Highland Third Sector Interface

What Highland Third Sector Interface does

Highland Third Sector Interface (HTSI) is an independent Scottish charity registered as SC043521 and Scottish company SC425808, headquartered in Dingwall, Scotland. Its mission is to support, encourage, and inspire work with community groups, clubs, charities, and other third sector organisations across the Highland council area. The organisation operates as a free membership-based intermediary, providing capacity-building, governance, funding, volunteering, and training services to member organisations. HTSI's core offerings include the Volunteer Academy (with Saltire Awards, fellowships, and a Skills Bank), an Independent Examinations service for small charities, the Good Governance Toolkit, the Highland Directory of Services (hosted on Elemental Software and integrated with NHS Highland), and a Food Provision Map. It also manages several externally funded programmes, including the Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund (CMHWF, Years 1-6), the Local Improvement Fund, the CLLD Fund, and the CLW Third Sector Fund, in addition to operating the Highland Community Lottery, the Highland Third Sector Awards, and direct-delivery projects such as Café 1668, the Custody Link Project, and the Community Justice Partnership.

The organisation's technology footprint consists of a Wix-hosted public website, a member portal, a vacancy and volunteering listing system, and eLearning delivery via The Skills Network. Its commercial model relies almost entirely on grant and programme pass-through income, supplemented by a £30 per-listing vacancy advertising fee, a community lottery, and free membership. HTSI is governed by its own board of trustees with Cath Wright serving as Director, operates with 11-50 employees, and is not owned or controlled by any parent entity or institutional investor. Its marketing is community-led, drawing on website content, email newsletters, social media (Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, Bluesky), blogs, volunteer storytelling, and annual sector events including the Highland Third Sector Awards.

Name

Highland Third Sector Interface

Legal name

Highland Third Sector Interface

Website

https://highlandtsi.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Highland Third Sector Interface (HTSI) is an independent Scottish charity based in Dingwall that supports charities, community groups, and clubs throughout the Highland region through free membership, the Volunteer Academy, governance tools, funding administration, and training services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Dingwall

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: Free membership to Third Sector organisations in Highland - core service model supporting the charitable mission
2. Vacancy Advertising: Paid vacancy posting service at £30 per listing for third sector job vacancies. Volunteering and Board opportunities advertised free of charge.
3. Grant Management: HTSI manages various funding programmes including CMHW Funds (Year 1-6), Local Improvement Fund, CLLD Fund, and CLW Third Sector Fund - distributing funds to third sector organisations

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

HTSI provides free membership and a bundled portfolio of support services to third sector organisations across the Highland region of Scotland. Core offerings include free HTSI Membership, the Volunteer Academy (volunteer recruitment, training, Saltire Awards, fellowships, and the Volunteer Council), the Independent Examinations Service for small charities, a Mentoring Scheme, the Highland Community Lottery, and managed funding programmes (CMHW Fund, Local Improvement Fund, CLLD Fund, CLW Third Sector Fund). Members additionally access the Good Governance Toolkit, eLearning, Skills Network courses, the Highland Directory of Services, a Food Provision Map, and a vacancies/board opportunities listings platform.

Product overview

Highland Third Sector Interface (HTSI) operates as an independent charity providing a unified platform of support services for third sector organisations in Highland, Scotland. The core offering centres on membership services (free to qualifying organisations), complemented by dedicated programmes including the Volunteer Academy (providing volunteering support, training, Saltire Awards, and the Volunteer Council), organisational support services (including independent examinations for small charities), and funding information programmes. Additional integrated services include the Good Governance Toolkit, eLearning and Training resources (including Skills Network Courses), a Food Provision Map, and the Highland Directory of Services. HTSI also facilitates third sector representation through forums, a mentoring scheme, and manages specific projects including Community Justice Partnership, Café 1668, and the Custody Link Project.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Highland Directory of Services: A directory of services offered by organisations in Highland.
• Highland Community Lottery
• Volunteer Academy
• Highland Third Sector Awards
• Café 1668
• Custody Link Project

Products and services

• HTSI Membership Free membership programme providing third sector organisations in Highland with access to HTSI's full range of support services, resources, vacancy advertising, and networking opportunities.
• Volunteer Academy Comprehensive programme supporting volunteering through resources for prospective volunteers, existing volunteers, Volunteer Involving Organisations (VIOs), employers, and youth, plus training, Saltire Awards, fellowships, and the Volunteer Council.
• Independent Examinations Service Independent examination service connecting small Highland charities with a bank of qualified independent examiners for their accounts review needs.
• Mentoring Scheme Mentoring programme connecting experienced individuals with third sector organisations and volunteers across Highland.
• Highland Community Lottery Community fundraising lottery programme supporting third sector organisations through individual and organisational lottery participation across Highland.
• Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund (CMHW Fund) Managed funding programme supporting community mental health and wellbeing initiatives across multiple annual funding cycles in Highland.

Named customers8 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature4 records

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Volunteer Now: Northern Ireland's volunteering infrastructure body, delivering training, governance support, and volunteer-matching services. Equivalent role to HTSI's Volunteer Academy within a different UK jurisdiction.
• Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA): Wales's national voluntary sector support body, operating across an entire nation. Same third-sector-interface model as HTSI but at country scale, providing a useful benchmark for what a scaled TSI looks like.

Direct peers

• Volunteer Scotland: National volunteer infrastructure body for Scotland, operating the Saltire Awards and Volunteer Centre network. HTSI's Volunteer Academy (also delivering Saltire Awards) maps closely to Volunteer Scotland's core remit.
• Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO): Scotland's national umbrella body for charities, voluntary organisations, and social enterprise. SCVO is the most direct strategic peer to HTSI, providing analogous membership, training, policy, and support services at the national level.
• Voluntary Action Scotland: National network supporting Scotland's Third Sector Interfaces and wider voluntary sector infrastructure. Shares HTSI's intermediary role and operates with a comparable small staff focused on training, governance, and sector support.
• Edinburgh Voluntary Organisations' Council (EVOC): Edinburgh's Third Sector Interface, providing training, networking, policy representation, and member support. Operates the same TSI service model as HTSI but in an urban context, making it a meaningful structural peer.
• Argyll and Bute Third Sector Interface: Another rural Scottish TSI with the same statutory role: supporting voluntary organisations, distributing funds, and coordinating volunteering across its council area. One of HTSI's closest functional analogues given comparable rural scale.
• Moray Third Sector Interface: A neighbouring Third Sector Interface covering Moray, delivering the same government-defined TSI brief — membership, governance support, funding, volunteering — to local charities. Functionally identical role to HTSI in a similar rural Scottish geography.
• Foundation Scotland: Scotland's community foundation, distributing grants and endowments to local charities. Closely comparable to HTSI's grant-management role across CMHW, Local Improvement, CLLD, and CLW funds.

Broad incumbents

• National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO): UK-wide umbrella body for the voluntary sector, offering membership, policy, research, and training services. Operates broader and at greater scale than HTSI but in the same charitable-infrastructure category.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/HighlandTSI
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCA_sBp9I5kscoV8DBHHK8MQ
• Facebookfacebook.com/HighlandTSI
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/highland-third-sector-interface-ltd

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Highland Third Sector Interface