Scottish Women's Budget Group

What Scottish Women's Budget Group does

Scottish Women's Budget Group (SWBG) is a registered charity (SC050221) headquartered in Glasgow, Scotland, co-located with The Poverty Alliance. The organization's stated mission is to promote equality through gender budgeting in Scotland, defined as analyzing how public spending decisions differentially affect women and men. SWBG serves two primary constituencies: women across Scotland affected by fiscal-policy decisions (engaged through surveys, workshops, and a recurring Women's Economic Empowerment Group) and public-sector bodies (Scottish Government, Scottish Parliament committees, and local authorities) that SWBG supports in applying gender-responsive budgeting frameworks.

SWBG's product portfolio comprises publications (policy briefings, research reports, an annual Women's Survey), the Gender Budgeting Toolkit (a downloadable methodology document for local-authority use), training programs, events, and a set of named projects including the Theory to Action project, Women's Economic Empowerment Project, Four Nations Project, and the Aberdeen Gender Inequality and Poverty Project. The underlying technology stack is minimal: SWBG operates a content/website distribution model rather than a software platform, with no disclosed API, SDK, or proprietary ML components. Survey outputs from recent years include 830 respondents on budget priorities, 425 on childcare/cost-of-living impacts, 278 in East Lothian, and 39 Gypsy/Traveller women.

The organization's revenue model is membership-driven and project-funded rather than commercial. Streams include charitable activities, individual membership fees, grants (e.g., Open Society Foundation funding for the Four Nations project), and commissioned public-sector work (e.g., Aberdeen City Council's Anti-Poverty and Inequality Committee). Go-to-market is community-led and partnership-driven: SWBG cultivates its constituency through workshops, surveys, and empowerment groups, while engaging government stakeholders through direct policy submissions, pre-budget scrutiny evidence, and training delivery. The organization is part of the UK-wide Women's Budget Group network via the Four Nations project, alongside sister groups in England, Northern Ireland, and Wales.

Name

Scottish Women's Budget Group

Legal name

Scottish Women's Budget Group

Website

https://swbg.org.uk

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Scottish Women's Budget Group is a Glasgow-based charity that promotes gender-responsive budgeting across Scotland, serving women affected by fiscal-policy decisions and supporting the Scottish Government, Parliament, and local authorities through research, the Gender Budgeting Toolkit, training, and commissioned projects.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Non-profit Public Policy Advocacy

NAICS

Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813), Public Finance Activities (921130)

akta.pro primary industry

Budgeting & Fiscal Planning (BPAIAEAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Budgeting & Cash-Flow Management (EDAAAJAA)

Keywords

• Gender budgeting analysis
• Public policy advocacy
• Women's economic empowerment
• Charitable research
• Budget policy training

Headquarters

HQ city

Glasgow

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Charitable activities and membership: As a registered charity (SC050221), SWBG operates through membership fees, charitable activities, and project-based funding. They conduct research, publish policy briefings, deliver training programs, and engage in advocacy work to promote gender budgeting across Scotland.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Scottish Women's Budget Group is a registered charity that conducts gender-responsive budgeting research and produces policy analysis on how Scottish public spending decisions affect women and men differently. It delivers training programs to public sector bodies on gender budgeting, publishes briefings and the Gender Budgeting Toolkit for local authorities, and engages women across Scotland through surveys, workshops, and the Women's Economic Empowerment Group to build participation in budget consultations.

Product overview

Scottish Women's Budget Group (SWBG) is a charitable organization that does not offer a unified software product but provides a portfolio of advocacy services, research products, and educational programs focused on gender budgeting in Scotland. The core offerings include publications and reports (such as the annual Women's Survey and the Gender Budgeting Toolkit), training programs, events, and multiple collaborative projects including the Theory to Action project, Women's Economic Empowerment Project, Four Nations Project, and Aberdeen Gender Inequality and Poverty Project. SWBG also offers membership and maintains a blog for policy analysis and public engagement.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Publications

Quantifiable outcome

• 830 women engaged through the Women's Survey providing insights on budget priorities and participation
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• Women's Budget Groups (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2021The Four Nations project brings together Women's Budget Groups from across the UK, funded by Open Society Foundation. The partnership enables WBG partners in devolved nations to build internal structures, networks, and political influence. It builds capacity of women's organizations to hold governments accountable for the economic impact of policies on women and facilitates collaboration and learning to strengthen collective impact.
• WISE Centre for Economic JusticecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint project partner in the Women's Economic Empowerment Project, bringing expertise in economic justice and women's employment issues.
• Glasgow Disability AlliancecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint project partner in the Women's Economic Empowerment Project, contributing expertise on disabled women's experiences and intersectional perspectives.
• Women in Multiple Low-Paid Employment Project (University of Glasgow)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner in the Women's Economic Empowerment Project, providing research expertise on women's employment and low-pay issues.
• MECOPPcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint project partner in the Gender Budgeting Analysis of Scottish Gypsy Traveller Sites project. MECOPP organized community engagement events and supported the beneficiary analysis component of the research.
• Aberdeen City Council Anti-Poverty and Inequality CommitteecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommissioned SWBG to undertake the Aberdeen Gender Inequality and Poverty Project, working with communities to understand links between gender inequality and poverty in Aberdeen and identify actions the council can take.
• Making Rights RealsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated with SWBG and Fa'Side Women and Girls Group on gender budgeting and human rights work in East Lothian.
• Fa'Side Women and Girls GroupsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity partner in East Lothian working with SWBG and Making Rights Real on gender budgeting tools to examine cost of living crisis impacts on women and girls.
• Financially IncludedsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Financially Included on economic abuse research, exploring how public sector debt management practices impact women experiencing gender-based violence.
• SustranssupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on active travel research examining women's experiences and gender-responsive considerations in transportation planning.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Scottish Women's Aid: Scotland's national domestic abuse service organization. Comparable as a Scotland-based women's policy and services charity engaging with Scottish Government on gendered public spending priorities.
• Close the Gap: Scottish gender equality advocacy organization addressing women's labour-market inequality and economic justice — closely aligned with SWBG's economic empowerment remit.
• Fawcett Society: UK's leading gender equality and women's rights policy organization. Directly comparable in mission and advocacy methodology, with broader UK scope than SWBG.
• The Poverty Alliance: Scotland's anti-poverty coalition and SWBG's host organization. Directly comparable as a Scotland-based policy and advocacy charity focused on socioeconomic inequality intersecting with gender.
• Engender: Scottish feminist policy and advocacy organization focused on gender equality in public policy and budgeting. Closest comparable peer operating in the same Scottish policy ecosystem.
• Women's Budget Group (UK): The UK-wide umbrella network of which SWBG is a member. Directly comparable as a gender-budgeting analysis and policy advocacy organization targeting UK and devolved government budgets.
• IPPR Scotland: Scotland's progressive think tank producing research and policy analysis for Holyrood. Comparable as a policy-research producer supplying evidence-based briefings to the Scottish Parliament and Government.
• WISE Centre for Economic Justice: Glasgow Caledonian University-based economic justice research centre. Joint project partner with SWBG on women's economic empowerment; comparable in feminist economic policy research remit.

Broad incumbents

• Joseph Rowntree Foundation: Large UK poverty-research charity producing evidence on low-income households. Comparable as a research-and-advocacy charity addressing gendered economic inequality, though operating at much greater scale and broader remit.

Others

• Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO): Scotland's umbrella body for the third sector. Comparable as a Scotland-based infrastructure organization supporting civil-society policy engagement, but not a direct competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/scottish-women-s-budget-group

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Scottish Women's Budget Group