 |
BULLETIN MAY 2008
Subscriptions to this bulletin are climbing, so if this is your first one…My name is Daryl Martin.
I head up a team of charity specialists whose aim in life is to free you up to do what you are there to do.
This is a monthly bulletin going out to our clients, friends, contacts, friends of friends (well you get the drift),
to keep them in touch with charity law, and anything else that might be helpful for them to know about.
If you have anything to do with the world of charities, please read on, there might be something to excite your attention, who knows.
CRE:
We enjoyed our best year yet at the Christian Resources Exhibition, meeting lots of clients and old friends and making a lot of new friends
into the bargain. We have booked a stand for next year and we have decided to also go to the Exeter Exhibition in January 2009.
CIO:
We are regularly asked how this is progressing and I know several charities that are holding up incorporation until they can transfer direct
to a CIO. There is no new information on the timescales. Best guess is late 08, early 09, even later if an election intervenes. Meantime, if
there is a reason to incorporate best advice is to do it now. The incorporated charity is a tried and tested structure which will easily
convert to a CIO. We might anyway need some time to ‘bed in’ the new structure (if we ever do get it). E-mail us
if you want to talk this over with a specialist.
TRUSTEES’ BRIEFINGS:
We have been successfully running these briefings at our office near Arundel for some months now, usually on a Friday. We get asked regularly
if we use other locations. I went to Towcester this week and we had 11 trustees to the briefing. I thought it went rather well though I haven’t
seen the feedback forms which will tell their own story. I think we now have the level of interest to be able to go further afield,
particularly as charities are offering the use of their premises. So this is what I would like you to do: if you want to register for one of
my trustees’ briefing sessions, e-mail us
with your name, address and contact numbers, and we will start to put together some sessions in the South West, Northern fastnesses and even
unto Glasgow.
GIFT AIDING SHOP DONATIONS:
My recent mention of this subject generated a degree of interest. To keep you up to date I am told that the PDSA have generated almost £500,000
since they started claiming gift aid on items donated to its shops. A number of new charities are installing software to enable them to do it
on an automated basis. Might be more labour intensive if you are a single shop and unable to finance the software, but it’s still worth
checking the feasibility out.
PAXTON CHARITY ACCOUNTS SOFTWARE:
I know I keep harping on about this, but we are getting good feedback and are really rather pleased with it. It’s so simple to use that you
don’t need special training, but if you do we can provide it. Viv has been delivering increasing amounts of training and she is now bringing
on additional trainers to cope with the demand. At some stage we will roll this out to other areas of the UK; if you have a good understanding
of charity accounts and are interested in becoming a Paxton trainer please e-mail us.
TRUSTEES’ CODE OF CONDUCT:
When the last Charities Act was making its tortuous passage through Parliament, the biggest changes in history to company law were being
framed and came into being at about the same time. There’s quite a degree of overlap. It all amounts to very much the same thing when you boil
it down, but nevertheless there is a code of conduct for charity directors under the new Companies Act 2006, which is worth a look. We have some notes to allay any concerns that this code might be more onerous than what is found in the Charities Act. Code of Conduct for Charity Trustees.pdf
CHANGES IN COMPANY LAW:
On the same subject some of our clients are getting letters from top firms of charity lawyers recommending that they consider having their
memorandum and articles revised to reflect changes made by the Companies Act 2006. Their ball park figure is from £2,000 to £4,000 upwards,
all plus VAT. We are providing this service for a fraction of the price. E-mail us for details.
AND FINALLY........
KIDS' ANSWER QUESTIONS ABOUT MOTHERS: This is how some junior children answered some questions about their Mums
Why did God make mothers?
- She’s the only one who knows where the sellotape is
- Mostly to clean the house
- To help us out of there when we were getting born
- He used dirt, just like for the rest of us
- Magic, plus superpowers and a lot of stirring
- God made my mum just the same like he made me. He just used bigger parts
- God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice…and one dab of mean
- They had to get their start from men’s bones, then they mostly use string, I think
- We’re related
- God knew she likes me a lot more than other people’s mums like me
|
|
|---|
|