BULLETIN No. 157: October 2016

My monthly attempt to keep my contacts, friends, friends of friends, etc. in touch with what’s going on in the world of charities. A distillation of the many briefings that arrive on my desk, plus whatever I’ve gleaned from charities I’m currently working with. Always glad to get your comments and suggestions;

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What do we have this month?

1. Job References
2. Personal Donations Down
3. Health & Safety Leaflet
4. Is Your Risk Register a Waste of Time
5. Social Media Toolkit
6. Risk
7. PSCs
8. Does Crime Actually Pay?
9. Asbestos
10. Charity Tax Returns
11. Charity Toolkit
12. Training
13. And Finally...

1. Job References
If you or your team ever gives references make sure they’re only ever given in writing. If you give a verbal reference, even if it’s ‘off the record’, there’s scope for it coming back to bite you later on, especially if it results in the withdrawal of a job offer. You can be misquoted, or what you say could be misunderstood, negligent or discriminatory. (Don’t forget that if you do get into difficulties, we have professional HR expertise on hand.)

2. Personal Donations Down
Donations from individuals fell last year by 5% to £9.6bn, the lowest for 7 years. We don’t know whether this trend will be maintained, but we do know there’ll be winners and losers. It’s important that you have a realistic, achievable fundraising strategy. Barnardo’s has put together a strategy to double its income from fundraising over the next few years; clearly, they plan to be among the winners. Where do you plan to be? Let us know if you need help putting it together support@afvs.org.uk (We still have access to bursary funds to help you put your strategy together.)

I hope you aren’t one of those charities that spend between 60 and 90% of their fundraised income on the cost of collecting it. When the Charity Commission carried out a survey on fundraising costs they found that a number of charities were ‘hiding’ fundraising costs under ‘education,' (Mostly UK subsidiaries of US charities.)

3. Health & Safety Leaflet
A few months ago I mentioned that you can now take down those big Health and Safety posters displayed in your office; the ones that are often found in the kitchen and probably covered in germs, posing their own risk to health and safety. I found this link that takes you to where you can buy the equivalent leaflets in packs of ten. http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/lawleaflet.htm

4. Is Your Risk Register a Waste of Time
An excellent article from Jonathan Orchard of Sayer Vincent. Assessing and managing risk needs to be more than a box ticking exercise.
http://www.civilsociety.co.uk/finance/news/content/22006/is_your_risk_register_a_complete_waste_of_time

5. Social Media Toolkit
I’ve just been reading a great piece of work from Zoe Amar. Download it to brush up your social media skills. http://landing.skillsplatform.org/charitysocialmediatoolkit/. I recently put out on Twitter a lovely article on some terrific examples of social media policies. E-mail me if you’d like a copy and don’t forget my Twitter feeds @martin_daryl & @AFVS1

6. Risk
As part of my autumn homework, I’m planning to prepare some detailed notes on risk and related policies. It could be a primary issue in the next couple of years as cyber criminals get increasingly sophisticated in finding ways to access our bank accounts. (My wife says I should get out more, but this does help keep me out of mischief.)

7. PSCs (Persons of Significant Control)
I can see this running and running. I’m still getting a lot of requests for help. Here’s an example: 6 directors, including Husband and wife and daughter, another husband and wife, and one other. According to my calculations, that means they are all PSCs. If they can appoint another unconflicted director, none of them would be PSCs. That’s my take on it.

A question I’m being asked is what is ‘significant’ control? Look at it this way: is the person you’re thinking about a ‘shadow director’? A ‘shadow director,' according to law, is a person in accordance with whose directions or instructions the directors of a UK limited company are accustomed to act. In short, a shadow director is anyone who is directly calling the shots at a company or an area within the company. - City University London

8. Does Crime Actually Pay?
1 in 5 frauds are carried out by senior management, and 1 in 5 companies have never carried out a risk assessment (PwC). Fake invoices are still a winner in the fraud stakes. Phishing (fraudulent e-mails, trying to elicit information) is getting more sophisticated and targeted up by 21% in 2015 We think we all know about phishing but it still gave the cyber criminals £175m last year.

9. Asbestos
In recent discussions with trustees, it’s evident that lots of us are still not aware of the legislation a few years back, requiring asbestos surveys on all non-domestic buildings built before 2000. It won’t cost the earth, and (probably) won’t mean tons of remedial work, so why not get on with it. What it means is that whenever you get contractors in to carry out work, or set your volunteers safely onto tasks where the fabric might be disturbed, you and they know exactly where you stand, and how to alleviate any risk. More on this in our Charity Toolkit available free to members or a one off copy at £40 each.

10. Charity Tax Returns
I was gently taken to task for not getting it quite right in my last bulletin (item 6). In fact, unincorporated associations do pay corporation tax. I checked this with our tame accountant. He said very firmly that I shouldn’t complicate things; just tell them he said that if they get a tax return, not to ignore it or they’ll be in trouble.

11. Charity Toolkit
The next edition is now out at long last; the summer holidays having played havoc with my expectations. There’s a whole stream of additions so it might be worth a fresh download from the website. The appendix has been simplified, and we’ve added a briefing on Sending Funds Abroad, plus templates for A Conflict of Interest and Anti-Bribery Policy and a Diversity Policy. As a member of AFVS you benefit from all updates of the charity toolkit across the year and access to the PDF file for all your trustees too, we can sell this to non-members, but you would not receive any ongoing updates.

12. Training
Our training on governance helps trustees deepen their understanding of their responsibilities and duties. Emphasis is on finding practical solutions and keeping things simple (or as simple as possible, given the increasing complexity of the charity environment.) We’re building up a list of people who want to come on of our Autumn training days: E-mail Becky for details. bbenford_blows@afvs.org.uk

13. And Finally...

At the end of their first date, a young man takes his girlfriend home. He decides to try for that important first kiss.
With an air of confidence, he leans with his hand against the wall and, smiling, he says to her, 'Mary, how about a goodnight kiss?'
Horrified, she replies, 'Are you mad? My parents will see us!”
'Oh come on! Who's gonna see us at this hour?'
'No, please. Can you imagine if we get caught?'
'Oh come on, there's nobody around, they're all sleeping!'
'No way. It's just too risky!'
'Oh please, please, I like you so much!!'
'No, no, and no. I like you too, but I just can't!'
'Oh yes you can. Please?'
'NO, no. I just can't.'
Out of the blue, the porch light goes on, and the girl's sister shows up in her pajamas, hair disheveled. In a sleepy voice the sister says: 'Dad says to go ahead and give him a kiss. Or I can do it. Or if need be, he'll come down himself and do it.
But for crying out loud tell him to take his hand off the intercom button!'

Go well. Enjoy these fruitful autumn days; thank you for all your support and interest. We look forward to hearing from you with your questions, your suggestions, your requests for help and advice. If you find this bulletin helpful, please could you take a moment to pass it onto others who might appreciate it.
Daryl Martin