An independent review led by NCVO’s Sir Stuart Etherington has recommended a complete overhaul of fundraising and governance in the charity and voluntary sector. The high profile financial collapse of Kids Company, which provided valuable support to vulnerable young people, and concerns on fundraising practices have resulted in two Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee reports that have urged a radical change in charity regulation and practice.
The government and charity regulators are set to introduce a range of proportionate checks relating to grant assessments, guidance for trustees on their financial and reputational responsibilities, new guidelines for auditors and how complaints about charity’s activities are handled and acted upon. This conference agenda has been designed to ensure that all those working in, with and for the UK’s charity sector are fully equipped to be compliant with the new regulatory framework, to drive change in fundraising practice and ultimately build public trust.
At Charity Reform: Implementing Guidance on Fundraising and Governance delegates will learn how new statutory guidance on charity governance, responsibilities, fundraising practice and financial management can be best implemented throughout their organisation.
A new, single regulator has been formed to be an enforcer of the code of fundraising practice across all fundraising organisations in the UK with a remit to proactively investigate breaches of standards. How will stronger sanctions – such as naming and shaming organisations, suspending them from activities and ordering compulsory training – be administrated? What actions will be required to adhere to the new regulatory frameworks?
This session outlines the principle challenges facing fundraising from both a regulatory and professional practice perspective. It offers a sound, practical roadmap to more efficient, effective and appropriate governance and management of fundraising practice moving forward.
Sir Stuart Etherington’s report ‘Regulating fundraising for the future: Trust in charities, confidence in fundraising regulation’ (2015) made it clear that there needs to be a better balance between the public’s right to be left alone and a charities’ right to ask for funding.
New legislation and accounting requirements will require more disclosures about fundraising methods and performance. The risk is a default analysis that is based on cost ratios and dispersal rates. Charities need to move away from perpetuating the thinking that cost ratios are a good way to measure performance. This thinking leads to sub optimal decision making and a spurious and ill-informed comment.
The public committee report on the high profile collapse of Kids Company was damning about the failure of all parties to correct serious weaknesses in the organisation. Despite an outlay of over £35m of public money and intervention by the regulator, the charity was unable to be safeguarded due to severe cash flow problems. Guidance is being revised for auditors so that statutory reporting duties are clear and any concerns about unsustainable operating models are highlighted quicker. Further financial information will be required as part of the grant application process and a comprehensive annual review on all government grants undertaken. How can financial failures be avoided in the future?
Sir Stephen Bubb will consider charity governance in its historical context and explore its current challenges, the options that lie before the sector, and what questions we should be asking to prepare for the future
This presentation will see the report launch of GGI’s charity governance report ‘The Third Sector: Value driven, transparently managed’.
The importance of good governance in the sector has come to the fore in recent years. The current version of Good governance: A code for the voluntary and community sector was revised in 2010, but as the environment in which charities operate has changed, so must the code. Changes in the way the regulator performs its functions and the public’s expectations of the sector mean that trustees need to invest in governance to provide the assurances sought by their stakeholders. This session will highlight the major changes proposed to the governance code in order to assist trustees in leading their charities to deliver the aims of their organisation.
After a tough year for charities, and a significant decline in public trust, Sarah will be speaking about new guidance from the Commission on fundraising, our CC20, what all trustees need to know about fundraising and what charities can do to improve their governance.
The legal, regulatory and political environment for charity fundraising has changes significantly in the last 2 years. In his presentation, Peter will take delegates through those changes – How they happened and what needs to take place within the sector to restore public confidence. He will set out the work being planned at the Institute to strengthen skills, qualifications and standards within the profession of fundraising
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