BULLETIN May 2009

CIOs LATEST:
Well, here’s a surprise. The government belatedly discovered that its draft regulations are not appropriate in key areas and need lots of reworking. They are now talking about April 2010 as a ‘realistic’ start date. I would be pleased but amazed if they can keep to this timetable. If they can’t there’s going to be an election which will put it back even further. Don’t hold your breath.

LAND REGISTRY CHANGES:
This might affect churches whose land is not yet registered. From April 6th there will be a requirement to register when a new holding or custodian trustee is appointed. It will also apply when an unincorporated charity is incorporated. (Thanks to Sandy Adirondack)

NEW CHARITY ACCOUNTING THRESHOLDS:
Just a reminder: for accounting periods ending on 1st April 2009 or later:

IE no longer mandatory where income below £25,000 (could still be useful for funding purposes)

Accounts no longer need to be submitted to the CC where income below £25,000

Simple receipts and payments accounts can be adopted where income below £250,000, (does not apply to incorporated charities)

The threshold for a full audit is £500,000 (or £250,000 if the assets are over £3.26m)

CHRISTIAN AID:
Its recent announcement of a 56% increase in fundraising income this year will impact other charities. The additional £40m they are looking for will have to come from either new money or money going to other charities. This is a call to charities to raise their game or risk losing out. (Source: Third Sector). An interesting form of inertia marketing has cropped up. A big international charity is increasing all its monthly direct debit contributions automatically by a pound unless the donor objects. It’s time anyway for those of us who are fortunate to be in work to step up our giving.

GIFT AID:
Charities currently have 6 years to claim gift aid. From April 2010 they will only have 4 years. When Eric Grounds joined Sue Ryder Care he found more than £700,000 in unclaimed gift aid, much of it going back over 4 years. If you need help in this area give us a call.

CHARITY COOKBOOK:
The Congregational & General that worthy insurance company is producing a cookbook, all profits to Christian Aid and other church charities. Celebrated chef Kevin Woodford (who not only was once photographed with Norman Wisdom, but he can also get through a whole show without expletives needing deleting), is giving a demonstration at the CRE, Sandown, 1pm on the 14th May. Kevin is helping to produce the book. Please get behind this and send your recipes to www.loavesfishesandmore.com

GRANTS PROGRAMME FOR FAITH COMMUNITIES:
Volunteering England has a big briefing event planned in Birmingham on May 11th. Worth getting along to this if you are in that general direction. If you can’t make it check the website anyway. Flyer can be found at www.volunteeringengland.org.uk/improvingsupport

CHARITY COMMISSION DISMISSES TRUSTEES:
Thought that would grab your attention. Clearing out old files I came across some interesting nuggets. Complaints made against a Welsh charity that was not being well run resulted in the Charity Commission replacing the entire board with new trustees. They warned the new trustees that they mustn’t allow themselves to be manipulated by dominant employees, which gives you a clue as to what was wrong there.

In another case the board was deadlocked and not able to fulfil its mandate. Mediation had been tried and failed. The Charity Commission used their powers to appoint two new trustees. A special general meeting was called, two of the original trustees were removed and the deadlock was broken. I don’t know what the issues were here, although I can read between the lines. I know at least one charity that is currently deadlocked in this way.

Mediation is a good option but if necessary the Charity Commission will intervene. (Oh, by the way, we do have trained mediators on our books. But just to show I’m not constantly on the scrounge for new business, I’m planning to sit down and write a paper on DIY mediation, let us know if you want a copy). Whilst I’m on the gloomy subject of charities that go astray, a children’s charity disgracefully spent under 1% of its £200,000 income on its charitable objects. The Commission rightly shut them down. The lesson here is, be careful who you entrust your money to.

HMRC:
They always had their account with the Bank of England, which now has far too much to worry about saving the nation from bankruptcy, so they are changing across to RBS and Citi (an American group!) This begins on April 6th but there is a 12 month changeover period so you shouldn’t get caught. So where you can, change your Chaps or Bacs to the new bank details. Once the deadline expires payments made to the old account will be returned and you could face non payment penalties.

CHARITY ASKS BANK OF ENGLAND TO BE ITS BANKER!
Not really much chance if they don’t even want HMRC on its books. A charity which has been given a clean bill of health by the Charity Commission has been designated as a terrorist organisation by the US. They can’t both be right and I would hate to think the CC didn’t do its job properly. The point is that having been declared a terrorist organisation Lloyds TSB wants nothing more to do with them. (Source: Third Sector)

VAT AND TEMPS:
Readers will remember that Vat is now charged on the full amount of the invoice if you have temps supplied through an agency. The way to get round this (as suggested by the friendly taxman) is to pay the staff direct and have the agency invoice you only for their fee. Few charities are VAT registered so this is worth remembering. HMRC is getting very helpful these days.

CHRISTIAN RESOURCES EXHIBITION:
Just a quick reminder that the CRE is from the 12th to 15th May. I will be there most days. Viv, Kay and Wizzy will be there some of the days.

AND FINALLY(1)........

let’s be serious for once. Here are some of the many gems that Theodore Roosevelt came out with (most of them apply more than ever today):

A man who never went to school may steal from a freight car; but if he has a university education he may steal the whole railroad.

Character, in the long run, is the decisive factor in the life of an individual and of nations alike. (Please Lord give us men and woman of character to rule over us).

If you could give the person responsible for most of your troubles a kick in the pants, you wouldn’t sit down for a month.

In any moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing and the worst thing you can do is nothing.

It’s hard to fail, but worse never to have tried to succeed.

Keep your eyes on the stars and your feet on the ground.

Finally, one for me as I am about to go off and do an appraisal: Appraisals are where you get together with your team leader and agree what an outstanding member of the team you are, how much your contribution has been valued, what massive potential you have and, in recognition of all this, would you mind having your salary halved.