Charity trustees are the people who serve on the governing body of a charity. They may be known as trustees, directors, board members, governors or committee members. The principles and main duties are the same in all cases.
Most decisions are made collectively with importance placed on process.
Trustees have and must accept ultimate responsibility for directing the affairs of a charity, and ensuring that it is solvent, well-run, and delivering the charitable outcomes for the benefit of the public for which it has been set up.
Every charity, whether unincorporated or incorporated, has a governing document that guides the trustee board. This document aims to ensure the charity is run in compliance with relevant laws, and that trustees have a duty of prudence and a duty of care.
All charities are not uniform, and as result different types of charities have different legal expectations of their trustees. Unincorporated charities, often referred to as trusts and associations, require their trustees to closely follow the Trustees Act 2000.
Incorporated charities are most often limited by guarantee; the trustees are financially liable up to an agreed amount.
Increasingly larger charities and charities that provide services are choosing incorporated forms. The most popular of these is the company limited by guarantee (CLG). It is also possible for trustee bodies to incorporate under s50 of the Charities Act 1993.
Before you become a trustee, you should find out whether your charity is incorporated or not, as this will affect your legal position and responsibilities.
The great majority of charity trustees serve as volunteers, and receive no payment for their work.
Prince William has become patron of St Giles Trust in its 50th anniversary year.
Nigel Kershaw, chief executive of Big Issue Invest, says too often charity trustees who are enormously skilled in their day jobs lose this edge in board meetings, as they define business as one thing, and charity and philanthropy as another.
There's no disputing that trustees donate a lot of time to the charities they serve, but what about money? Martin Farrell suggests ways for trustees to get involved in fundraising.
Straying from governing documents
Philip Smith explains the process for resolving a situation where the trustees had not complied with requirements under its articles of association.
Offensive behaviour from members
A chief executive asks how to stop abusive behaviour by members.
The Charity Commission has raised concerns with the League Against Cruel Sports, following a complaint made relating to a blog on the charity’s website which threatened to target corporate sponsors of the West Vale Somerset Hunt.
Half of the public do not know what a charity trustee is, but more than a tenth would be interested in becoming one, according to the latest research conducted for Getting on Board, which promotes board-level volunteering.
It may be natural to freeze in a crisis but Martin Farrell says that is exactly when the board needs to act.
Sarah Hodgkinson outlines the benefits that businesspeople can bring to trustee boards.
The chair and the chief executive run the show
The long-standing chair and chief executive have forced two trustees to resign, a chief executive and governance consultant respond.
What to do with trustees who don't do anything
In this article Jan Masaoka looks at short-term and long-term strategies for trustees known as dead wood or worse.
Charities would suffer from lower incomes if trustees were to be paid, warns VAT specialist Socrates Socratous, commenting on Lord Hodgson's claim last week that payment of trustees was inevitable.
Payment of trustees is coming whether we like it or not, according to president of NCVO, Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbott.
A woman, who was the sole trustee of a public hall in Scotland, has been found guilty of embezzling £800 in charitable funds, after a three-year inquiry by the Office of the Scottish Regulator into the Scalloway Public Hall Trust uncovered the fraud.
Married couples as trustees
A married couple who are trustees for the same charity are taking the term 'other half' rather literally. What are the rules on sharing a trusteeship? Jayne Adams advises.
When trustees let charitable activities take a back seat to fundraising
A series of Charity Commission investigations informs this article by Neal Green, the regulator's senior policy advisor, who warns that charities can easily get caught up spending all their resources on fundraising, rather than their stated purpose.
Safeguarding from a governance perspective
The Charity Commission does not have direct statutory responsibility for safeguarding but expects trustees to give high priority to this issue and publishes detailed guidance on its website. Yvonne Spencer takes us through safeguarding best practice.
The Charity Commission has outlined its initial analysis of the Sheffield Hallam University research into public benefit reporting
Trustees should take responsibility for difficult announcements at charities such as redundancies, according to a new report from New Philanthropy Capital.
The Charity Commission has revised its model charity trust deed, constitution and articles of association to give trustees more flexibility over decisions relating to financial benefits for themselves and others connected to them.
The Information Commissioner’s Office has found two charities in breach of the Data Protection Act after the charities’ unencrypted laptops containing sensitive information were stolen.
The Charity Commission and Charity Trustee Networks are joining forces again this year to run Trustees’ Week, set to run from Monday 31 October to Sunday 6 November.
Is the president taking liberties over travelling expenses?
A finance director raises concerns over the president's jet-setting at the charity's expense, particularly as her unaffiliated husband reaps the benefits too.
Improper trustee benefit?
Concerns are raised about trustees using their executive positions in the same charity for commercial benefit. Now what should be done about the conflicts of interest?
Serious failures in due diligence and monitoring
The Charity Commission's Dave Walker outlines the importance of due diligence measures after an inquiry into a charity which raised used an intermediary to distribute funds led to its dissolution.
Fundraising from a governance perspective
One of the most common complaints about boards is that they don’t ‘get’ fundraising. Amanda McLean, former chief executive of the Institute of Fundraising, outlines the basics.
Alzheimer’s UK Research Eduation and Care Ltd “had become nothing more than a fundraising vehicle”, the Charity Commission stated in its report into the governance and use of funds at the five-year-old charity.
The Charity Commission has concluded its report into Broad View Care Ltd after its second statutory investigation which revealed the charity had loaned over £173,000 to its director of nursing to buy a house.
Franklin Mint’s counter-lawsuit against the Diana Fund in 2003 personally named all the trustees and was for a sum of “well over a hundred million dollars”, Andrew Hind revealed in his opening plenary at the Trustee Exchange conference today.
Andrew Hind's opening plenary address to Trustee Exchange 2011
Andrew Hind offers a personal recollection of lessons learned on governance from various trustee and executive positions.
