The ICSA Charity Trustees Guide

Automatic disqualification rules for charity trustees and charity senior positions.

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The Charity Commission, via Gov. This issue is discussed fully in the guide: The essential trustee - purposes and public benefit.

This means you should:. Your governing document and the law. You should take reasonable steps to find out about legal requirements, for example by reading relevant guidance or taking appropriate advice when you need to. This is sometimes called the duty of prudence. Prudence is about exercising sound judgement.

You and your co-trustees must:. You and your co-trustees should put appropriate procedures and safeguards in place and take reasonable steps to ensure that these are followed. The essential trustee - act with reasonable care and skill. The essential trustee - ensure your charity is accountable.

You and your co-trustees must make sure that everything your charity does helps or is intended to help to achieve the purposes for which it is set up, and no other purpose. The objects might be quite broad and general, or they might be quite narrow, specifying what services or activities the charity can provide in order to achieve its purposes. The charity may have specific powers in its governing document. Charities also have powers from the Charities Act and other laws.

You and your co-trustees are responsible for deciding and planning how your charity will carry out its purposes. All charity trustees should, therefore, decide together what activities the charity will undertake, and think about the resources it will need. Trustees of larger charities should take responsibility for setting the charity's strategic aims and direction, and agreeing appropriate future plans. Involving the charity's staff, volunteers and others with an interest in the charity in the planning process can be helpful. As part of your planning process, you should work out what funds and other resources the charity will need and where it will get them.

Thinking about the difference your charity makes may help you to explain more clearly how it benefits the public. It may also help you to decide whether it could be more effective in carrying out its purpose by changing what it does. It is important for a trustee to develop relationships with executive management, beneficiaries and members of the charity.

Interpersonal — Do not let strong personalities dominate the Governance process — encourage group decision making instead. Political — Maintain good relationships among members, volunteers, clients, government agencies and community groups. The National Occupational Standards for Trustees by Laurance and Cornforth gives a more detailed account of good corporate governance in the Voluntary sector in general.

Trustees are individually accountable to the donors both private and public , regulators e. Charity Commissioners and Companies House -depending on legal structure , members if a membership organisation , beneficiaries, partners, employees including volunteers and the general public because of the favoured tax status that charities enjoy. Charity Trustees should ensure they have a general awareness of the legislation that governs charities in the UK.

These free online videos will help to help promote good governance and ensure Trustees of all charities understand their responsibilities. ICAS promotes volunteering opportunities to its members and offers charities seeking CAs to act as trustees or in other voluntary roles the opportunity to promote these for free on its website. The Governance Institute is the professional body helping charity leaders to achieve the highest standards of governance. It offers a range of free guidance notes and tools to its subscribers , keeping them informed about the latest developments in charity law and regulation.

ICSA provides a wealth of professional development resources including qualifications, events, books and on-going training. To find out more visit the ICSA charity hub. NCVO offers a range of ongoing training, and consultancy to help ensure trustees understand their roles and are able to govern effectively. Visit our Beautiful Books page and find lovely books for kids, photography lovers and more.

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Table of contents Responsibilities, risk and regulation; Recruitment, appointment and induction of trustees; Governance structure; Running the board; Trustee - staff relations: About Chris Priestley Chris Priestley is a partner at Withers LLP where he specialises in advising on company and commercial matters for domestic and international charities. His practice encompasses a wide variety of constitutional and restructuring work for charities including mergers and the preparation and negotiation of commercial arrangements including contracts with public bodies.

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