Research highlights best practice for renewable energy community benefit funds
A new report by the Strathclyde Institute for Sustainable Communities (SISC) has identified Foundation Scotland as a model for good practice in the design and governance of Community Benefit Funds (CBFs), which support communities affected by renewable energy developments.
Today, over £30m of CBF investment is distributed across Scotland’s communities every year, and this is set to grow significantly over the coming years. Despite the current scale and growth trajectory of CBFs there has been little research exploring the different types of CBF operation and governance, and the respective strengths and weaknesses of these different approaches in generating impactful and resilient community benefit.
To help fill this research gap, SISC partnered with Foundation Scotland who have 20 years of experiencing developing, operating and evaluating CBFs. They are responsible for managing around a third of all Scotland’s total CBF investment, working closely with communities, developers and wider stakeholders across 100 different funds.
Foundation Scotland commissioned the Strathclyde Institute for Sustainable Communities to carry out an in-depth review of its practices to provide quality assurance of their internal process and also help share their experiences of ‘what works’ with the wider sector.
The research is presented in a new report: A Review of Foundation Scotland’s Approach to Community Benefit Funds. The report offers a detailed outline of the CBF lifecycle and the key design choices that need to be taken. It also applies Strathclyde’s own Guiding Principles and Actions for Enhancing Community Benefits from Community Benefit Funds to assess how strongly Foundation Scotland’s approach aligns with good practice.
The report finds that Foundation Scotland’s practice offers an exemplary case for other intermediaries. They play a critical role in directly supporting communities and project developers as a ‘one stop shop’ to initiate, design, operate and evaluate CBFs. The work also found that Foundation Scotland offers value to the sector as a whole, as it is highly active in terms of sectoral leadership and advocacy, playing a key role in developing and disseminating sectoral guidance on CBF good practice.
The report also outlines opportunities for Foundation Scotland to further enhance its good practice include reflecting on employee capacity, increasing awareness of its value proposition, and supporting consistent and transparent reporting and evaluation of Foundation Scotland’s fund portfolio.
Professor Matthew Hannon, Director of the Strathclyde Institute for Sustainable Communities, said, “Foundation Scotland is a ‘one stop shop’ that plays a critical role in supporting communities and project developers to initiate, design, operate and evaluate CBFs. But their value proposition stretches far beyond their project partners. Our research found that Foundation Scotland offers value to the sector a whole, being is highly active in terms of sectoral leadership and advocacy, as well as playing a key role in developing, testing and disseminating innovative approaches to CBF good practice.”
Rachel Searle, Head of Communities and Impact at Foundation Scotland said, “This study has proven to be an interesting and insightful exercise for us. Sometimes you need to take a step back to appreciate the breadth of work you are carrying out on a day to day basis, and the depth of partnerships you are forming. Another really beneficial outcome of this study is that it has helped us see where we can learn and, importantly, step up to support better practice.”
Dr Jen Roberts, Deputy Director of the Strathclyde Institute for Sustainable Communities said, “Foundation Scotland and the Strathclyde Institute for Sustainable Communities have forged a strong partnership, with a shared commitment to improve knowledge and understanding of practice in community benefit in Scotland and beyond. We hope this research will point the way for other organisations to enhance community benefits from such funds, and spotlight the varied and valuable role of intermediary organisations in doing so.”
Published: 25 November 2025
