There are four sets of rules, not one. A charitable company, a CIO, an unincorporated association and a trust each amend their governing document differently, and the differences are not cosmetic. They change which power you use, how many of…
The Charity Commission published its second annual sector risk assessment on 18 August 2026, and it says plainly what it is for: to help trustees review their own risk registers. It covers ten risk areas. For a charity under £1m,…
Standard financial controls advice assumes a finance team. Separate the person who spends money from the person who approves it, and from the person who reconciles the account. Three roles, three people. A charity with a part-time administrator and five…
Ask a small charity when it last received a fundraising complaint, and the usual answer is never. The Fundraising Regulator defines a complaint as an expression of dissatisfaction, however made, about something done or not done. However made; so the…
A business you’re uneasy about offers £5,000. A donor’s money looks like it came from somewhere you’d rather not ask about. Someone gives generously, and a family member later rings to say they weren’t themselves. The instinct in each case…
A charity wins £20,000 for a project. The project runs, the outcomes are good, the funder is pleased. At year-end, the charity is further behind than it was. Nothing went wrong. The £20,000 covered the sessional worker, the materials and…
The seven principles of trustee decision-making were not written by the Charity Commission. They come from the courts, developed over years of reviewing decisions trustees had already made. That matters for how you use them. They are the test applied…
Being a registered charity does not let you claim Gift Aid. Being recognised by HMRC does not let you claim it either, not on its own. There are three steps, and charities routinely stop after the first two: register with…
A serious incident is an adverse event, actual or alleged, that results in or risks significant harm to people who come into contact with your charity through its work, significant loss of money or assets, damage to property, or harm…