfunder amounted to £48,000 and went directly towards independence campaigning. The board members of Business for Scotland (7 members) have access to all accounts and receive monthly reports from an independent accountant to ensure good governance and financial transparency. 

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

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

Click here to return to the 2025 Crowdfunder page.