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BULLETIN AUGUST 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.
INCORPORATED CHARITIES - NEW SERVICE:
Due to the recent implementation of the Companies Act 2006 and Charities Act 1993 as amended, it is imperative
that charitable companies carry out a review of their Memorandum and Articles of Association in light of these changes. There will be
circumstances where the new Company Act overrides what is currently contained in the governing document. From this Autumn, we are
launching a new service tailored to meet the needs of charitable companies. We will carry out a full review of the Memorandum and
Articles of Association, make recommendations to bring it up to date and complete formalities with both Companies House and the Charity
Commission for you. Please
contact us for further information.
CHARITY COMMISSION NEWS:
Facing budget cuts, they are struggling to do all the things they want to do, says Andrew Hind, the CEO.
A major cut will be a reduction in the number of Section 8 enquiries. 341 investigations were opened last year. They are considering
whether to continue to leave enquiry reports on their website for 2 years which can damage a charity that has resolved its issues but
is still having to live with its history. No room for charities to be complacent; the Commission still has powers to suspend trustees and
employees, freeze bank accounts and stop fundraising. The Commission plans to publish general information about investigations to help
trustees who 'struggle to understand increasingly complex regulation'. You can say that again! We need less not more regulation.
CHARITY COMMISSION ENQUIRIES:
Browsing through recent reports makes interesting reading. They replaced the entire board of trustees of a mental
health charity because they weren't up to the job. A trustee of another mental health charity was disqualified because he lied about a
matter being looked at. Bringing the charity into disrepute, they said. The chair of another charity has had to repay £68,000 because of
misconduct and bad governance. (I wonder which Independent Examiner signed the accounts off!). Then there is the Church that is having
to offer to return £250,000 to members (mostly former members) who donated to a building fund that failed to reach its target. There are
a lot of lessons here for any church wanting to set up a building fund. Let us advise you if you are going down this road so you don't
fall into the same traps. (Thanks to Third Way for this material)
GIFT AID ENVELOPES:
My item in the last bulletin got a helpful comment from Ian Clark who is a senior Diocesan Christian Stewardship
Officer and knows much more than I do about these things. He says that best practice is to keep the current and last financial years'
envelopes and at least one month's envelopes (always the same month) for each of the previous 5 years. This meets their six year rule
for auditing. Stand alone declarations need to be kept indefinitely until they expire or are replaced
JOHN LEWIS:
One of my favourite businesses; they set a gold standard in terms of customer service which is why we often shop
there. Their charity Golden Jubilee Trust is always looking for charities of all sizes to take advantage of their employee secondment
scheme. If you have a John Lewis or a Waitrose near you and you need volunteer support, check out their website. At the least they can
give you some tips about how to look after your supporters.
BANK CHARGES:
We have had a couple of clients complain about the charges levied by their bank. Natwest seems to be charging a
small charity around £50 a month which seems rather excessive. It's mostly on cash and cheques paid in and cash withdrawn. The treasurer
of my church says that our bank makes no charges at all (turnover approaching £300,000 this year). If you have any comments to help
charities save some money please
let me know so I can spread any good news.
CATHEDRAL LOSES £80,000:
I sometimes think that charities are more at risk when they have money in the bank than when they are having to
count every penny, and I have stories to support this. This week it was reported that a Cathedral was left £110,000 in shares. They
decided to use this money to restore the bell tower. Instead of putting the money into a CAF account they hung onto the shares. Now they
are only worth about £30,000. Make sure you get good advice, and stay safe. Don't forget that if your balance sheet shows some high asset
figures, this can demotivate your donors. Contact me if you need to talk.
WATER BILLS:
The petition I mentioned in the last bulletin attracted 30,000 signatures. However it's looking a bit like a
done deal. A village hall in Cheshire has seen its annual bill rise from £67 to £1,233, and a Church in Teesside's bill is up from £70
to £800. A spokesman for one water service which made £677m profit last year said, 'the aim is not to increase our revenue but to better
reflect the costs involved'. So that's all right then. I'm not a fan of public ownership but I wonder if there hasn't been a bit too much
emphasis on selling off the family silver. We'll wake up one day and find that Russia owns all our water and China our energy, which
will be very interesting. If Scout Associations and Mothers' Unions start to march on Westminster or wherever Ofwat resides, I
might decide to join them this once.
TRUSTEE OF A MAJOR LONDON CHARITY PAYS THE PRICE FOR FILLING HIS CAR WITH THE WRONG FUEL:
I know I'm stretching it a bit to make it relevant, but a dear friend of mine put petrol in his car instead of
diesel last week, and he is involved in a number of charities, so he probably had a lot on his mind at the time. I mention it because so
many people are doing this (every 4 minutes someone does it!) that the AA and RAC have set up dedicated patrols to help motorists.
Repair costs quoted are between £110 and £5,000 depending on the make of car and how keen the garage is to profit from your mistake.
(The editor of Auto Express talks about the resilience of modern vehicles and then darkly of profiteering) Just be warned. You might be
covered if you are fully comp, but possibly not if you are third party only.
PHISHING:
Whilst I'm doing my Dutch uncle bit, I am finding that phishing e-mails are getting very clever. I am having to
increasingly check this out with Tony, our IT guru, who knows everything! However real it looks, don't hit any buttons, just ignore it
if you have any doubts at all. I had a Paypal phish when I was expecting a refund and I did hit the button. As soon as I realised I
changed my Paypal passwords and identity so no harm was done (I don't think!).
HR & EMPLOYMENT MATTERS:
We are regularly asked for help regarding HR issues, anything from contracts of employment to redundancy,
grievance procedures, equal opportunities, law and so on. It's impossible for us to keep abreast of things in an increasingly complex
and risky area. So we are delighted to announce that we are now working in partnership with Nathalie Moutia of NVM HR Recruitment &
Employment Consultancy. We are already working together on complex cases and I have first hand experience of the high quality of
Nathalie's work. Contact us
whenever you need help or advice in any HR or employment related area. We are also developing training covering:
TRUSTEE BRIEFINGS:
I continue to hold these on a more or less monthly basis. It's increasingly important to be well briefed with so
much change taking place. I learn something new every week. For example I always took it as read that the Chair of a Board of trustees
could have a casting vote provided the articles allow it. I learned this week that this no longer applies to a company set up after 1st
October 2007, whatever its articles say. Now you probably knew this. Lots else has changed under the new Companies Act 2006 which we are
only just beginning to get to grips with. To help you keep up to date we can:
Contact us if we can help.
AND FINALLY........
This is a well known story but it has its own folksy charm, and I need these reminders
(so do you if I know anything about human nature):
ARE YOU A FILLER OR A DIPPER?
Psalm 23 tells us about a cup that overflows. This is the story of an invisible bucket that every person carries.
It determines how we feel about ourselves and others and how we get along with people. How does this bucket get filled? Whenever someone
speaks to you recognising you as a human being, even using your name, your bucket is filled a little..(for the rest ..click here)
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