The Charity Commission has launched a new set of simple, easy to understand guides designed to help trustees run their charities in accordance with charity law.
The new guides cover five key aspects of charity management and make up a ‘core syllabus’ covering the basics all trustees should know about. They are designed to serve the needs of those who are new to the role as well as experienced trustees.
The five guides are:
- financial oversight
- achieving a charity’s purposes
- good decision making
- addressing conflicts of interest
- what to file with the Commission and what support is available
The Commission says this ‘gateway’ level guidance will make it easier and quicker for all trustees to check what is expected and to find more detailed information if needed, which is all the more important as charities respond to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Improving the usability of its guidance is one of the Commission’s key objectives, as set out in its Business Plan 2020-21, so that it is easier for trustees, who are overwhelmingly unpaid volunteers, to access the information they need.
Helen Stephenson, chief executive of the Charity Commission, said: ‘Volunteer trustees are the bedrock of the charity sector. Without their commitment and dedication charity would simply not be possible. ‘When I started at the Commission, I said our guidance and advice needed to become more available and accessible to trustees, to help them deliver on the causes they support and champion.
‘These new five minute guides are an important milestone in our delivery on that promise.’
The new guides were launched at the beginning of November to coincide with Trustees’ Week, the annual celebration of charity trustees and the contribution they make to society.
