Name: Dan Shaw
Company: AVA (Aberdeenshire Voluntary Action)
Job title: CEO
Give us the elevator pitch for your business.
We are a third sector interface, connecting public, private, and third sectors to strengthen communities. As a charity, we empower others to thrive, offering expert guidance on governance, sustainability, and impact. As a membership body like The Chamber, we advocate for the third sector, ensuring it has a strong voice and access to vital resources.
Who are your customers?
We have access to about 1,600 charitable organisations who deliver services in Aberdeenshire. Our service users are small to medium sized charitable groups and organisations who deliver great things in their communities (of geography or interest) and are looking for support to find funding or volunteers, or to deal with the challenges of running their organisation in a sustainable and well governed way.
Dan Shaw
What is the biggest challenge and opportunity your organisation is facing right now?
The funding landscape for charitable organisations is more challenging now than ever before. Supporting them to find an income source so they can deliver the services that are often critical for the general public is hard, but we have a great team who offer this support on a regular basis.
Connecting with the private sector to help us find hidden skills and experiences that can be of benefit to our service users is an exciting opportunity. The third sector is crying out for more people to support it as demand for its services is ever increasing.
What is your word of advice for fellow Chamber members?
Looking to enhance your business’s social responsibility? We can support you with volunteering, employee engagement, ethical business practices, and social enterprise models. We facilitate partnerships, funding, and in-kind contributions to support the third sector. Plus, we promote community resilience and inclusion through empowering young people. Let’s work together to create more meaningful and positive change.
What is the best thing about being a Chamber member?
The support provided to promote what we do, and the opportunity to connect with such a diverse range of businesses who believe in making Aberdeenshire a better place to live and work for us all.