Not only do we know how rewarding and beneficial it is to serve on a charity board (just read Harriet Raine’s story about her trustee journey!), but we also know that the charity sector needs access to your financial expertise. Here’s how we are supporting you in the coming months.

In response to your numerous requests and our recent Community survey, I’m delighted to invite you to our free, CPD-eligible, virtual small charity event this autumn. It’s specifically designed for trustees of charities with few employees and income below £500k p.a.:

• Small charities – tackling financial governance challenges

If you're looking to refine your financial governance practices in a way that is proportionate to your small charity’s resources, this event is tailored to help you take a proactive step towards strengthened resilience. You can also invite your fellow trustees or the team along – non-members are welcome and don’t need to pay either.

It will be recorded, so you don’t need to miss out if you can’t join us live. If you register, you will receive the recordings of the six sessions after the event so that you can catch up in your own time.

This free event not only provides up to 3.5 hours of verifiable CPD just before the end of the current CPD year, but also offers you the opportunity to ask questions to our expert speakers.

We always want to hear about the challenges that you (or your clients) in the charity sector face so that we can provide relevant guidance to you. You can share your insights with ICAEW online or contact me by email.

We heard from you that more guidance is needed on ex gratia payments and disclosure requirements regarding severance payments and other staff (or trustee) related payments, including how these are impacted by non-disclosure agreements (NDAs). If you would like to refresh your knowledge about these topics, we offer support:

• In our upcoming webinar ‘Can NDAs trump charities’ disclosure requirements?’, experts from the legal and accounting profession will advise on disclosure requirements for trustee and staff remuneration. They will cover related party transactions, ex gratia payments and key management personnel disclosure requirements, including how NDAs impact these. Register here.
• Our article ‘Ex gratia payments: understanding your responsibilities and the changes expected from the Charities Act 2022 implementation’ helps you understand what ex gratia payments are, what you need to know about the procedure and disclosure requirements and what changes you can expect from the implementation of the Charities Act 2022.

You also told us that there is still a significant knowledge gap on many trustee boards about reserves and funds. This increases the risk of charities failing to spot the early warning signs of financial difficulties. We are therefore working on a knowledge hub about funds and reserves that is jargon-free and suitable for trustees with no prior knowledge of charity accounting or trust law. Watch this space!

We are also shortly recording the 2024-25 CPD course for charity trustees which we hope to release at the start of the CPD year (1 November). If you haven’t completed the 2023-24 CPD course yet, you can find it here (until 31 October). This covers the fundamentals of being a charity trustee (with financial expertise) and current developments that impact your role.

The Charity Commission’s latest research shows that public trust in charities is at a ten-year high and second only to trust in doctors. In contrast, 3 in 5 people are unaware of the charity register, making them potentially more vulnerable to fraudsters that pose as charity fundraisers.

On a more positive note, trustees are confident that they understand their responsibilities (perhaps our free Trustee Training Modules can claim some credit?). Unfortunately, their confidence in critical areas such as overseeing charity finances and managing conflicts of interests is lower – hopefully our resources will help!

The findings also call into question how well trustees know what happens in their charities. According to trustees, only 3 percent of charities have used Artificial Intelligence (AI). This is a significant difference to the findings of the Charity Digital Skills Report, which found that most charities (61%) are already using AI tools in their day-to-day work or operations – many of them informally. If you are a trustee who believes that your charity does not use AI, think again. Or better, ask! With the right safeguards in place, AI tools may help your charity do more with less, and exploring both risks and rewards should be on every charity’s board agenda.

• Read the Charity Commission’s research findings