Charities work under rules that change, and the duty to keep pace sits with the trustees. This is where we cover what the Charity Commission and other regulators expect, how to run a board that works, and the compliance obligations that come with being registered – set out plainly, so you know where you stand and can deal with problems before they grow. Setting a charity up sits here too: registration, HMRC recognition, charitable objects and governing documents.
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…
A conflict of interest arises when what is best for your charity competes with a trustee’s own interests, or with the interests of someone connected to them. Managing it is a legal duty, and it belongs to the whole board…
Conversion turns your charitable company into a charitable incorporated organisation without creating a new charity. No assets change hands, and the charity is not wound up. It keeps its charity number, its name and usually its bank accounts. You apply…
A reserves policy sets out how much of your charity’s freely available money you hold back rather than spend, and why. There is no standard figure, and no correct number of months’ running costs to aim for. The amount is…
What records a charity must keep, what good minutes capture, and how long to hold them Every charity has to keep proper records of its money, its decisions, and the people who run it. Some of it is a legal…
The registration catch, what you need to apply, the checks banks run, and how long it takes Opening a charity bank account is mostly a matter of having the right documents ready and passing the bank’s checks, but there is…
The account types, the banks, the fees, and how to choose the right setup A charity bank account holds and moves a charity’s money in the charity’s own name, rather than an individual’s. Every charity needs one; to keep its…
The legal document that creates your charity and sets the rules it runs by A charity’s governing document is the legal document that creates the charity and sets out how it is run; its rulebook. It states the charity’s purposes,…