Charity Governance & Policies

You should perform a governance review at least every few years. This is considered good practice and demonstrates to beneficiaries, the public, the Regulator and other stakeholders that you’re committed to high standards of governance.

We can assist you with this. Our full and comprehensive governance reviews enable us to identify and resolve any weak spots, gaps or risk areas in your charity’s governance. These are carried out against the standards outlined in the Charity Governance Code — a document endorsed by the Commission and used to benchmark ‘good’ standards of governance.

A governance review might typically include:

• A review and update of the organisation’s governing document.
• A review and update of existing policies.
• The introduction of new policies.
• A review of the organisation’s overall structure (and relevant documents that underpin this structure).
• An assessment of charity processes (including feedback and advice on how your charity conducts trustee meetings and how trustees manage conflicts of interest).

As the ‘rulebook’ of a charity, a governing document underpins how a charity should be governed. It lays the foundations of the organisation and dictates how trustees should manage the charity. 

That’s why having a governing document that works for your charity is critical to your continued success. At times, you’ll need to amend it — and how complex this can be will vary depending on the provisions that already exist, as well as the type of change that trustees wish to make.

Our charity lawyers have a wealth of experience in navigating the complexities that can come with making amendments to governing documents. Whether we’re dealing with a CIO’s constitution or Trust Deed dating back to the 1800s, our team can help to ensure that your governing document caters for your charity’s needs.

Permanent endowment can be difficult to identify and complex to untangle. In some instances, your assets may no longer serve the charity in the way that they were intended to when originally gifted. As such, permanent endowment sometimes needs to be freed from its restrictions to continue benefiting a charity. 

The process of freeing up permanent endowment requires (among other things) permission from the Charity Commission, which will only be given if the trustees can illustrate that the right conditions have been met. We can advise on this process and manage the submission of all relevant applications with the Charity Commission on your behalf.