Council of Scottish Clans & Associations

Most clan and family societies earn revenues through their membership dues and donations. However, some also generate funds through online sales of merchandise (merch.) Of the over 150 clan and family societies with websites, about 47 offer online sales of some form, with some having multiple sites. About nine of the 47 offer discounts or a special promo code for their members. About half (29 or over 61%) handle the sales and fulfillment themselves while others use commercial

When The Clan Watson Society decided to create a Wikipedia article on Clan Watson, we’d assumed it would be a straightforward case of agreeing on the content and then publishing it. We were spectacularly wrong, to the point that we almost gave up on the idea, but through dogged determination and – it has to be said – a lucky encounter, we finally got the article online. Why Create a Wikipedia Article? Firstly, you get to control the narrative. You are almost certainly best-pl

During the 2023 Scottish North American Community Conference (SNACC) on December 1-2 in Alexandria, Virginia, Charles Edward Bruce, Lord Bruce, spoke about the “Heirs’ Project” of the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs (SCSC.) Lord Bruce serves on the Executive Committee of the SCSC. Lord Bruce reported that an important issue has become known as the “Heirs’ Project.” Here is a transcript of his remarks. An important issue in this regard has become known as the “Heirs’ Proje

As reported in the Winter 2024 edition of the Journal of the Clan Campbell Society (North America), the Society has successfully developed three different projects on WikiTree, a collaborative genealogy website that allows users to research and to contribute to their own family trees while building a singular worldwide family tree. Here are the highlights of that article. WikiTree is a genealogy website that allows users to research and to contribute to their own family trees

The Clans and Scottish Societies of Canada (CASSOC) 2023 Symposium for Growth and Success includes online sessions for Member Connections, (October 28, 2023), Volunteers and Events (November 19, 2023), Heritage (December 16, 2023), and Sustainability (January 20, 2024.) Pre-registration is required. The full fee of $50 is required for non-CASSOC members. Attendance is free for all who are in member organizations of Clans and Scottish Societies of Canada. Attendance for member

COSCA surveyed 150 clan and family websites to determine the number of societies that offered life memberships and at what levels. Of those, about half (70) published specific levels for lifetime memberships and the other half either did not have such membership levels or did not make the levels publicly available. Eight clan and family societies offered multiple-year memberships without a specific lifetime membership. Of the 70 societies with a lifetime membership, 31 set a

November is a month when the nations of the world celebrate and honour their veterans. A grateful “Thank you!” to the Military Veteran Members of Clan MacAulay. This year, Clan MacAulay is launching a “Wall of Honour” for those members who have served, or are currently serving in the military. This special segment is set aside to initiate solace, gratefulness, reflection, sharing and gratitude to those men and women that have heeded the call to serve their nations bravely an

The Clans and Scottish Societies of Canada (CASSOC) 2023 Symposium for Growth and Success includes online sessions for Member Connections, (October 28, 2023), Volunteers and Events (November 19, 2023), Heritage (December 16, 2023), and Sustainability (January 20, 2024.) Pre-registration is required. The full fee of $50 is required for non-CASSOC members. Attendance is free for all who are in member organizations of Clans and Scottish Societies of Canada. Attendance for member

As part of its new Scottish Connections Framework, the Scottish Government has launched the Scottish Connections Fund that will provide funding to organizations for new projects to promote Scotland’s reputation and interests. Grants for between £2,000 and £5,000 may be requested for projects completed by the end of March 2024. The closing date for applications is 5:00 PM GMT on November 8, 2023. The Scottish Connections Framework established a comprehensive approach to what t

COSCA has compiled a new database of all clan and family societies that have incorporated and received tax-exempt determination from the United States of America (USA) Internal Revenue Service (IRS.) The data used is public information drawn directly from the IRS tax-exempt database. Several clan and family societies linked from the “Find My Clan” online service are based in Scotland and do not have an associated American corporation. These include Clan Maitland Society, Cla

At the request of a member, COSCA has reviewed the membership levels of over 100 American and Scottish clan and family societies. COSCA also reviewed some best practices in encouraging membership – and some approaches that don’t. Among American clan and family societies, annual membership dues range from $10 to $40. The most popular level is $25, requested by over one-third of the societies. For twelve organistions based in Scotland, the dues ranged from £10 to £30 with the m

Many Scottish heritage societies have expressed a need to reach younger audiences and attract new members. However, they are not willing to devote the time to reaching them. Most younger people, such as millennials, prefer watching YouTube for their information. You may not feel up to the task for creating videos – but audio-only podcasts are easily within your reach! And the rewards will undoubtedly outweigh the extra effort. Podcasts have a relatively long history, at leas

​Who doesn’t enjoy the thrill of attracting new paid members? You learn that someone values your organization and your efforts so much that they are willing to plunk down real dollars (or whatever their currency) to invest into your Scottish heritage society! You then need to keep them engaged with membership benefits such as access to the members-only section of the website, the member newsletter, and free give-ways. The real challenge, for many societies, is encouraging ren

Many clan and family societies without a recognized Chief of the Name and the Arms claim to be “armigerous” or bearing arms. However, as reported in the blog “Clan and Family Society Coats of Arms,” only seven societies can accurately be designated as “armigerous” since they were granted arms by the Lord Lyon, King of Arms, an agency of the Scottish government. One of those societies is the Clan Murray Society. Keith Murray-Hetherington JP, FSAScot, served as Convenor of the

The generosity of Scots is not only celebrated by Robert Burns in “Auld Lang Syne” but is a proven fact. A study conducted by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) reports that “Scots more likely to take part in a charitable or social activity in the last four weeks than UK as a whole.” Specifically, “There is a gap of 12 percentage points, with 76% of Scots participating in a charitable or social activity, compared to 64% in the UK as a whole.” (CAF Scotland Giving 2019) In ano

The Clan Forbes Society is turning to highland games and Scottish festival organizers for ideas to recruit members at their events -- without being physically present. The challenge the society faces is like most other clan and family societies: in order to host a tent at an event, the society needs local members. However, in order to recruit local members, the society needs to host a tent at local events. A classic “Catch 22” situation. Currently, the Society participates in

Facebook is an important platform for building awareness of your Scottish heritage society and for building relationships that turn into paid membership. Of the 160+ known American and international clan and family societies, 153 have Facebook pages. Of those, 102 have at least a public page to promote themselves and encourage membership. Many have an additional private group page just for members. Of those with Facebook pages, 52 have only a group page that is restricted to

Building your social media content around important dates in Scottish history is a great way to stay current and engage your current and future members. For clan and family societies, try to link one of your ancestors or clan members to one of these dates. You can tap into the COSCA Research Library and search for your surname in some of the Scottish histories included there. For games associations and local Scottish Heritage Societies, you can keep your followers engaged tho

On April 25, 2023, Clan MacAulay Association celebrated their Silver Anniversary as an organization. In honor of this milestone, the Clan developed a ten-question trivia contest to engage members and non-members alike around current and past Clan MacAulay history. “We wanted to provide a fun and engaging 25th Anniversary contest to provide members with additional knowledge of the Clan, and offer non members an opportunity to participate, and learn more about Clan MacAulay Or

The Council of Scottish Clans and Associations (COSCA) has researched and compiled a list of over 150 Scottish heritage societies and games associations in the United States. The organizations are listed by region and state. Each individual listing includes the group's website link, Facebook page, whether they offer scholarships or grants, whether they produce any highland games, and their mission.