Daryl Martin's Monthly Charity Bulletin

BULLETIN No. 177: September 2018

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, suggestions and requests for help.

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What do we have this month?

1. Big Changes Afoot
2. GDPR Blog
3. Wills and Legacy Giving Guide
4. Employees and Volunteers Guidance
5. Four Second Rule
6. Insurance for Charity Staff and Volunteers working Overseas
7. Managing Events Outdoors
8. Corporation Tax for Charities
9. Trustee Training
10. And Finally...

1. Big Changes Afoot
Becky has finally got her way and has moved me onto a different style bulletin; so, from next month it will be a new look and sent out under a new service provider. We hope that you like it? We’ll be moving all our current subscribers automatically over from our current provider Feedblitz to MailChimp, which gives us the much-needed flexibility where generic email addresses are concerned, and GDPR complience. Your feedback is welcomed as always; also, any suggestions or thoughts for future issues.

2. GDPR Blog
Just issued number 3. We’ve over 400 subscribed already; can you help us get to 500? My next briefing will look at Subject Access Requests, and worst-case scenarios, which you really do need to be prepared for. Also, a quick look at the impact of GDPR on board minutes. Drop us a line if you want help subscribing or click on this link https://mailchi.mp/0c0454348292/gdpr-briefing-03-a-simple-test-to-measure-how-compliant-you-are?e=c93c613725

3. Wills and Legacy Giving Guide
I finished this a couple of weeks ago. It’s a response to a member church which wanted a means to encourage their members and supporters to remember them in their wills. If you’re looking to develop a strategy in this area, this is a good starting point. Available free to AFVS members. Almost £3bn left to charities last year, an all-time record. People are clearly up for it.

4. Employees and Volunteers Guidance
We’re told that around 15m people carry out volunteer work at least once a month. If your charity has volunteers or paid staff this guide, free to AFVS members and contains a wealth of practical advice to help you do a better job. Good section on finding new volunteers; we all need more volunteer support, and how best to look after them once they’re on board.

5. Four Second Rule
A couple of weeks ago I witnessed 2 people arguing. It was a serious issue, but they weren’t in a problem-solving mode. The older person decided that enough was enough and without any hesitation proceeded to nominate a punishment for the other person. ‘Ouch, that was harsh’. Then it happened again in a different situation. I think the problem is that we’ve so much going on in our lives that we are all on a hair trigger response time, when really, we should train ourselves to make that pause which can save a lot of pain in our relationships. Email us if you want my briefing on this. (I include a stern warning to you to stop bragging about how busy you are.) support@afvs.org.uk

6. Insurance for Charity Staff and Volunteers working Overseas
Lack of basic insurance left an Army veteran facing a £250,000 bill and possible imprisonment in Peru following a fatal car crash which he says was not his fault. The accident happened in 2013. He was working out there with a UK charity. Nothing was heard for 5 years then suddenly he received a 94-page document telling him that he faced various charges, even though he had evidence that showed his innocence. Then he discovers that the charity did not take out appropriate insurance cover to enable him to fight the action. He’s now trying to raise £250,000; the charity won’t help apparently. He is calling on charities and their volunteers to make sure they take out legal insurance for this sort of situation. He said: “If you’re a volunteer, question if you are absolutely, and completely covered.”. One of our members reported to us that their insurers had withdrawn their liability cover because they operated overseas. (In fact, they didn’t operate overseas, and they didn’t get the letter the company said they had sent).

Do take care that your insurances are in order, particularly as insurers are tightening up when they send out renewal reminders. We have an insurance partner that works closely with us and can offer AFVS members a discount on any quotes given but are there to help non-members too. If you require a quote or wish to speak to them about any insurance matters, then please email us so we can forward your details over support@afvs.org.uk

7. Managing Events Outdoors
Remember that dreadful accident where a gale force wind carried off a bouncy castle, and a child died. A manslaughter charge resulted. Most accidents can be avoided by better planning. I’ve put together a useful briefing, including a checklist. Outdoors events are generally over for the year, but if you are beginning to plan for next year ask us for a copy, and make sure that you have sufficient insurances in place to cover all eventualities.

8. Corporation Tax for Charities
It’s a common misconception that charities aren’t liable for Corporation Tax. I’ve organised a briefing on this if you need to be reminded. ‘Ten Things Charities Need to Know about Corporation Tax’.

9. Trustee Training
We’ve some slots left for the autumn. Email Becky (bbenford_blows@afvs.org.uk) if you’d like more information. on what we can do for you. Over the summer I’ve developed a distance induction package. It’s ideal when I’ve carried out group training, and one or two trustees couldn’t make it, or new trustees want to get up to speed but are a good distance away. Again, let us know if this interests you.

10. And Finally...

I offer you a simple blessing from John Birch

The beauty of God

be reflected in your eyes,

the peace of God

reside within your heart,

and the love of God

be the focus of your life,

this day and all days.

Thank you for your encouraging messages. We look forward to hearing from you with your questions, your suggestions, your requests for help and advice. Go well and enjoy your summer.

If you find this bulletin helpful, could you take a moment to pass it onto others who might appreciate it.

Daryl Martin

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BULLETIN No. 176: August 2018

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What do we have this month?

1. GDPR Update
2. New Legal Helpline
3. Bursary Funded Fundraising Helpline
4. Legacy Giving
5. Our Iceberg is Melting
6. New Automatic Disqualification Rules
7. Employing a Friend or Relative
8. Charity Commission (1)
9. Marketing Campaigns
10. Charity Commission (2)
11. Trustee Training
12. Can Expenses be Gift Aided?
13. CRE 2018 (17 – 19 October)
14. And Finally...

1. GDPR Update
To spare my readers who lose the will to live every time they see these four dread letters, we’re issuing separate GDPR briefings. We’ve tried to list everyone who’s been in touch with us asking for support. We plan to send out a regular briefing to provide a regular update and keep you up to speed with what’s going on generally. We’ll take note of what the ICO is up to and smile indulgently at the big players getting fined lots of money for their inability to follow what are often basic procedures. We’ll remind readers when they need to review their practices, and gently nag them in case standards start to slip.

Our first briefing went out mid-July and can be read and subscribed to via this link; https://mailchi.mp/cacb7258d438/gdpr-briefing-an-introduction?e=5c66d7a691

The next briefing will be in a couple of weeks and will include some thoughts on how GDPR affects Recruitment Practices. If you’re involved in recruitment, you might find it helpful.

2. New Legal Helpline
In September we plan to trial a new service for AFVS members – a legal helpline offering a free 30-minute telephone consultation to discuss any legal queries or matters affecting their charity. This service will be provided by our legal associate, David Kirby of DK Legal, a solicitor with ten years’ experience in the charity sector. If you have an issue you’d like to discuss with David, let us know, and we’ll put you in touch. More information about the services David offers is available on his website: https://dklegal.co.uk/

3. Bursary Funded Fundraising Helpline
This is a current service that is being revamped and will also run from September. This service gives our members access to a service that offers professional guidance to increase your fundraising success. We offer a bursary funded health check phone consultation, offering a pre-bookable time slot of up to 1 hour of advice to include a telephone call and review of your current fundraising activities. This service will run alongside a calendar service, so you can pre-book your time, send in a completed overview form prior to the call to ensure a beneficial review, with the option for ongoing fundraising mentoring or consultation if required.

4. Legacy Giving
When I announced that I was putting together a briefing on Charity Legacies, a valued friend who knows much more than I do sat down and wrote a briefing that I couldn’t improve upon. It’s being fine-tuned with a couple of sections to be added and will be available to AFVS members by the end of August.

5. Our Iceberg is Melting - Changing and Succeeding Under any Conditions
The world is changing rapidly and dramatically in many different ways, and we have to look for ways to respond to the challenges ahead of us. Change is rarely easy. Someone recommended this book. I read it in an hour and ordered extra copies for my team. We heard recently that PWC is getting rid of landlines for their 18,000 staff; it’s all about ‘Agile Working’. We’re currently looking at all our processes to make clear judgements on what changes are needed. Let us know if you’d like us to review your operations support@afvs.org.uk

6. New Automatic Disqualification Rules
These rules are now in operation. They apply to all trustees and many senior staff. Our new Trustee Induction Guide contains detailed information. A PDF copy is free to AFVS members, and a small charge for non-members to be sent out a hard copy.

7. Employing a Friend or Relative
Last month I offered a briefing on employing a trustee. It’s not unusual. This briefing is a logical follow-on. Giving a job to a friend or a relative can be an unmitigated disaster or an enriching success. Email us if you’d like my briefing on the subject (or even the one on employing a trustee).

8. Charity Commission (1)

The CC is making changes to updating your charity's details:

Trustee names: full legal names of all trustees will be required and displayed. Where they hold variants of a trustee name with different charities, they will now hold one.

Trustee contact details: Where a trustee has provided different contact details for the different charities to which they are linked, they will ask for confirmation of their primary residential address. These details will then be maintained by all of a trustee’s charities. Any update to their details will be shared across all their linked charities. They will also use trustee email addresses to tell them about changes other people make to their record(s). The contact for a charity will now have to be a named individual.

Charity public address: they’ve separated out the public-address details for the charity from those of the named charity contact to allow charities to direct all communication to an appropriate location or address.

Third party contacts: they will retain trusted third-party contacts so that specialist advisors can submit the accounts. These details won’t be available for change in the initial launch of the service, so take time now to confirm they’re correct for the forthcoming Annual Return 2018 cycle.

9. Marketing Campaigns
I made a new contact recently; Tim who specialises in email campaigns. This is what he says: “Email marketing can produce a huge return, yet many organisations are missing out on the huge opportunities it offers. Despite having a large database, some organisations don’t know how to properly structure a successful GDPR compliant email marketing campaign because they don’t fully understand the new GDPR legislation or are afraid of it. If this resonates with you and you want to learn how to expand and make the most of your database post GDPR, then give 3d Consulting Services a call on 01798 873421 and ask to speak with Tim Dodd.”

10. Charity Commission (2)

a) They plan to recruit 85 additional staff after receiving a £5m increase to its budget. This extra £5m a year from the Treasury will carry on until it’s able to start charging charities for regulation.

b) They saw a 36 per cent increase in the number of compliance cases opened in the year, as well as a record number of applications for registration (36% didn’t succeed)

c) A major focus remains improving safeguarding in the voluntary sector. Significant numbers of charities which should have had safeguarding policies did not appear to do so.

d) The number of compliance cases rose from 1,664 last year to 2,269. In addition, serious incident reports rose by 29 per cent to 2,819, while statutory inquiries rose 19 per cent to 135 (excluding a single inquiry last year which covered 74 connected charities).

e) The number of disclosures of “matters of material significance” by auditors rose from 17 to 194, year-on-year, after the Commission reminded auditors of their duties to make disclosures.

f) There were 78 uses of new powers given to the Commission in the last Charities Act, including the disqualification of 14 individuals and six official warnings, the regulator said.

The Statistics stand out. One out of every three applications for charity status was rejected. I suspect these were mostly DIY applications. We can provide specialist help in this area. It’s increasingly clear that some thousands of charities lack effective safeguarding policies. If this is you, we can help. We plan to run safeguarding courses for trustees, staff and volunteers in the autumn. Let us know if you’d like details.

11. Trustee Training
We’re trying to organise a trustee training evening in Kent and need to get numbers up to a decent level. Let us know if you’d like details. We also need to set something up at a couple of venues in the Midlands support@afvs.org.uk

12. Can Expenses be Gift Aided?
A question I’m often asked. Yes, the ideal is for the trustees to claim their expense (and anyone else entitled to claim for expenses come to that), and then donate the money back and gift aid it.

Now, you must physically pay the money out; it must leave your bank. It can then be handed back as a separate transaction. If you don't do this the gift aid is not legal, and HMRC will be cross. Ther is no way around this. It’s the same as if you lent money to the charity and wanted to waiver it, and then gift aid it as a donation.

HMRC is very picky on these points. Codes of ethics can help to ensure 'coherent and consistent behaviour' among staff and volunteers.

13. CRE 2018 (17 – 19 October)
AFVS, IEL & VATADVICE will be exhibiting at the CRE 2018 (http://creonline.co.uk/exhibitors-cre-2018/)

Come and visit us on stands S74 & S75. We look forward to seeing you there!

Daryl is also running a seminar on “Want to know more about becoming a trustee or charity administrator?”

Seminar Title: Becoming an effective trustee or charity administrator
Speaker: Daryl Martin
Day/Date: Tuesday 16th October
Time: 3.00 pm – 3.45 pm
Room: Seminar room 3

For your complimentary tickets, please click on the link https://eventdata.uk/Visitor/CREcomp.aspx?TrackingCode=AFVS

14. And Finally...

Things Our Mothers Taught Us:

My mother taught me the importance of prayer: ‘You’d better pray that will come out of the carpet’.
My mother taught me about time travel: ‘If you don’t sort yourself out I’m going to knock you into the middle of next week’.
My mother taught me the importance of planning: ‘Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you’re in an accident’.
My mother taught me irony: If you don’t stop crying, I’ll give you something to cry about’.
My mother taught me the science of osmosis: ‘Shut your mouth and eat your dinner’.
My mother taught me about stamina: you’ll sit there ‘till all that spinach is gone’.
My mother taught me about weather: ‘This room looks like a tornado has gone through it’.
My mother taught me about the joys of anticipation: ‘Just wait ‘till we get home’.
My mother taught me humour (black humour): ‘When that lawnmower cuts off your toes, don’t come running to me’.
My mother taught me to eat vegetables: ‘If you don’t eat your vegetables, you’ll never grow up’.
My mother taught me genetics: ‘You’re just like your father’.
My mother taught me roots: ‘Shut the door, you weren’t born in a barn’.
My mother taught me about justice: ‘One day you’ll have kids, and I hope they’ll turn out just like you’.

Thank you for your encouraging messages. We look forward to hearing from you with your questions, your suggestions, your requests for help and advice. Go well and enjoy your summer.

If you find this bulletin helpful, could you take a moment to pass it onto others who might appreciate it.

Daryl Martin

BULLETIN No. 175: July 2018

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What do we have this month?

1. AFVS Website
2. GDPR Update: ICO Fines Charity £100k
3. How You Handle a Complaint is Important
4. How Will Artificial Intelligence Impact Your Charity?
5. Legacy Income not Growing
6. New Automatic Disqualification Rules
7. Employing a Current or a Former Trustee
8. Engaging Trustees in Fundraising
9. Switching Your Incorporated Charity into a CIO?
10. Charity Shops being Charged Business Rates
11. VAT Registration Threshold
12. Trustee Training
13. Code of Ethics
14. How Can We Help You?
15. And Finally...

1. AFVS Website
After a lengthy catalogue of disasters we managed to get our new website operational. We’re not celebrating quite yet as there’s still a fair amount of work in progress. We’ve strengthened our IT resources, and this will help us get where we need to be. The library isn’t yet operational; if you want something just pop an email request across.

2. GDPR Update: ICO Fines Charity £100k
This headline has got a lot of people in charities worried, fearing they might be next. The plain facts are that this particular charity had been complacent and hadn’t put its house in order. If you’re working on it, taking it seriously, but haven’t quite got there, you won’t get penalised. Don’t forget that many of the early adopters wish they’d hung back a bit; they’re paying a heavy price. I have noticed that whilst charities generally have been getting their act together, many small businesses haven’t done the same. We’ve set up a service to help small businesses get GDPR compliant. Pass the word along if you know anyone who needs our help.

3. How You Handle a Complaint is Important
Most customer relationships don't stumble because something went wrong. Your best customers and clients know that mistakes happen. It's what happens next that can cripple the relationship. How we recover from a miss is where the possibilities lie. If you're open, engaged and focused on making things better, the door is open to build a resilient, ongoing partnership. Not just for customers, but for all the people we work with and count on.

Too often, we're so focused on not hiccupping, or so filled with shame and blame, we fail to allocate enough emotional labour to do the most important part--making things right. Not with a refund or a basket of fruit, but by truly seeing the other person, understanding what happened and doing the hard work to move forward. (Thanks to Seth Godin for this timely reminder)

4. How Will Artificial Intelligence Impact Your Charity?
Timeframe for change? Everyone accepts that change is coming, but when? There are differing views about the pace of the change and the spread of adoption. We could spend the next 5 – 10 years understanding and applying AI to improve efficiency, with more radical change to follow. My view is to argue for a more aggressive timeframe. There could also be differences across the market. Bigger charities may be able to invest and adapt quickly, leaving smaller organisations much further behind. On the other hand, smaller organisations could actually be quick adopters, as AI is integrated into existing software. As costs come down smaller charities that are sufficiently nimble will be able to quickly adapt to new opportunities. We are about to embark on a major restructuring process to enable us to make the changes that are going to be needed to look after our clients and add value to help them do a better job.

This will affect all of us. Change or die.

5. Legacy Income not Growing
I’m in the middle of preparing an extensive briefing on legacies. I’ve put 11,000 words together, but they aren’t necessarily in the right order to quote Eric Morecambe. Let me know if you’d like a copy when it’s completed.

6. New Automatic Disqualification Rules
From August 1st every existing trustee, new trustees coming on board, and senior staff should complete and sign the declaration. Since my mention of this last month, I’ve had readers write in to ask if there is a template putting this declaration and the HMRC declaration together into one document. My colleague Jo has very kindly done this in our New Trustee Induction Guide, essential reading for new trustees. Write to us for a copy, and don’t forget to check whether anyone needs a waiver. If you need help email me.

7. Employing a Current or a Former Trustee
It’s not unusual. It’s not impossible as some would say, but it is a tricky process. Contact us if this is something you need help with. I might even pull a briefing together on this issue.

8. Engaging Trustees in Fundraising
Many UK charities are struggling financially, yet only half of trustees are actively involved in fundraising. Admittedly, many trustees find fundraising a challenge and others are simply not able to make a significant financial donation. However, there are lots of opportunities for them to support your work, many that are easy, and anyone can do. In doing so, may learn a lot more about you than in a board meeting and, in all probability, enjoy themselves. Your trustees probably have more than enough on their plates, but if you want some ideas to involve them in fundraising, send me an e-mail. Somethings are more likely to work when they begin at the top.

9. Switching Your Incorporated Charity into a CIO?
I prepared my briefing. It’s already helped a couple of charities decide to make the switch, and we’re working with them on the conversion process. Let me know if you’d like a copy of the briefing.

10. Charity Shops being Charged Business Rates
The Air Ambulance Service has said it’s been charged 100 per cent business rates for two of its charity shops, in what is believed to be the first instance of a local council successfully refusing to give a charity shop the normal discount.

Charity shops usually receive mandatory 80 per cent business rates relief and can be offered the remaining 20 per cent relief at their local authority’s discretion. However, recently local authorities have started trying to charge charity shops full business rates if they are leased through a trading subsidiary.

11. VAT Registration Threshold
HMRC has been consulting on the level of the VAT registration threshold, and it is possible that charities will be affected by the outcome.

The current registration threshold is £85,000. This is the value of ‘taxable’ supplies made, so excludes donation income. This high threshold means most charities are not required to register for VAT.

The HMRC consultation asks whether this threshold should (1) remain as it is, (2) be significantly increased, perhaps to £500,000, or (3) be significantly reduced, perhaps to £25,000. There are lots of statistics available to demonstrate the impact of these alternatives.

Any decision is probably 2-3 years away, so there is no need to panic! We think the most likely outcome is a reduction. This will generate extra revenue which the Treasury urgently needs. However, we think there will be plenty of warning to allow taxpayers to prepare for the change.

So, add to your Trustees’ Agenda; ‘How will a reduction in the threshold affect us?’ Consider the administrative costs of VAT registration. We are here to assist.

12. Trustee Training
I’ve one planned for July then nothing, which is how I like it in the summer. If you want to look at something in the autumn, let us know.

13. Code of Ethics
Fed up with the dreadfully low standards set by more than a few of mostly the bigger charities from mainstream charities to Oxfam and Save the Children, people are beginning to talk about the importance of having trustees sign up to a code of ethics. In a briefing released yesterday, the Institute of Business Ethics, says that, given recent negative newspaper headlines about charities, codes of ethics can help to ensure 'coherent and consistent behaviour' among staff and volunteers.

“Each charity should have an individual code of ethics in place to ensure the highest standards of integrity exist in the organisation and to improve trust in the sector, a new paper says. This can provide reassurance to funders, donors, partners and sponsors.”

My Charity Toolkit and New Trustee Induction Guide contains a Code of Conduct which I recommend you put in place if you haven’t already.

14. How Can We Help You?
The list of our support services gets ever longer:

All Aspects of Accounts including Yearend and Bookkeeping
Migration to Xero and QuickBooks Online
Legacies
Mentoring
VAT Advice
Outsourcing (Book-keeping, Virtual FD, Gift Aid etc.)
Data Protection (GDPR) Compliance
HR Support
Legal Advice
Trading Issues (including Charity Shops)
Community Halls
Fundraising: Reviewing, Advising, Mentoring, Bid Writing
Training, Including Online Learning
General Advice and Consultancy
Extensive Library of Briefings and Policy Templates

Contact us if you need help in any of these areas.

15. And Finally...

With so much going on we need all our wits about us.

A prayer of blessing:

Bless my eyes Lord,
That they may see below the surface; see what's beneath the masks so often worn.
Help me to drink in the beauty of the world, but be mindful of the hunger, suffering, injustice, loneliness and oppression in my world
Help me to know when to open my eyes,
and when to close my eyes.

Bless my ears Lord, That I may hear what's truly being said.
Give me wisdom to accept what is true and reject what is false.
Help me to find oases of silence to calm my soul in a noisy world.

Bless my mind Lord; may it feed and grow on you,
And see all things from heaven's perspective

Thank you for your encouraging messages. We look forward to hearing from you with your questions, your suggestions, your requests for help and advice. Go well and enjoy your summer.

If you find this bulletin helpful, could you take a moment to pass it onto others who might appreciate it.

Daryl Martin

BULLETIN No. 174: May/June 2018

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What do we have this month?

1. Data Protection (GDPR) Update
2. Safeguarding
3. Charity shops Asked to pay full Business Rates
4. Legacy Income not Growing
5. New Automatic Disqualification Rules
6. When to Accept; When to Refuse a Donation
7. HMRC Update
8. Trustee Welcome Pack
9. Switching Your Incorporated Charity into a CIO?
10. Charity Commission News
11. Trustee Training
12. Online Learning
13. How can we help you?
14. And Finally...

1. Data Protection (GDPR) Update
By the time you read this, the May deadline has passed. If you haven’t issued your privacy policy and notice, might be worth checking with us before you do; it’s increasingly clear that there’s a lot of confusion, with too many organisations making decisions they may come to regret. Too much scaremongering. We’re standing by the advice we’ve given (although, we had a few sleepless nights with ‘experts’ disagreeing with us.) Most organisations have decided by now which way they will go for better or worse. Many millions are experiencing deep joy in the certain knowledge that their decisions not to press the ‘opt-in’ button will reduce their inboxes enormously. People are not even ‘opting in’ to organisations they quite like hearing from; I’m told a 10 - 20% response rate is about what charities are getting. Contact us if you’d appreciate some guidance (but not if you want to argue). GDPR isn’t going to go away; we’ll carry on working with organisations to help them stay safe. Here’s a quote I read today: Toni Vitale, the head of regulation, data and information at the law firm Winckworth Sherwood, said ‘many of the GDPR requests currently flooding our inboxes are needless paperwork’.

If you need help writing or rewriting your Privacy Notice let us know. We have reviewed quite a number of these now!

2. Safeguarding
Right now, it does rather look like the bigger the organisation, the poorer their safeguarding practices (not practises not policies!). I hear today that a chair resigned because his charity allegedly spent £100k, largely on trying to bury safeguarding issues rather than bring them into the light. I sat in on a board meeting recently where the CEO had to bring before the board a safeguarding issue that had just come to light. His total transparency led to a high-quality discussion with some excellent decisions about how to go forward being made.

3. Charity shops Asked to pay full Business Rates
Councils have been threatening to charge charity shops full business rates for some time now - it’s a huge subject. The average profit margin from charity shops is about 20% of turnover - and with an average turnover of around £80k, this means about £16k contribution (say £20k max) towards the charity's core business. If charities are suddenly faced with having to pay full business rates, a good 50% of all charity shops nationally would have to close. Given the massive reduction in government and local authority funding available now, UK registered charities are an absolute lifeline - needs are greater, but the pot of money is becoming ever smaller. If local councils miss seeing this and end up 'taking it out' on charities operating shops in their community (mostly through pressure from other for-profit traders, ignorance and/or sheer greed/desperation), regardless of whether the shop is operating under a trading company or not, then just who will pick up the cost? It would be a disaster. (Thanks to David Farndale for this timely warning.) David told me about The Demos report: Measuring the social value of charity shops…”GIVING SOMETHING BACK. Let me know if you’d like a copy.

4. Legacy Income not Growing
If the confused implementation of GDPR results in a fall off of donations, legacy income will become increasingly important. We’ve had a request from members to come up with some recommendation on this subject. Failing an in-house volunteer, I’m trying to steel myself to do some work on it. (Are there any readers who can help on this?)

Legacy Foresight tell us from a recent survey that legacy growth rate is not increasing; it’s actually down by just over 1%.

5. New Automatic Disqualification Rules
Knowing what busy lives you lead, this is one that some of you may have missed. These 2 links take you to declarations that must be completed by every trustee and senior manager in place now, and anyone coming on board at any future date. It comes into force on August 1st. I suspect you will have to tick a box next time you complete your annual return. If anyone in your organisation will be caught out by this, you can apply for a waiver. Any issues let me know, and I’ll do what I can to help. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/automatic-disqualification-rule-changes-guidance-for-charities#preparing-for-the-rule-changes

6. When to Accept; When to Refuse a Donation
I cover this in my training, but in case you’ve missed out here’s another link for you. A guide from the Institute of Fundraising. https://www.civilsociety.co.uk/news/institute-of-fundraising-publishes-guide-on-accepting-and-refusing-donations.html

7. HMRC Update
Sandy Adirondack in her inimitable style has posted a detailed summary of the latest changes. Most of it will be taken care of by your payroll people, but you need to know about new rules for Benefits in Kind, particularly where salary sacrifice is concerned; also applies to similar schemes, including gym membership (as if!), medical insurance and mobile phones. It’s well worth subscribing to Sandy’s updates (legalupdate@sandy-a.co.uk). Let me know if you need any specific help on any of this.

Tax-free childcare has now been fully rolled out for all eligible parents. In a related change, childcare vouchers – which were supposed to close to new entrants on 5 April will remain open until 4 October.

8. Trustee Welcome Pack
The Charity Commission has issued a pack to welcome new trustees. They send it out to new trustees. Might be worth making this a part of your induction pack as there could be a delay advising the Commission of new trustees. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/charity-trustee-welcome-pack

9. Switching Your Incorporated Charity into a CIO?
I surprised myself with this one having taken the view that there wasn’t any point in a well-run charity making the change. Then I was invited to drive 150 miles to make a presentation on the issue which meant I had to give it some considered thought (and take some advice; thanks Rachel). I came up with some good reasons to convert. If a dozen or so of my readers writes in and ask for a briefing, I’ll stir myself up to write one; At least it’ll make a change from GDPR.

10. Charity Commission News
In case you missed it, here’s yet another link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/charity-commission-news-issue-60/charity-commission-news-issue-60
(You might take special note of the article on Safeguarding.)

11. Trustee Training
Training in May has gone very well. I’m even beginning to get asked back. A few slots are available in June and July.

12. Online Learning
The Effective Trustee course is worth looking at if you’re too far away for me to visit cost effectively. I can give you a decent discount if you write to me. Our GDPR 2 hour awareness course is still available. https://www.bowringandjazz.com/product/gdpr-compliance/

13. How can we help you?
The list of our support services gets ever longer:

All Aspects of Accounts including Yearend and Bookkeeping
Migration to Xero and QuickBooks Online
Mentoring
VAT Advice
Outsourcing (Book-keeping, Virtual FD, Gift Aid etc.)
Data Protection (GDPR) Compliance
HR Support
Legal Advice
Trading Issues (including Charity Shops)
Community Halls
Fundraising: Reviewing, Advising, Mentoring, Bid Writing
Training, Including Online Learning
General Advice and Consultancy
Extensive Library of Briefings and Policy Templates

Contact us if you need help in any of these areas.

14. And Finally...

A snatch of this crept into my ‘Serendipity’ (If you haven’t seen it I’ll send you a copy and promise you’ll enjoy it), without knowing where it came from. I found it just this week in a garden centre outside Birmingham, and I take pleasure in sharing it with you.

All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten: Robert Fulghum,

1. Share everything.
2. Play fair.
3. Don't hit people.
4. Put things back where you found them.
5. CLEAN UP YOUR OWN MESS.
6. Don't take things that aren't yours.
7. Say you're SORRY when you HURT somebody.
8. Wash your hands before you eat.
9. Flush.
10. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
11. Live a balanced life - learn some and drink some and draw some and paint some and sing and dance and play and work everyday some.
12. Take a nap every afternoon.
13. When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, stick together.
14. Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: The roots go down, and the plant goes up; nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
15. Goldfish and hamster and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we.
16. And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned - the biggest word of all - LOOK.”

“Think what a better world it would be if we all - the whole world - had cookies and milk about three o'clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankets for a nap. Or if all governments had a basic policy to always put things back where they found them and to clean up their own mess. And it is still true, no matter how old you are when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.”

Thank you for your encouraging messages. We look forward to hearing from you with your questions, your suggestions, your requests for help and advice. Go well.

If you find this bulletin helpful, could you take a moment to pass it onto others who might appreciate it.

Daryl Martin

BULLETIN No. 173: April 2018

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What do we have this month?

1. Data Protection (GDPR) Update
2. Anti-Money Laundering Policy
3. Seth Godin on Meetings
4. Charity Governance Code
5. VAT Update; Your Church Hall might be a Village Hall
6. Sending Funds Abroad
7. Celebrity Endorsements
8. Is Your Charity Missing Out on Gift Aid?
9. Trustee Training
10. On-Line Learning
11. Career Opportunity
12. How can we help you?
13. And Finally...

1. Data Protection (GDPR) Update
Your charity should by now be at the position where a Data Protection Policy is ready to be posted onto your website. Contact us if you need our help to get a policy finalised. We’re getting policies in to be reviewed most days. They’re mostly fit for purpose; one thing that can get overlooked is a section on Data Subject Rights. Once you have a policy agreed, that’s the easy bit; the hard bit is to then get the procedures into place. We’ve strengthened our team by bringing in Aileen, an ISO specialist who has added GDPR to her armoury. Contact us if you need our support.

2. Anti-Money Laundering Policy
This could be a useful policy to put into your collection. Write to me for a copy; it includes reference to anti-terrorism and is a useful reminder to staff and volunteers to take care of money coming in, as well as money going out.

3. Seth Godin on Meetings
Seth sends out a couple of blogs a week, he probably has a hundred times more readers than I have. This is him at his best, encouraging us to get our meetings up to standard: Can your next meeting (not conversation, not presentation, but meeting) pass this test?

There’s one person responsible.
The time allocated matches what's needed, not what the calendar app says.
Everyone invited is someone who needs to be there, and no key party is missing.
There’s a default step forward if someone doesn't come.
There’s no better way to move this forward than to have this meeting.
The desired outcome is clearly stated.The organiser has described what would have to happen for the meeting to be cancelled or to stop midway. 'This is what I want to happen,' and if there's a 'yes,' we're done.
All relevant information, including analysis, is available to all in plenty of time to be reviewed in advance.

If you score a seven, count me in.

4. Charity Governance Code
Findings of a recent survey found that leaders of small and medium-sized charities, have a high level of awareness of the new code published last summer, and are using it to improve their governance. Readers may recall that I prepared a summary of the code, which will help boards get to grips with it. Let me know if you would like a copy. Better still, get us along to deliver our ‘Effective Trustee’ session. We can send you a list of the areas covered.

5. VAT Update; Your Church Hall might be a Village Hall
Les Howard the charity VAT specialist we work with frequently, comes across situations were a Church builds an extension or new hall and contacts him to ask whether its construction may be zero-rated for VAT. Thanks to recent legal developments, more projects are eligible for zero-rating, giving a welcome 20% cost saving. Leaving aside the question of whether the project involves the construction of a new building, a Church can use the ‘Village Hall’ rule to secure zero-rating. This is especially useful where there will be some paid third-party lettings.

You need the following:

Evidence of your intention to construct the hall for community use;
An estimate of the proportions of Church use and community use;
The proposed management of the hall.
The third point is important. HMRC still insist that the hall is run by a management committee made up of community groups. Case law has consistently said that this is NOT necessary. A Church may therefore own and manage the hall, as long as it was built to meet the needs of the local community.

Contact les@vatadvice.org for help.

6. Sending Funds Abroad
A special thank you to all those who responded to my call for help last month. I summarised your responses into a 2-page briefing. Ask for a copy if this interests you.

7. Celebrity Endorsements
Charity boards often think that getting a celebrity on board their latest fund-raising drive will solve their problems. Not necessarily so, says a recent Third Way survey. 70 % said that it wouldn’t affect their decision to make a donation. However, even more said it was unacceptable to pay a celebrity for their endorsement, as several big charities found to their cost when they paid big fees to get a name on board. If you find a household name with a passion for your particular work, make the most of it; they probably won’t want a fee in such a case.

8. Is Your Charity Missing Out on Gift Aid?
Apparently, charities are missing out on £560m of Gift Aid every year due to a lack of awareness about how the scheme works. An HMRC research report, published recently, says that Gift Aid is not claimed on about a third of eligible donations. A third of donors in the research had a 'fairly poor' understanding of Gift Aid, and 11 percent said their understanding of the scheme was “poor'. The government has written to 50,000 small charities to raise awareness and understanding of the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme.

GASDS, which allows charities to claim Gift Aid-like relief on up to £8,000 of small cash donations each year without individual paperwork. As I travel around delivering my training, I am regularly surprised by the numbers of charities that aren’t up to speed in this area. Let us know if we can help.

9. Trustee Training
May is pretty full; we can take some bookings for June, then we are into summer holidays, where grandchildren are prioritised.

10. On-Line Learning
The online learning courses I’ve been telling you about are now live. My first course is ‘All About Trustees’. It’s in 3 parts. There’s also a small course on Charity Trading, and of course the 10-hour GDPR course. The 2-hour GDPR Awareness course is also now live. We’re able to offer discounts on these courses to members so let Becky know before you sign up.

www.bowringandjazz.com

11. Career Opportunity
St Mary’s Church, Longfleet, (SML) has an exciting new job opportunity for a Facilities Manager from July 2018. The post will assist the Director of Operations by managing contractors, volunteers and facilities staff in order to ensure the Church and the Centre are set up, cleaned, maintained and repaired to a high standard. The role requires someone who is committed to SML’s Vision 2020, who has a heart for service and a head for good organisation and high standards. Familiarity with basic health and safety practice and MS Office are highly desirable. 16-32 hrs/week negotiable. Salary: £21k-24k pa pro rata depending on experience.
Application deadline: midnight 4 May 2018. For an application pack and more details contact Paul Eaton on 01202 338737 or paul.eaton@smlpoole.org.uk.

12. How can we help you?
The list of our support services gets ever longer:

All Aspects of Accounts including Yearend and Bookkeeping
Migration to Xero and QuickBooks Online
Mentoring
VAT Advice
Outsourcing (Book-keeping, Virtual FD, Gift Aid etc.)
Data Protection (GDPR) Compliance
HR Support
Legal Advice
Trading Issues (including Charity Shops)
Community Halls
Fundraising: Reviewing, Advising, Mentoring, Bid Writing
Training, Including Online Learning
General Advice and Consultancy
Extensive Library of Briefings and Policy Templates

Contact us if you need help in any of these areas.

13. And Finally...

I always used to hold a rather arrogant belief that Said Prayers are Dead Prayers. I’ve come to learn that this ain’t necessarily so.
Variety is the spice of life – a spontaneous prayer here, a written liturgy there, an ancient prayer somewhere else. All have their place and I encourage you to experiment.
This is a prayer for all those who feel the need to establish boundaries in their lives.

God may I live within limits,
Of my body, my mind, my spirit.
God may I live within limits,
Of my calling, my community, my capacity.
God may I live within limits,
Of who I am, and who you call me to be.

Lord help me to be comfortable in my own skin. (with thanks to to Micha Jazz)

Thank you for your encouraging messages. We look forward to hearing from you with your questions, your suggestions, your requests for help and advice. Go well.

If you find this bulletin helpful, could you take a moment to pass it onto others who might appreciate it.

Daryl Martin

BULLETIN No. 172: March 2018

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What do we have this month?

1. Data Protection (GDPR) Update
2. Charity Commission Funding
3. Making Tax Digital (MTD)
4. Charity Commission Enquiries
5. Independent Examination Tests Strengthened
6. Take Care Using Public WiFi Networks
7. Sending Funds Abroad
8. Trustee Appraisals
9. Trustees Claiming Expenses
10. Charity Commission Budget
11. Online Learning
12. CC Report on The Friends of Blencathra 13. How Can we Help You?
14. And Finally...

1. Data Protection (GDPR) Update
Several training sessions later we’re beginning to see what the issues are. The questions come thick and fast from ‘how long should we keep e-mails for?’ to ‘how do we deal with data stored on mobile phones?’ moreover, ‘what if we aren’t fully compliant by the May deadline?’ All serious issues which we deal with simple, effective help.

Charities, churches, in particular, are either ignoring it or making too much of it. There’s still plenty of time.

We’re planning further GDPR courses in different locations. Ask Becky if you want information on them. We also have the on-line courses. The 2 hour on line course is available at www.bowringandjazz.com/ It’s important that everyone in your organisation is aware of the issues around GDPR and this course is highly recommended.

We’re getting a lot of questions coming up; I plan to put them together into a separate bulletin, to spare all the people who are getting really fed up with all this emphasis on GDPR.

2. Charity Commission Funding
Following my comments last month, Ian Chisnall sent me a copy of his blog on the subject. It’s hard hitting, accusing the government of stealing charitable funds. I try to avoid being political, but it does seem there’s a case to answer. Have a read and see what you think: https://ianchisnall.wordpress.com/2018/01/29/this-government-intends-to-rob-charities/

3. Making Tax Digital (MTD)
From 1 April 2019, all VAT registered organisations with a taxable turnover exceeding £85k have to join MTD. This will include charities of course. I recommend you sign up to MTD this year. This will give you time to work through the issues, and also avoids a massive rush in March next year. The major issue is to determine whether accounting software is compliant. Your accountant will take care of this, but let me know if you need our help. (This note came from Les Howard our charity VAT specialist, always on hand to help where needed.)

4. Charity Commission Enquiries
I just looked at a set of accounts of an animal rescue charity. Income over £140,000; no independent examination. Accounts poorly prepared. No excuse for this at all. No wonder the CC is looking into it. If your accounts are not in order don’t leave it, get them attended to. Some hundreds of charities completing their online return have reported that their accounts are qualified when they clearly aren’t. I’ve mentioned this before. If this is you, either take more care or get your accountant to help you. Moreover, don’t forget to report any serious incidents. If you need help email me or look at this link: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/prepare-a-charity-annual-return?

5. Independent Examination Tests Strengthened
The Charity Commission complained that three quarters of charity auditors sampled were in breach of strengthened regulations. I wonder how many independent examiners have picked up on their additional requirements:

Direction 2: examiners must check for any conflicts of interest that may prevent them from carrying out the independent examination (This means for example that an examiner who does the bookkeeping cannot do the IE
Direction 7 requires examiners to check that related party transactions in ‘SORP accounts’ are properly disclosed
Direction 9 requires examiners to check whether the trustees have made an assessment of the charity’s position as a going concern

Let me know if you need help in any of these areas.

6. Take Care Using Public Wifi Networks
I do a lot of travelling, and most weeks I spend time in hotels or coffee shops checking my e-mails. Remember though that using free, public Wi-Fi networks comes with serious security risks. To minimise the chance of having your money or financial information stolen, follow these steps. First, if you’re on public Wi-Fi, don’t shop online, log in to your financial institution, or access other sensitive sites. Use a Virtual Private Network, or VPN, to create a network-within-a-network, keeping everything you do encrypted. For sensitive sites, set up two-factor authentication, so even if hackers steal the passwords to your bank, social media, or email, they won’t be able to log in. And turn off the automatic Wi-Fi connectivity feature on your phone so that it won’t automatically seek out hotspots. Most important, remind yourself that even a few moments of online convenience are far outweighed by the risks of having your personal information compromised. (Thanks to Harvard Business Review and Luke Bencie for this one.)

7. Sending Funds Abroad
Had a call for help from a charity. They wanted to send money to a charity in India (up to £100,000) but were finding it really difficult to get the funds moved over. I discussed the issues with a contact who’s had many years experience in this area. He agreed it was getting harder to get funds across to India and elsewhere. Unfortunately, he didn’t offer any solutions. Much of it seems to depend on contacts on the ground and their connections. Do any of my readers have experience in this, or suggestions who we can go to for advice?

8. Trustee Appraisals
My instinct is to shy away from appraisals on the basis that discussions about positives and negatives should be an ongoing part of any business relationship; you shouldn’t have to wait until the end of the year to talk about performance issues. Let me say now very clearly that no good will come of not carrying out regular performance appraisals. You will need to find an effective means of carrying out appraisals. I’ve prepared a briefing on the subject which you will find helpful. Email me for a copy.

9. Trustees Claiming Expenses
I wrote a policy briefing last month on this subject. The Charity Commission has issued excellent guidance on the subject; this briefing encapsulates their guidance and supplements it, covering areas like entertainment and paying for childcare. Let me know if you’d find a copy helpful.

10. Trustee Training
My diary is getting pretty full. I can squeeze in a few more up to the summer, but I’m beginning to cast around for people who can work with me on delivering high quality training material (Currently mainly Trustee training and Data Protection) in different parts of the country.

11. Online Learning
The online learning courses I’ve been telling you about are now live. My first course is ‘All About Trustees’. It’s in 3 parts. There’s also a small course on Charity Trading, and of course the 10 hour GDPR course. The 2 hour GDPR Awareness course is also now live. We’re able to offer discounts on these courses to members so let Becky know before you sign up. www.bowringandjazz.com

12. CC Report on The Friends of Blencathra
This charity was set up with the best of intentions but perhaps not a great deal of considered planning and forethought. The idea was to buy a piece of mountain in the Lake District to safeguard it for future generations to enjoy. In the event, they couldn’t raise the money, and there was opposition to the proposal. The Regulator looked into it in detail and came out with a report that makes good reading. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/charity-case-report-the-friends-of-blencathra-ltd

13. How Can we Help You?
The list of our support services gets ever longer:

All Aspects of Accounts including Yearend and Bookkeeping
Migration to Xero and QuickBooks Online
Mentoring
VAT Advice
Outsourcing (Book-keeping, Virtual FD, Gift Aid etc.)
Data Protection (GDPR) Compliance
HR Support
Legal Advice
Trading Issues (including Charity Shops)
Community Halls
Fundraising: Reviewing, Advising, Mentoring, Bid Writing
Training, Including Online Learning
General Advice and Consultancy
Extensive Library of Briefings and Policy Templates

14. And Finally...

Every day I’m in touch with remarkable people, doing so much amazing stuff, giving themselves to the communities they serve so faithfully. Yet often they carry their own burdens without any bitterness or complaint. I stand in awe of them. I dedicate this gentle prayer from Christine Sine to Diana, patiently awaiting surgery. Go well Diana, we hold you in our prayers. Let’s all slow down and take a little time to allow it to resonate deep within.

Thank you for your encouraging messages. We look forward to hearing from you with your questions, your suggestions, your requests for help and advice. Go well.

If you find this bulletin helpful, could you take a moment to pass it onto others who might appreciate it.

Daryl Martin

BULLETIN No. 171: February 2018

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What do we have this month?

1. Data Protection (GDPR) Update
2. Retention of Records
3. Serious Incident Reporting
4. Trustee Training
5. VAT on Utilities
6. Online Learning
7. Increased Responsibilities for Independent Examiners
8. Charitable Companies Converting to CIOs
9. Driving on Charity Business
10. Charity Commission Budget
11. HMRC Targets Healthwatch Charities
12. How Can We Help You?
13. And Finally...

1. Data Protection (GDPR) Update
We ran our first training session a few days ago. It went well with questions coming thick and fast. The main issue is that there are only two main basis for processing personal data: Consent and Legitimate Interest. A lot of charities are going for Consent. For some charities, Consent is a must; for most small to medium charities holding non-sensitive data, Legitimate Interest is a better option, for a number of reasons. If you’re thinking of going for Consent, think it through carefully and take advice; there may be a simpler solution.

We are running three more training sessions over the coming weeks, a daytime session in Ferndown (only two spaces left!!), and evening sessions at both Chichester and Romsey, Southampton. There are still spaces available for all venues, and further details are available via our Facebook events page. Please keep this page bookmarked so you can keep your eye out for the next GDPR training location - https://www.facebook.com/pg/AFVS.org.uk/events/. If you wish to book place, then please email Becky at bbenford_blows@afvs.org.uk

We also have the 2-hour and 10-hour online GDPR courses available, and we can offer up to 50% discount for AFVS members so please click on the link and go to the Charity Management Courses tab to find us - www.bowringandjazz.com/. Let Becky know before you sign up to get your discount code.

2. Retention of Records
During the training session mentioned above I asked the hoary old question, ‘how long should trustee minuses be kept’, expecting the usual answers, (7 years, 12 years so forth). Maggie Page came up with the correct answer (forever) and followed it up by sending me Buzzacott’s excellent paper on how long we should retain records. Here’s the link (Well done Maggie)

http://www.buzzacott.co.uk/getattachment/64ced867-bdc1-4906-862e-6b6fdea1a64e/retention-of-accounting-records-(1)

3. Serious Incident Reporting
I’m currently working with several charities, where decisions will soon need to be made as to whether a serious incident report should be sent to the Regulator. If you send in a report when it isn’t necessary you risk unwarranted interference; If you don’t when you should, you’re taking a bigger risk when they find out by other means. If something’s gone wrong and you’re not sure whether to report it, (or perhaps you decide to report it but need help putting a report together), email us, and we’ll do our best to help.

4. Trustee Training
My diary is getting pretty full. I can squeeze in a few more up to the summer, but I’m beginning to cast around for people who can work with me on delivering high-quality training material (Currently mainly Trustee training and Data Protection) in different parts of the country.

5. VAT on Utilities
An AFVS member telephoned just a couple of minutes ago, (honestly if I keep getting interrupted this bulletin won’t be out ‘till Easter!). He’d received an email promising that the sender could find ways to save them money on their power bills without them having to change supplier. Apparently, this charity is being charged the full 20% VAT rate on their fuel and power. We updated our Charity Toolkit late last year to include a helpful section by Les Howard our resident charity VAT specialist. He tells you how to get your tax rate on power bills reduced to 5%. You can do this yourself without having to pay someone else. If you have been overpaying you can get the reduction backdated 3 or 4 years. Les at les@vatadvice.org is always available for VAT consultations.

6. Online Learning
The online learning courses I’ve been telling you about are now live. My first course is ‘All About Trustees’. It’s in 3 parts. There’s also a small course on Charity Trading, and of course the 10-hour GDPR course. The 2-hour GDPR Awareness course is also now live. We’re able to offer discounts on these courses to members so let Becky know before you sign up. www.bowringandjazz.com

7. Increased Responsibilities for Independent Examiners
The charity regulators are encouraging auditors and independent examiners to be more forthcoming with concerns they come across in charity finances or governance during the course of their work. They’ve even published examples on where a matter should be reported; this includes lack of financial oversight by the board, or uncertainty of funding if the charity is reliant on a single source.

Until recently if your accountant carried out the bookkeeping functional he could also carry out the independent examination. No longer; the conflict of interest is too great.

8. Charitable Companies Converting to CIOs
After a long wait, company charities can now convert to CIOs. It’s a phased implementation as follows:

1st January, annual income under £12,500.
1st March, annual income £12,500 to £25,000
1st May, annual income £25,000 to £100,000
1st June, annual income £100,000 to £250,000
1st July, annual income £250,000 to £500,000
1st August everyone else

The process is generally simple, and the charity will be able to keep its existing charity number. The Commission will liaise with Companies House to ensure that necessary records are updated correctly. This will mean that the date of conversion of the charitable company to a CIO, as shown on the public Register of charities, will match the date of removal of the charitable company at Companies House.

Any additional changes which you may wish to make (for example, a change in name or charitable objects) must be made before or after conversion. Contact us if you need help or guidance.

9. Driving on Charity Business
I undertake regular voluntary unpaid work for charities, involving driving to/from their premises and to/from their activities in various locations. Does this count as business use for insurance purposes? A question I’m often asked.

Using your car on charity business is a grey area; some insurers say it’s covered under Social and domestic; others say you need business cover. Some will charge extra for this; others don’t. Do check it out. Never give an insurer any opportunity to repudiate a claim.

10. Charity Commission Budget
After enduring a 50% budget cut over the last ten years the Charity Commission is, at last, getting a 25 percent boost to its annual income - £5m a year - to help it respond to increases in demand on its core functions. This is an “interim” solution, and the Commission continues to work on proposals that would see larger charities being charged to help fund it.

11. HMRC Targets Healthwatch Charities
HMRC lost an important Tax Tribunal case recently, in relation to a local Healthwatch organisation. The technical question was whether the organisation was ‘in business’ for VAT purposes. HMRC argued that it was a public body, and therefore not in business. The Tribunal rejected the HMRC arguments and allowed the Appeal. HMRC has announced that they do not intend to appeal this decision. We have heard that HMRC has written to other Healthwatch operators around the country, effectively ignoring the decision of the Tribunal. This is a disturbing turn of events.

If HMRC contacts you in relation to any VAT matter, do not ignore it. Item from Les at les@vatadvice.org.

12. How Can We Help You?
The list of our support services gets ever longer:

All Aspects of Accounts including Yearend and Bookkeeping
Migration to Xero and QuickBooks Online
Mentoring
VAT Advice
Outsourcing (Book-keeping, Virtual FD, Gift Aid etc.)
Data Protection (GDPR) Compliance
HR Support
Legal Advice
Trading Issues (including Charity Shops)
Community Halls
Fundraising: Reviewing, Advising, Mentoring, Bid Writing
Training, Including Online Learning
General Advice and Consultancy
Extensive Library of Briefings and Policy Templates

Contact us if you need help in any of these areas.

13. And Finally...

Many of us are undergoing challenging times right now in our families, our jobs and businesses, and in our charity work. Most of us are overloaded; and that’s even before we switch the news on, which is always disturbing. A gentle prayer from Christine Sine. Slow down and take a little time to allow it to resonate deep within you.

Deep Peace
Let the deep peace of God
Penetrate your heart.
Let it flood your soul,
And overflow your spirit.
Let the deep peace of God
Fill you with hope and trust.
Let it bring you rest,
And surround you with tranquillity.
Let the deep peace of God
Be ever present to you.
Let it guide you forward,
Into the embrace of God’s love.

Thank you for your encouraging messages. We look forward to hearing from you with your questions, your suggestions, your requests for help and advice. Go well.

If you find this bulletin helpful, could you take a moment to pass it onto others who might appreciate it?

Daryl Martin

BULLETIN No. 170: January 2018

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What do we have this month?

1. GDPR Training
2. Data Protection (GDPR) Update
3. Subject Access Requests (SAR)
4. Serious Incident Reporting
5. Trustee Training
6. Under-insurance: why is it a problem?
7. Online Learning
8. DBS Checks
9. Let’s Get Rid of the Managers
10. Cost to Charities of Interim Managers
11. VAT Guidance
12. Fundraising
13. How Can We Help You
14. And Finally...

1. GDPR Training
With demand growing quickly we’re holding a 2-hour evening training session in Bognor on January 22nd. Contact Becky if you’d like to attend. We’re planning a number of future courses locally and elsewhere. Let us know if you would like details as they come available.

2. Data Protection (GDPR) Update
We have sent the questionnaires to the members who’ve requested it and made contact with everyone else who showed interest. If you have put in a request but haven’t heard from us, please could I ask you to email us again. I didn’t think we’d be getting any back until late-January, but I was wrong there; they’ve been flooding in! It has given us an early opportunity to see what the issues are, and this is helpful. We will be getting reviews out later this month, and in the meantime, we are working on the policies that will be needed to help keep you safe. Questions are coming thick and fast and I’ll start sending out fresh briefings as soon as my brain starts working again.

I have a 2-hour delivered training course and also a 10-hour online course. So naturally, the first request I get is from someone wanting a 2-hour online course! OK; it’ll be ready this month. It’ll be worth signing up trustees, volunteers and staff for it because they’ll then have a basic awareness of GDPR requirements which they must have to satisfy the ICO. It’s no good having experienced operational people if everyone else is a bit fuzzy.

3. Subject Access Requests (SAR)
I mention this yet again as I’ve been involved in 2 more this month and I don’t think charities have generally caught up on the dangers of this issue. Remember that any individual is legally entitled to see any information you are holding on them. This information must be produced within 40 days, (reducing to 30 under GDPR).

4. Serious Incident Reporting
A report came in today regarding a data breach at the RNIB, who have had to contacted 817 people that made purchases at its online shop after suffering a breach of security, which may have revealed their credit and debit card details. In fact, some had reported that illegal transactions had taken place. Imagine the upheaval; writing to everyone concerned; reporting to the ICO and the Charity Commission; loss of credibility, and so on.

5. Trustee Training
I’ve already got bookings this month in different parts of the country. I have a lot of new material for us to look at together. Let me know if you are interested.

6. Under-insurance: why is it a problem?
This item comes from our partner, Tim Wiltshire at Access Insurance.
In a recent report, BCIS (Building Cost Information Service), part of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RCIS) estimated almost 80% of commercial properties could be under-insured. While one surveying firm found 77% of properties they surveyed were under-insured by up to 45%.

What is the impact of under-insurance?
A claim for damage to buildings or contents could be reduced if you do not have adequate amounts of cover. The same applies to claims for consequential losses following a buildings claim (business interruption cover). The correct buildings cover is the total cost of rebuilding your property. The figure should include a cost for debris removal, professional fees (such as architect and surveyor fees), materials, labour and, where applicable, VAT.

What can you do about it?
The best and only accurate way to ensure you have the correct sum insured is to appoint a surveyor to calculate your ‘rebuild cost’. Get a professional surveyor to visit your premises and produce an insurance valuation report. Some insurers offer this service for free or at a reduced rate. It’s worth noting that often a rebuild sum is very different to the value of the property. The value could be higher, or lower, than the cost of rebuilding your property. To calculate the correct amount for contents and equipment, keep an up to date asset register of items, with the cost of replacing all items as new.

What is an 'average' clause?
Some organisations have mistakenly believed that as long as the amount of any claim they suffer is within the sum insured all will be fine. Sadly, this is not the case. This is due to the vast majority of insurance policies having an 'average' clause. This clause details the proportional reduction in a claim payment if a claim is made but the sum insured is not adequate.

Take a charity with a building for example. The correct building sum insured is £1,000,000, but they decide to insure for £700,000. The property suffers from flooding which leads to a claim of £200,000 to repair the damage caused. Because the charity decided to under-insure by 30% the claim payment would also reduce by 30%. Instead of receiving the £200,000 the organisation would only receive £140,000. Average clauses generally apply to all material damage and consequential loss cover (i.e. buildings, contents, equipment and business interruption).

Ensuring your organisation is properly insured is vital. You need to be confident if you make a claim that you are appropriately insured.

7. Online Learning
The online learning course I’ve been telling you about is now live. My first course is ‘All About Trustees’. It’s in 3 parts. There’s also a small course on Charity Trading, and of course the GDPR course. The GDPR Awareness course is expected to go live in about 3 weeks. I’m still able to offer discounts on some of these courses so let me know before you sign up. The course is hosted on the following website: www.bowringandjazz.com/

8. DBS Checks
Another reminder: if you carry out DBS checks it’s worth taking a few minutes to remind yourself of the Code of Practice. The code ensures that sensitive personal information, disclosed is handled and stored appropriately and is kept for only as long as necessary. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dbs-code-of-practice

9. Let’s Get Rid of the Managers
'The key to management is to get rid of the managers,' advised Ricardo Semler, in a recent TED Talk which went viral, His views are unlikely to represent mainstream thinking on organisational design. But perhaps it is time we redefine the term “manager”, and question whether the idea of “management” as it was inherited from the industrial era, has outlived its usefulness. It’s worth taking a few minutes to look at this. I’ve been following Semler for some years.
www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/12/is-management-era-over

10. Cost to Charities for Interim Managers
Probably best to avoid the ignominy of the Charity Commission taking such drastic action. Interim managers appointed by the Charity Commission charged five charities a total of almost £2.5m in fees for statutory inquiries that concluded between 2011 and 2016, figures show a further £1.2m was charged for related costs.

Sixteen interim managers are currently in place that are not included in these figures.

In one case, members of a south London evangelical Christian Church said that the charity had paid its interim manager more than £150,000 since their appointment by the Charity Commission in December 2015. Recently members of the church complained to the commission about the costs and claimed that they were originally told that the fees would cost only £24,000 and the investigation would last three months.

If you need help give us a call. You might save some money.

11. VAT Guidance
We’ve invited Les Howard, a charity VAT specialist to give us a paragraph from time to time. This time he looks at charities that are VAT registered and pay for online advertising.

There is some evidence of HMRC targeting Charities which pay for online advertising, typically with Facebook or Google. The problem is whether the recipients of such advertising are ‘selected.’ HMRC say that both Facebook and Google, as well as other online channels, use software which targets recipients, based on their online profile and browsing history, etc. They say this breaches the test, in Note 10A to the zero rating legislation. The impact will depend on the extent to which the Charity can claim input tax on its Reverse Charge. The issues are complex, but the costs may be significant. If in any doubt, do contact Les at les@vatadvice.org. Les is always available for VAT consultations.

12. Fundraising
If you need help kickstarting your fundraising or if you want someone to run a ruler over the way you do things, or if things have got a bit stale, e-mail us. We have some capability to help make a difference. We’re developing a good relationship with a fundraising specialist who mentors fundraisers. I’ve seen her output and she’s well worth talking with to see what she can do for you. We still have some modest bursaries to help with this. Check for your eligibility.

13. How Can We Help You
The list of our support services gets ever longer:

All aspects of accounts including year-end and bookkeeping
Migration to Xero and QuickBooks Online
Mentoring
Outsourcing (Book-keeping, virtual FD, Gift Aid etc.)
Data Protection (GDPR) compliance
HR support
Legal advice
Trading Issues (including charity shops)
Community Halls
Fundraising: reviewing, advising, mentoring, bid writing
Training, including online learning
General Advice and Consultancy
Extensive library of briefings and policy templates

14. And Finally...

A beautiful Advent poem by Walter Brueggemann, from his book Awed to Heaven, Rooted to Earth.

WAIT
In our secret yearnings
we wait for your coming,
and in our grinding despair
we doubt that you will.
And in this privileged place
we are surrounded by witnesses who yearn more than do we
and by those who despair more deeply than do we.
Look upon your people
in this season of hope
which runs so quickly to fatigue
and this season of yearning
which becomes so easily quarrelsome.
Give us the grace and the impatience
to wait for your coming to the bottom of our toes,
to the edge of our fingertips.
We do not want our several worlds to end.
Come in your power
and come in your weakness
and make all things new.
Amen.

Go well into the new year. Thank you for your encouraging messages. We look forward to another year hearing from you with your questions, your suggestions, and your requests for help. If you find this bulletin helpful, could you take a moment to pass it on to others who might appreciate it?

Daryl Martin

BULLETIN No. 169: November 2017

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What do we have this month?

1. Data Protection and GDPR Compliance
2. Subject Access Requests (SAR)
3. Serious Incident Reporting
4. Budget 2017 - Charities and VAT
5. Trustee Stats
6. Trustee Training
7. Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery
8. On-line Learning
9. Fundraising
10. Manage Cyber and Data Risks by putting in place Insurances
11. How can we help you?
12. And Finally...

1. Data Protection and GDPR Compliance
We have been inundated with requests for help to achieve GDPR compliance, so please accept our apologies if we haven’t got back to you yet. Here’s the plan: Jo is putting the finishing touches on the self-assessment part of the Compliance Audit Toolkit, which will be available to AFVS members from November 24th. To encourage those non-members who would like our help, we are currently offering half-price membership. Please contact Becky if you are interested.

When you have completed and returned the self-assessment to us, we will evaluate and grade your charity as either low, medium or high risk. We will then propose an action plan, and supply all relevant procedures, policies forms and so forth to help you achieve compliance. There’ll be a fee to cover the cost of this, depending on your risk level. (I estimate that 80% of our members are low risk.)

The action plan will assess your current compliance level, management and staff awareness, and any particular risks. It will include categories of personal data maintained, systems and processes for managing the data, as well as looking at the legal basis for each category of data, how long it should be kept, and what privacy notices are needed.

Subject Access Requests (SAR) readiness will be reviewed to ensure compliance with new requirements. Procedures put in place to notify any data breach to the regulator. Help to compile a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) for any high-risk activities.

Your GDPR, compliance action plan, will include agreeing on staff awareness training needs, and an appropriate ongoing review process to ensure compliance is achieved and maintained.

This is just an overview, there’s much else covered. I’ll update you in my December briefing.

2. Subject Access Requests (SAR)
I mention this yet again as I’ve been involved in 2 more this month and I don’t think charities have generally caught up on the dangers of this issue. Remember that any individual is legally entitled to see any information you are holding on them. This information must be produced within 40 days, (reducing to 30 under GDPR).

3. Serious Incident Reporting
I’ve suddenly been involved in a spate of serious incident reports to the Charity Commission. In all cases, I wish I’d been involved sooner rather than later. I can often save some serious headaches. In one case the charity was being pressured to write to the Commission when there clearly was no need to. In two cases the reports the trustees prepared left out vital information and cast them in a bad light. If you don’t report an incident, you could be in serious trouble. Get advice from your professional adviser.

4. Budget 2017 - Charities and VAT
This item comes from our good friend, Les Howard, charity VAT specialist.
As seems likely in the imminent Budget, the VAT registration threshold will be reduced, perhaps considerably. The press has largely concentrated on the perceived burden upon small businesses.

But charities are likely to have a greater burden!
There are two questions to ask, post-Budget:

What will the registration threshold be, and
From what date will the new threshold apply?

Don’t panic! There are various options open to you, although generally we do NOT recommend you use the Flat Rate Scheme.

If you do have taxable business income, and you think the changes will mean you need to be registered, do contact us, and we’ll help you through the process. les@vatadvice.org

5. Trustee Stats
The Charity Commission’s just put out a report on trusteeship. Interesting reading; here are some of the choicer bits:

80 per cent of charities have no other staff or volunteers. Trustees are both governance and executive.

There are roughly 134,000 charities with incomes under £100,000, the report finds, with only 35,000 employees and 116,000 volunteers between them. These charities are village halls, PTAs, church centres, choirs, scout and guide groups, sports clubs, women’s institutes and the like.

The average trustee contributes just under 5 hours a week. I know plenty of trustees who do more than this, much more.

Only 5 per cent of trustees are recruited openly. 71 per cent of trustees were recruited through informal networks, and only 5 per cent answered a public advert. How the rest were recruited is not made clear.

Formal recruitment is not a panacea, however. Diversity is generally worse on boards with a higher level of formal recruitment. Board diversity is generally poor.

More than 2,000 charities pay trustees. This seems low to me; I simply don’t believe it. Paying trustees becomes much more commonplace as charities get bigger. The survey found that 7.4 per cent of charities with annual incomes over £5m paid their trustees.

There are roughly 700,000 trustees in England and Wales, not 850,000, as the Commission had thought.

The average length of service for a trustee is around five years, about right, with trustee tenure longest in the smaller organisations. In the largest charities, median tenure is between three and four years.

Only 9 per cent of trustees think training is very important. That is bad! This leads nicely to:

6. Trustee Training
I’ve finished my training for the year. During the last few months, I’ve added to my material to include a session on the new Code of Conduct issued by the Commission (CC20), with reference where necessary to the Trustees Code of Conduct for Fundraising. These two publications are extensive, far too long; does the Commission really expect trustees to have the time and the inclination to read all this? I’ve prepared summaries of both documents, available to members; drop us a line.

7. Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery
We’ve been sending out our example policy recently. We’ve made some big changes to put more detail into it. (Thanks everyone who helped us in this, my valuable friend Ian in particular.) Let us know if you’d like our updated version.

8. On-line Learning
The online learning course I’ve been telling you about is now live. My first course is ‘All About Trustees’. It’s in 3 parts. There’s also a small course on Charity Trading. I’m working on Fundraising, Volunteers and GDPR Made Simple. As a marketing tactic to get traffic to the site, all courses are being offered at half price until Christmas which means exceptionally good value. www.bowringandjazz.com

9. Fundraising
If you need help kickstarting your fundraising or if you want someone to run a ruler over the way you do things, or if things have got a bit stale, e-mail us. We have some capability to help make a difference. We’re developing a good relationship with a fundraising specialist who mentors fundraisers. I’ve seen her output, and she’s well worth talking with to see what she can do for you.

10. Manage Cyber and Data Risks by putting in place Insurances
This item comes from our partner, Tim Wiltshire at Access Insurance.
For any organisation, keeping data safe is becoming increasingly important and also more challenging. Access Insurance help their clients manage cyber and data risks by putting in place insurances to deal with the consequences of a data breach. So how does insurance help? Dealing with a data breach can be very costly. There are large costs involved in notifying relevant parties, dealing with complaints, investigating and remedying the breach, paying compensation where there is a liability, and the losses as a result of consequential business interruption. Insurance policies can be arranged to pay these expenses and cover the losses.

Key covers of a Cyber Policy include:

The cost of repairing or replacing your computer systems, including sending an IT forensic expert to your office to assist.
Cyber extortion.
Business Interruption as a result of a malicious attack on your network.
Third party liability cover.
Errors and omissions cover in terms of your service provision, such as technology or software consulting.
Infringement of intellectual property.
Online identity fraud.
Fines and Penalties from regulatory bodies where the law allows insurance to cover the costs.
PR costs and support from a specialist to limit damage to reputation.

Be aware that not all of the above covers will be available on some cyber insurance policies. It is important to speak to a specialist like Access Insurance as they will be able to advise on appropriate covers levels before providing a competitive quotation. For further information please contact Access Insurance on 020 8651 7420 and ask for Tim Wiltshire.

11. How can we help you?
The list of our support services gets ever longer:

All aspects of accounts including year-end and book-keeping, including
Migration to Xero and QuickBooks online accounting platforms
Mentoring
Outsourcing (Book-keeping, virtual FD, Gift Aid etc.
Data Protection (GDPR) and compliance
HR support
Legal advice
Trading Issues (including charity shops)
Community Halls
Fundraising: reviewing, advising, mentoring, bid writing.
Training, including online learning
General Advice and Consultancy
Extensive library of briefings and policy templates

12. And Finally...

Earlier this month we were at the Christian Resources Exhibition at Esher catching up with old friends and making new ones. Several people came up to tell me how much they enjoyed my AND FINALLY jokes. Well, I ran out of good jokes some months ago (a good joke is very hard to find - send it me if you have one). So for some time I’ve been posting prayers; some of these are being posted on around the world, having quite an impact on readers.

This prayer is attributed to Father Pedro Arrupe (1903- 1991) from the Basque region of Spain.

Be Practical
Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is,
than falling in love in a quite absolute final way.

What you are in love with,
what seizes your imagination,
will affect everything.
It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning,
what you do with your evenings,
how you spend your weekend,
what you read, who you know,
what breaks your heart,
and what amazes you with joy and gratitude.

Fall in love,
stay in love,
and it will decide everything.

Go well. Thank you for your encouraging messages. We look forward to hearing from you with your questions, your suggestions, your requests for help and advice. If you find this bulletin helpful, could you take a moment to pass it onto others who might appreciate it.

Daryl Martin

BULLETIN No. 168: October 2017

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What do we have this month?

1. Online Learning
2. Fundraising
3. Mentoring
4. Banking
5. Data Protection (GDPR)
6. Xero Online Accounting
7. Gift Aid
8. Public Wi-Fi
9. Incorporated Charities Becoming CIOs
10. Training for Trustees and Executive
11. How can we help you?
12. And Finally...

1. Online Learning
The online learning course I’ve been telling you about is now live. My first course is ‘All About Trustees’. It’s in 3 parts. There’s also a small course on Charity Trading. I’m working on Fundraising, Volunteers and GDPR Made Simple. As a marketing tactic to get traffic onto the site, all courses are being offered at half price until Christmas which means exceptionally good value. www.bowringandjazz.com/

2. Fundraising
If you need help kickstarting your fundraising or if you want someone to run a ruler over the way you do things, or if things have got a bit stale, e-mail us. We have some capability to help make a difference. We’re developing a good relationship with a fundraising specialist who mentors fundraisers. I’ve seen her output, and she’s well worth talking with to see what she can do for you.

3. Mentoring
I’ve a small number of slots available if anyone would find hooking up with a mentor helpful. It can be a useful tool to help someone work through tricky issues in the charity. I’ve several mentors that I turn to regularly; I find it helpful to be able to talk to someone outside the situation when I have tough decisions to make, or I need to review the direction I’m taking. We also have an associate who is getting good results mentoring fundraisers. E-mail for more information.

4. Banking
Last month I gave a plug to Unity Bank which took the place of one of the high street banks for one of our members, and are delivering excellent service. A couple of readers wrote in to remind me of Triodos Bank, and also Reliance Bank, both providing great service. Don’t forget Kingdom Bank; I don’t think they provide current accounts, but it’s worth checking out their other services. (Thanks, Pete and Graham for writing in.)

5. Data Protection (GDPR)
Trustees are generally coming alive to the fact that this won’t go away and has to be faced in plenty of time. We are preparing a Data Protection GDPR Audit to help small to medium charities validate compliance. The challenge is keeping it simple but sufficiently comprehensive to establish what’s needed to make a charity compliant. We’ve now finally agreed how we can do this; Tony is now putting the finishing touches to it. We’ve had over two hundred requests for it, with more coming in daily, so there’s clearly a need for simple, effective solutions. We’ve put out eight briefings on the subject. E-mail if you’d find a set helpful. I’m also working on a half day course. However, we’re not rushing things; there’s still too much noise out there with a lot of disagreement amongst the ‘experts’, many of whom are unduly complicating what’s needed.

6. Xero Online Accounting
One way to get your book-keeping and year end accountancy costs right down is to invest in a good programme. I was hearing from an accountant today that he put one of our members onto Xero earlier this year and it’s made a significant difference to their operations, giving them much tighter control over cash flow and management reports. What interested me is that they have several bank accounts, plus PayPal, plus a credit card, and a number of restricted funds. Let us know if you’d like to know how we can help you in this area.

7. Gift Aid
HMRC is picking up far more claims from charities with people who no longer appear to be taxpayers. Sometimes the donor has moved address and not told HMRC and/or the charity. Increases in the personal allowance in recent years have taken millions of donors out of tax, and many charities have failed to check and update their records. Best advice is for charities to check the tax status and contact details of their donors every three years.

HMRC's policy used to be to contact the charity first when they suspected GA claims in the names of non-taxpayers, to try and get the charity to resolve it, and only then contact the donors. These days with personal post-codes on all full GA claims, it is far easier for HMRC to spot fraud or genuine mistakes.

If HMRC approaches the charity, they often refund the over-claim (or agree to adjust their next claim). The legal responsibility lies with the donor, but many charities decide to shoulder the cost to preserve their reputation. The incidence of such 'irregularities' from a charity might well trigger an onsite audit of the charity's GA and other tax records and systems. (Thanks to Ian for this comment.)

One other thing to remember is that the small donations scheme (GASDS) is quite separate from Gift Aid and mustn’t be shown on tax returns.

8. Public Wi-Fi
As someone who can increasingly be found in a coffee house either having a business meeting or catching up on emails, I was taken up short by a recent article in the Harvard Business Review.
Using free, public Wi-Fi networks comes with a number of serious security risks, yet many of us do it anyway. To minimise the chance of having your money or financial information stolen, follow these steps. First, if you’re on public Wi-Fi, don’t shop online, log in to your financial institution, or access other sensitive sites. Where you can, set up two-factor authentication, so even if hackers steal the passwords to your bank, social media, or email, they won’t be able to log in. Moreover, turn off the automatic Wi-Fi connectivity feature on your phone so that it won’t automatically seek out hotspots. A few moments of online inconvenience are far outweighed by the risks of having your personal information compromised.

9. Incorporated Charities Becoming CIOs
A draft Charitable Incorporated Organisations (Consequential Amendments) Order 2017 has been laid before parliament for approval. This new legislation will allow community interest companies and charities with company structures to quickly convert into CIOs from January. If approved, it is expected the first conversions could happen as soon as January 2018. More than 12,500 new CIOs have been registered since 2013.

10. Training for Trustees and Executive
After a quieter than usual six months we are now getting overrun with training requests. I do enjoy it though. With so much going on in the world of charities there’s always plenty to talk about. I am now taking bookings for the new year.

11. How can we help you?
The list of our support services gets ever longer:

All aspects of accounts including yearend and book-keeping
Migration to Online Accounting including Xero and QuickBooks Online.
Mentoring
Outsourcing (Bookkeeping, virtual FD, Gift Aid etc.
Data Protection (GDPR) compliance
HR support
Legal advice
Trading Issues (including charity shops)
Community Halls
Fundraising: reviewing, advising, mentoring, bid writing.
Training, including online learning
General Advice and Consultancy
Extensive library of briefings and policy templates

12. And Finally...

Last month’s prayer remembered those caught up in hurricanes and storms. They continue unabated, and now we have people losing their lives in firestorms

A prayer this month for the storms within which affects each of us from Jenneth Gracer:

Lord, you are my refuge of long ages past.
I run into your strength.
Only you are the one who is able
to search me out for enemies within.

You blow through the rooms of my inward home,
as I open the windows for your Spirit
to see me in my entirety.
You rout out my inner darkness.
You expose my foes and reveal each scheme.

You are able to bring my turmoil
into peace that goes beyond all my striving efforts
to achieve peace.

I will see your face everywhere,
when I look.

Go well. Thank you for your encouraging messages. 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 take a moment to pass it onto others who might appreciate it.

Daryl Martin

BULLETIN No. 167: September 2017

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What do we have this month?

1. Online Learning
2. Fundraising
3. HSBC Failing Charities
4. Unity Bank
5. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
6. Payment in Lieu of Notice (PILON)
7. Vicarious Liability
8. Twitter Feed
9. Christian Resources Exhibition
10. AFVS Website
11. Training for Trustees and Ops Team Members
12. How can we help you?
13. And Finally...

1. Online Learning
I’m turning the training material I’ve built up over recent years into online learning courses for charity trustees and administrators. I’ve completed 6 courses so far with more to come. The site is due to go live before the end of this month; My first online course is ‘All About Trustees’. It’s in 3 parts. There’s also a small course on Charity Trading. I’m quite pleased with the way this is shaping up. Means I won’t have to do quite so many trips through rain, wind, sleet and snow to the Northern fastnesses to deliver a 3-hour training session. Next year I’ll be able to talk to groups via some sort of video link; step at a time.

2. Fundraising
If you need help kick starting your fundraising or if you want someone to run a ruler over the way you do things, or if things have got a bit stale, email us. We have some capability to help make a difference.

3. HSBC Failing Charities
I don’t like to name and shame banks, but really HSBC needs to hang its head in shame at the way it’s treating small businesses and charities. After the bank was fined £1.2b for laundering drug money (in the USA), it took fright and has been very heavy handed in the way it’s been treating innocent account holders. I guess they may not all be innocent, but to freeze the accounts of a small charity I’ve been advising which is certainly innocent, and refusing to even answer their calls is a bad way to behave. Over 300 charities have had accounts closed (were they all money laundering?). Banks, please be proportionate and courteous.

4. Unity Bank
I visited a charity recently to carry out one of the few independent examinations I still do. Their bank, HSBC, doubtless in their chase for profits to offset money laundering fines, had closed their local branch, and also the next one down the line. They searched around and ended up opening an account with Unity Bank. This bank is especially helpful for charities of all shapes and sizes; they doubtless have appropriate systems to make sure you won’t be laundering for Mexican drug barons, but they do it quietly and kindly. If you need High Street access to pay in, they work with the NatWest, (RBS in Scotland). Best keep a note of this.

5. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
We’re currently putting together a questionnaire to enable us to assess what needs to be done for a charity to meet compliance standards. It’s quite long but probably needs to be if it’s to be a good starting point. (The delay is because we’re fighting over how long it needs to be.) We’re keeping a list of charities that have requested support in this area. E-mail us if you’d like to go onto the list. Many small to medium charities will be able to rely on ‘Legitimate Interest’ as a reason for collecting data, so they need to get hold of what this means in practice. The ICO said they were going to put out more information on this point, though a recent ICO blog seemed to contradict this. (It said in effect, ‘you’re big enough and ugly enough to work it out for yourselves.) We’ll keep you posted. Meantime I’m putting together a briefing on Legitimate Interests; email if you’d like a copy.

6. Payment in Lieu of Notice (PILON)
I’d never heard of this until we got caught up in some tricky tax calculations for a charity working through some redundancies. Seems that if they’d thought of putting a PILON clause into the employment contracts there would have been less tax to pay. I refer all requests for HR support to our specialist associate (unless they’re very simple), and she advises that employment contracts should have a simple PILON clause. Let me know if you need help on this. (In my research on this it was clear that HMRC is planning to tighten up on redundancy tax issues, but this is an ongoing battle between accountants and HMRC.)

7. Vicarious Liability
Interesting case currently before the courts. A security firm employed a guard who seriously assaulted a woman who lived in the block of flats they guarded. The guard has been jailed for 8 years. The woman issued a writ against the directors of the security firm, who I’m told has admitted liability. I wonder if it’s anything to do with the way they handle their recruitment procedures. That would have to be a factor. The lesson for trustees is not to be over trusting when you take on staff, and always remember you can be held liable for the actions of your staff (and possibly volunteers).

8. Twitter Feed
Just been looking through my Twitter feed for the last month to see what I’ve been putting out there. Lots of exciting stuff: Kids’ Company directors and Camilla; the CC wants to ban them to a remote Scottish Island for 6 years. A lady who relieved the British Red Cross of £350k is about to be dealt with similarly. A church which should have known better covered up a paedophile's activities, (hardly news, these days but the way it was handled internally was clearly appalling). An interesting item warning of the dangers of employing freelancers, (remember GDPR), and a well thought article on whether trustees should be remunerated. (Interesting that the members of the Charity Commission board of directors get £350 a day; what’s sauce for the goose. And a lot else besides.

9. Christian Resources Exhibition
The CRE is returning to Sandown Park, Esher, Surrey from the 17th to the 19th October, so why not come and visit us at stand S7. This year we are sharing the stand with our VAT Partner Les Howard, so please bring along any VAT questions that you may have for him too!! You can also visit our associate company Independent Examiners (stand S126) to discuss any accountancy, incorporation or book keeping questions. I shall come particularly geared up to talk about GDPR, but also anything else that catches your fancy. Be nice to meet up with old friends and new ones.

10. AFVS Website
We’re right on the edge of going live. No date yet, but soon(ish). If you find it missing for a few days, that’s because Tony has to take down the old one and do various things I don’t understand before the new one can be slotted in. When this happens, we shall lock him away with water and a few basic provisions until we’re up and running. If you need anything email Becky.

11. Training for Trustees and Ops Team Members
I think I’ve got enough training courses arranged to see me through to the end of the year. Becky disagrees and thinks I’ve too much time on my hands. If you want to see if dates can be found, send her an e-mail. She even has a list of the subjects I cover. There is a possibility of an evening in the Farnham/ Aldershot area she’s trying to sort. Let her know if you want details.

12. How can we help you?
The list of our support services gets ever longer:

All aspects of accounts, including year end, bookkeeping, including migration to Xero / QuickBooks.
Outsourcing (Book-keeping, virtual FD, Gift Aid etc).
GDPR compliance.
HR support.
Legal advice.
Trading Issues (including charity shops).
Community Halls.
Fundraising: reviewing, advising, mentoring, bid writing.
Training.
General Advice and Consultancy.
Extensive library of briefings and policy templates.

13. And Finally...

A prayer to close a week of the storm, and hurricane and ongoing hatred and violence. In the face of such calamities it seems trite to pray, but pray we must:

Lord, may the swirling storm clouds
Remind me that I am a creature, not Creator,
That I am liable to suffer from the changes and chances
of this mortal life.

May the clouds teach me to look always to you,
Whose promise is never to leave us alone in the storm.
May they teach me to maintain joy when life frowns
and to maintain perspective in and out of season.

Go well. Enjoy the sun and the rain. Thank you for your encouraging messages. 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 take a moment to pass it onto others who might appreciate it.

Daryl Martin

BULLETIN No. 166: August 2017

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What do we have this month?

1. We Just Lost the Best Indian Restaurant in the City
2. New Charity Registrations
3. Persons of Significant Control (PSCs)
4. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
5. Disaster Recovery
6. Trustee Induction
7. Trustee Cowardice
8. Reporting Donations from Overseas
9. Christian Resources Exhibition
10. AFVS Website
11. What Policies do You Need
12. Training for New Trustees
13. And Finally...

1. We Just Lost the Best Indian Restaurant in the City
They got on the wrong side of the Border Agency by employing an illegal immigrant. I’m told they were fined £20k; enough to put them out of business. Take great care when offering employment to people from overseas.

2. New Charity Registrations
We’ve been registering charities for over 20 years with a very high success rate. It’s getting harder, much harder; we’ve had a couple turned down recently. We haven’t given up but, whereas a few years ago you could have a helpful discussion with a case officer, today it’s all done by email. If you don’t tick all the right boxes, there’s not much discussion. I suspect fees to register a charity will have to be revised, particularly for anything out of the ordinary. Frankly, I’d like the CC to start to get serious about raising more money so that they can start to look again at what they were so good at before the cuts; looking after the charities they regulate. A modest annual fee isn’t going to be that harmful.

3. Persons of Significant Control (PSCs)
As far as I can tell most changes to your company charity can be notified in the annual Confirmation Statement. From August, any changes in the PSC Register must be notified within 14 days. Failure to do this is potentially serious. I just found one charity where they haven’t updated changes.

4. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
Material’s been stacking up for a while until at last, I got down to looking at it. Currently, we’re regulated by the ICO and the Data Protection Act 1998 applies. This will be extended by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which is effective from May 2018. If your charity currently complies with the current act, you’re well on the way to being compliant under GDPR, but there are some key changes you must get on top of; Individual’s rights are strengthened, Personal data is redefined and extended. You need to review your methods of capturing data and be especially vigilant for SARs (Subject Access Requests: get that wrong, and you are in trouble). I’m building a series of briefings to guide you forward, (5 completed already!). GDPR doesn't arrive until May 2018, but you need to be up and running by then so you can’t waste time. We’re working closely with a number of charities who need help in this area; let me know if you’d like to be added.

5. Disaster Recovery
As if there isn’t enough doom and gloom around we’ve been working on a Disaster Recovery Policy. Something you’ll hopefully never need, but it’s worth putting something together in case the worst does happen. Let us know if you’d like a copy.

6. Trustee Induction
After promising this for a few months now, it’s ready to go out. Two versions: one for company charities, the other for unincorporated charities and CIOs. It’s a useful document to give to new trustees, and we can personalise it to your charity. Let me know if this interests you. I’ve incorporated a detailed summary of the new Charity Governance Code.

7. Trustee Cowardice
Kevin Carey, chair of the RNIB, had some tough things to say about your average trustees who he said were worse than poodles when it comes to standing up to the executive. He said: “Most charities don't fail because they lack a governance code, a risk register and a trustee handbook. They do so because of trustee cowardice. “Assemble all the 360-degree appraisals, skills audits and Nolan Principles you like; they are redundant if nobody has the guts to say that the CEO is useless.” Ouch! Is he right? Not entirely; I’ve been involved with 2 charities recently where the board has had to stand up to the CEO. It takes guts, but sometimes it has to be done. (If you lack a governance code etc. we have all these things available; if you need help to define your relationship with the executive get me involved; I’d be glad to help).

8. Reporting Donations from Overseas
The Charity Commission is about to start asking charities for details of funds they receive from overseas sources. This will form part of the questions they ask when you complete your online annual return. I know when they’ve added to their questions; we get a flurry of requests to put this or that policy in place. Latest one is around volunteers. We’ve got some good material on volunteers.

9. Christian Resources Exhibition
Esher: Oct 17th to 19th. Long way off, but put it in your diary if you’d like to catch up with us. Email Becky for tickets. I shall come particularly geared up to talking about GDPR.

10. AFVS Website
The length of time it’s taking to get our new site up and running is not only depressing but highly embarrassing. Nevertheless, we do seem to be stumbling forward into the light. Launch date is planned for September. I mention this because we’re going to have to be off line for about a week while we change everything across. Becky will send a message out beforehand. You’ll still be able to write to us for stuff. I hope it’s all going to be worth it!

11. What Policies do You Need
When you submit your online return The Charity Commission asks you whether your charity has various policies which they list. It’s important that trustees work out what policies they need, putting aside the ones they don’t need, and put together a plan to make sure the right policies are in place with a regular review programme. We’ve done a lot of work in this area. If you’d like us to evaluate your situation and give you appropriate advice write to us. We can save you time which you can always put to better use, and possibly money.

12. Training for New Trustees
This year we’ve been extending our advice and support services. We can now help with:

All aspects of accounts including yearend and bookkeeping
Outsourcing
HR support
Legal advice
Trading Issues (including charity shops)
Community Halls
Fundraising
Training
General Advice and Consultancy
Extensive library of briefings and policy templates

13. And Finally...

Temple Grandin has long been one of my heroes. She’s autistic. Her ability to think like a cow has enabled her to design over half of all cattle facilities in the United States. She has some interesting things to say about autism, and also animals. I’ve highlighted my favorites:

“I always find it kind of funny that normal people are always saying autistic children ‘live in their own little world.’ When you work with animals for a while, you start to realise you can say the same thing about normal people. There’s a great big, beautiful world out there that a lot of normal folks are just barely taking in. Autistic people and animals are seeing a whole register of the visual world normal people can’t or don’t.”

“When I did stims such as dribbling sand through my fingers, it calmed me down. When I stimmed, sounds that hurt my ears stopped. Most kids with autism do these repetitive behaviours because it feels good in some way. It may counteract an over-whelming sensory environment…”

“In college, I did a lot of talking out loud because it helped me organise my thinking. A lot of autistic people talk out loud for the same reason.”

“The first thing an effective manager must do to take care of the animals is get rid of employees who are bullies.” (This also works for people)

“What would happen if the autism gene was eliminated from the gene pool? You would have a bunch of people standing around in a cave, chatting and socialising and not getting anything done.”

“A good manager creates an environment that reinforces good behaviour by employees. The basic principle is: Make the environment work for you not against you. Never leave up to willpower and self-discipline what you can do with the environment.”

“Autism is part of who I am.”

“Visual thinkers of any species, animal or human, are detail-oriented. They see everything, and they react to everything…Visual people feel horrible when little details in their visual environments are wrong, the same way animals do.” “We have got to work on keeping these children engaged with the world.”

“The most important thing people did for me was to expose me to new things.”

“Social thinking skills must be directly taught to children and adults with ASD. Doing so opens doors of social understandings in all areas of life.”

“Autism is a kind of way station on the road from animals to humans, which puts autistic people like me in a perfect position to translate ‘animal talk’ into English.”

“Animals are like autistic savants…Animals have special talents normal people don’t, the same way autistic people have special talents normal people don’t…Normal people can stare straight at an animal doing something brilliant and have no idea what they’re seeing. Animal genius is invisible to the naked eye.”

“My Advice is: You always have to keep persevering.”

“I don’t want my thoughts to die with me, I want to have done something. I’m not interested in power, or piles of money. I want to leave something behind. I want to make a positive contribution – know that my life has meaning.”

Go well. Enjoy the sun and the rain. Thank you for your encouraging messages. We look forward to hearing from you with your questions, your suggestions, your requests for help and advice. If you find this bulletin helpful, could you take a moment to pass it onto others who might appreciate it.

Daryl Martin

BULLETIN No. 165: July 2017

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What do we have this month?

1. Board Dynamics
2. Fire Risk
3. New Trustee Induction
4. Banks Asking Questions
5. GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)
6. Passwords Compromised
7. What Policies do You Need
8. Training For New Trustees
9. Additional Reporting Requirements
10. Don’t discard Bad Ideas
11. Chair & CEO Roles
12. How can we help you?
13. And Finally...

1. Board Dynamics
People often censor themselves because they don't want to be punished for voicing an opinion that differs from everyone else's. Leaders sometimes even promote this self-censorship by expressing their own views early on. (People don't like challenging the leader.) Chairs, you need to show that you're willing to hear different perspectives and disagreements. Try not to take a firm position at the outset and make space for more discussion and debate. And encourage critical thinking as soon as your group comes together, so members will be less likely to keep silent. Good robust discussion leads to high quality decisions.

2. Fire Risk
With the recent dreadful events in London (well done AFVS member Latymer Community Centre for stepping up to the mark), we’re all thinking about our own responsibility for fire safety. If you own or are in charge of premises you’re responsible for ensuring that an appropriate fire risk assessment is carried out. If you rent premises, you must ensure that your duties are complied with, i.e., procedures in the event of a fire, and what you can do to minimise risk. I carried out an assessment a few weeks ago, so I know what’s involved. Let me know if you need a steer on this.

Anyone wishing to donate to the Latymer Grenfell Tower relief fund, please follow this link via Latymer Community Center’s website http://www.latymer.org.uk/grenfelltowerrelieffund.htm

3. New Trustee Induction
We’re almost finished updating our induction pack. A new fit and proper person declaration needs to be added, and we’re putting in an enhanced Register of Interests template. It’s a useful document to give to new trustees, and we can personalise it to your charity. Let me know if this interests you. (Free to members as a download; small charge to non-members.)

4. Banks Asking Questions
This one has reared its head again with a couple of charities reporting that their bank was suddenly asking a lot of questions out of the blue. This is unsettling at the best of times. Nothing sinister, it’s probably all to do with FATCA. (The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act). This is a piece of US tax legislation which imposes duties on UK banks. It’s all to do with combating tax evasion and money laundering. If you have any concerns or want to know more, I put a briefing up some months back when it first came out, and there’s mention of it in our Charity Toolkit. (Available to download from the members area of the website.)

5. GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)
This new requirement, EU driven, replaces our current Data Protection regulations in May 2018. I’ve a growing list of folk who have asked me for a briefing on this, so they can make sure they will be compliant. We’ve assembled material to prepare a briefing; not rushing as there are different ideas on how to achieve compliance. I want to end up with something that works and isn’t unduly complex. I’ve a meeting in a couple of weeks with a specialist firm to get their thoughts. Next bulletin I’ll update you; meantime we still have over 300 days to get ourselves ready, so no immediate urgency.

6. Passwords Compromised
We’re under constant threat from hackers trying to steal our data and compromise our systems. I have three email addresses; I put them through ‘haveibeenpwned.com’ a free service to check whether any of my email addresses had been compromised in data breaches. Two were ok, but the third had been leaked by Adobe and LinkedIn. I shall have to strengthen my security; you may want to do the same. Take care before entering any of your details onto unknown websites, and look for the padlock or ‘https://’ in the address bar. Take care when you click on links; fraudsters are getting very good at their tricks. If you go to the actual webpage by typing the address directly into your browser, you’ll be safer. Keep your anti-virus software up to date and change your passwords frequently. Be careful about accepting free software. Apparently, the three most common passwords used by the police are, ‘police’, ‘password’ and ‘police1’. They’re very trusting!

7. What Policies Do You Need
When you submit your online return, the Charity Commission asks you whether your charity has various policies which they list. It’s important that trustees work out what policies they need, putting aside the ones they don’t need, and put together a plan to make sure the right policies are in place with a regular review programme. We’ve done a lot of work in this area. If you’d like us to evaluate your situation and give you appropriate advice write to us. We can save you time which you can always put to better use, and possibly money.

8. Training For New Trustees
The Regulators are emphasising the importance of getting new trustees up to speed quickly. To this end they expect an induction process to be set in place. We have a 2-hour presentation designed to help trustees understand their role. Ask us for details - support@afvs.org.uk

9. Additional Reporting Requirements
A new list of matters of material significance has been issued to assist auditors and independent examiners in meeting their reporting requirements to the three charity regulators.

The new guidance adds two new areas which have to be specifically reported to the regulator:

If an auditor or independent examiner has concerns regarding a charity’s accounts and issues a modified audit opinion report or qualified independent examiner’s report.
Where an auditor or examiner has concerns that conflicts of interests or related party transactions have not been properly managed or declared.

The regulators are keen to identify problem charities sooner. If you’re struggling in any of these areas, ask us how we can help support@afvs.org.uk

10. Don’t Discard Bad Ideas
Successful entrepreneurs rarely dismiss bad ideas outright: They rework them in the hope that there’s a gem yet to be discovered. After all, the best opportunities aren’t always self-evident. Instead of killing ideas and initiatives when they seem problematic, challenge yourself or your team to push further, reframe the problem and solution, or explore adjacencies. By bringing new thinking to seemingly bad ideas, you may end up with a breakthrough. Listen to all stakeholders regularly, and don’t stop, even once you’ve decided on a course of action. Pay special attention to new information and edge cases as you go — they often hold clues to move you toward better versions of your idea.

11. Chair & CEO Roles
These two roles are quite different; yet so often, particularly in small to medium charities, they’re occupied by the same person. The UK Corporate Governance Code, a heavy-duty code for directors of listed companies, doesn’t apply to charities but it’s a useful guide to best practise. Section A.3.1 refers to the importance of having a separate CEO and chair. When they’re the same person, the overall structure is weakened. Many charities particularly churches have the senior minister in the chair. There may be good reasons in specific cases; generally, though I’d prefer it not to be so. Let me know if I can help review your structures. support@afvs.org.uk

12. How can we help you?
This year we’re extending our advice and support services.

We can now help with:

All aspects of accounts including year end and book-keeping

Outsourcing

HR support

Legal advice

Trading Issues (including charity shops)

Community Halls

Fundraising

Training

General Advice and Consultancy

Extensive library of briefings and policy templates

13. And Finally...

After last month’s prayer to slow us down, this is one to challenge us, attributed to Sir Francis Drake 1577: Disturb us Lord

Disturb us, Lord, when We are too well pleased with ourselves, When our dreams have come true Because we have dreamed too little, When we arrived safely Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when With the abundance of things we possess We have lost our thirst For the waters of life; Having fallen in love with life, We have ceased to dream of eternity And in our efforts to build a new earth, We have allowed our vision Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, To venture on wider seas Where storms will show your mastery; Where losing sight of land, We shall find the stars.

We ask You to push back The horizons of our hopes; And to push into the future In strength, courage, hope, and love.

(Thanks to my dear friend Derek Broen for this)

Go well. Enjoy the sun and the rain. Thank you for your encouraging messages. 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 take a moment to pass it onto others who might appreciate it.

Daryl Martin

BULLETIN No. 164: JUNE 2017

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What do we have this month?

1. Cyber Attacks
2. Year End Accounts
3. HR Issues
4. Data Protection
5. Briefings and Policies
6. Legacies
7. Trustee Induction Training
8. Payroll and HR
9. Chancel Repair Liability
10. Charity Shops
11. DBS Checks
12. How can we help you?
13. And Finally...

1. Cyber Attacks
Windows XP has been used to run everything from water treatment facilities and power plants to small businesses like doctors' offices. Microsoft stopped offering support for the system a couple of years ago. Despite this, many organisations, including the NHS, saw it as a reliable workhorse and chose to stick with it instead of upgrading.

Without patches to fix bugs in the software XP PCs are prone to freezing up and crashing. As the NHS learnt to its cost, the absence of updated security protections makes computers susceptible to hackers. Security patches released for Microsoft's newer systems may have served as a way for hackers to reverse engineer ways to breach now-unprotected Windows XP computers. Don’t be complacent; review your systems. Let us know if you need help.

2. Year End Accounts
We’re told that 3,500 charities with an income of over £250,000 and a financial year ending 31st March 2016 still needed to file their accounts by 31st January 2017. Demonstrating a good compliance record enhances a charity’s reputation, and increases public trust in what that charity is doing. With ten months to file the accounts, there’s really no excuse. We offer a speedy, affordable service if you need help in this area.

Tips for trustees to keep on top of things:

Don’t wait for deadlines; submit as soon as you can.
All trustees are equally responsible, not just the treasurer or secretary.
Make sure your charity’s trustee details are up to date.
Don’t mistakenly tick the box that says your accounts are “qualified”.
Ensure any serious incidents are declared in the annual return.

3. HR Issues
It’s only Tuesday, but I’ve already had three calls for help this week on difficult staffing situations. An hour ago, I was in the middle of preparing a briefing on how to protect against unfair dismissal claims, and a request for help came by phone on this very subject. There are 2 bits of advice that matter: keep good records and take advice. We have high quality HR advice and support on hand. Email us if you want to check out the briefing, or if you’d like us to review your staff contracts and policies.

4. Data Protection
We have a detailed briefing, recently strengthened. I’m still getting more information piling in (thankyou everyone that wrote to me; it all helps). Some of the material is contradictory. Even insurers aren’t all saying the same thing on record retention. Neither are HR and legal professionals. Jo has got the short straw and is preparing a guide on the new DP arrangements coming in next year (GDPR), including retention periods. After that, we’ll wait and see.

5. Briefings and Policies
Becky’s been working hard to go through our members’ library as part of the process to set up a brand-new website. New material is going onto the new site, so you may not find what you might be looking for. If so, and you are a member, email us, and we’ll send it out to you. Becky’s been keeping me and Jo busy updating material where necessary. Stay in touch with us during this transition period. We have material on most of the issues that affect charities; If you ask us for something we haven’t got we’ll put it on our To Do List.

6. Legacies
I regularly bang on about having a policy to maximise legacy giving to your charity; but do you wonder, with legacies to charities about to exceed £2.5b this year, up 40% in the last five years. Ask us for my latest briefing on the subject if you need some help to prepare your own strategy. Reminder to all those charities that have converted to the CIO structure on a DIY basis; have you made an entry into the Register of Mergers in case of a legacy coming into the old charity? (If you have set up your charity on a DIY basis, you might benefit from getting a copy of our Post Registration Pack - small charge but well worth it.)

7. Trustee Induction Training
The Charity Commission is emphasising the importance of getting new trustees up to speed quickly. To this end, they’d like a decent induction process to be set in place. As a minimum, new trustees should be given a copy of the governing document and the latest year end accounts. Also, minutes of the last meeting and any other key documents that they need to be aware of, such as the conflict of interest policy, strategic plan, etc. They could also read publication CC3. Better still, get me to come along and provide a detailed briefing. The modest investment is well worth it.

8. Payroll and HR
A number of statutory increases came into force this April: NMW and Living Wage increases, Maternity payments, Sick Pay, and Salary Sacrifice changes. Employment Tribunal fines were increased. Also, significant changes to Foreign Worker rules. No need for me to spell out the detail; your HR specialist or your accountant will have it all at their fingertips. It does, however, point up that you need to have access to good quality professional support. One of our members currently needs help with organising redundancies. Their local HR specialist company wanted them to agree to a 12-month contract at £200 a month. What they need is current advice; after that, they probably won’t need any help for the rest of the year. Take care before committing yourself to expensive contracts.

9. Chancel Repair Liability
Paul Hajek of Clutton Cox, who seems to be the world’s leading authority on this vexed issue has put out a blog reminding us of its history and bringing us up to date. If this subject interests you and you can’t trace the article email me for a copy. Apparently, the damage was done when Henry VIII ordered the dissolution of the monasteries.

10. Charity Shops
Suddenly we have expertise on charity shops! A mention in the April bulletin has brought in a number of enquiries, and feasibility visits are in hand. One reader asked whether they needed a license to play music to staff. As always, we have a briefing available on request.

11. DBS Checks
The Court of Appeal has ruled that the criminal records disclosure scheme is disproportionate and unlawful. In one case, a man was convicted in the 1980’s of ABH when he was 16-years-old and received a conditional discharge: “It is difficult to see how publication of this detail, 31 years on, is relevant to the risk of the public, or proportionate and necessary in a democratic society.”

Debaleena Dasgupta, Legal Officer at Liberty, said: “This important ruling gives hope to huge numbers of people whose ambitions have been dashed because of minor mistakes they made in the past. The Government must urgently fix this broken system that needlessly prevents people from rebuilding their lives and contributing to society.

12. How can we help you?
This year we’ve extended our advice and support services.

We can now help with:

All aspects of accounts including yearend and book-keeping
Outsourcing
HR support
Legal advice
Fundraising
Training
General Advice and Consultancy
Extensive library of briefings and policy templates

13. And Finally...

May turned out to be unexpectedly busy month for me. Here’s a prayer that helps me keep perspective:

Slow Me Down Lord.

Slow me down Lord,

Ease the pounding of my heart

By the quieting of my mind.

Steady my hurried pace

With a vision of the eternal march of time.

Give me amid the confusion of the day,

The calmness of the eternal hills.

Break the tension of my nerves and muscles

With the soothing music of the singing streams

That live in my memory.

Help me to know the magical restoring power of sleep.

Teach me the art of taking minute vacations,

Of slowing down to look at a flower,

To chat with a friend,

To pat a dog,

To read a few lines of a good book.

Slow me down Lord,

and inspire me to send my roots

Deep into the soil of life's enduring values

Go well. Enjoy the sun and the rain. Thank you for your encouraging messages. 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 take a moment to pass it onto others who might appreciate it.

Daryl Martin

BULLETIN No. 163: April 2017

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What do we have this month?

1. Fundraising Code Changes
2. Trading Made Simple
3. Safeguarding
4. Common Reporting Standards
5. Data Protection
6. Charity Shops
7. Board Meeting Agenda Tip
8. Financial Controls Policy
9. Trustee Training
10. Dangers of Going Over the Top
11. Risk Assessment
12. How can we help you?
13. And Finally...

1. Fundraising Code Changes
I prepared a detailed summary of the Regulator’s Fundraising Code a couple of months ago. I notice that the Regulator puts out a monthly list of amendments to the code, so I’m already a couple of months out of date. I don’t know if any of my readers are actually using my summary, but if you are, drop me a line, and I’ll send you an updated version and arrange to get it done quarterly.

2. Trading Made Simple
This is a major new briefing I’ve prepared for our members library. It’s aimed at trustees and administrators to give them a rounded understanding of what’s involved in charity trading. Summarises the different kinds of trading and what you can and can’t do outside of setting up a separate trading company.

3. Safeguarding
If you need help developing your Safeguarding Policy or help to overhaul your current policy, my colleague Jo has been doing some useful work in this and other areas, and will be glad to look at your particular needs. A current Ofsted enquiry heard how two 5-year-old girls were locked into a pitch black crypt for 2 hours while the rest of the nursery school went off to watch a film. Clearly, their policy wasn’t up to the mark. We take 6 grandchildren off to the cinema most half terms; I spend a lot of time counting them.

4. Common Reporting Standards
Common Reporting Standards is a new regulation for financial institutions. It’ll affect a few of my readers. Charities are considered to be financial institutions if they rely on investments for more than 50% of their income and where any of those investments are externally managed by a financial institution under a discretionary mandate. The link below tells you what you need to do. Contact us if you need help.
http://www.acf.org.uk/downloads/publications/CRS_what_CRS_means_foundations_v2.pdf

5. Data Protection
Getting a lot of questions on this; it’s going to be a big issue in our thinking until we get the hang of it. Our policy template is a useful starting point. Don’t forget trustees will be accountable for any misuse of personal data held on smartphones and personal laptops. A question I’m trying to resolve is how long we should keep data such as DBS checks when it’s no longer needed. Official sources say that we shouldn’t keep information any longer than necessary and that problems could arise if information that should have been deleted, but wasn’t, were still available. This is all very well, but I can visualise situations where you might need to show an insurance company for example evidence that you carried out proper checks at some stage in the past when something adverse comes to light in the future. Please let me know if you have any thoughts on this.

6. Charity Shops
If you’re responsible for a shop, thinking of opening one, or even looking at a Pop-up Shop, here’s an offer you might think about. David Farndale has spent chunks of his career opening and overseeing charity shops. He’s built up considerable expertise in this area, though he also has a wealth of general charity experience. Being semi-retired, he’s keen to make his expertise available to anyone who needs help or advice. He’s based in the South but doesn’t mind a bit of travel, or there’s always Skype. Contact me if you are interested and I will put you in touch.

7. Board Meeting Agenda Tip
I attended a board meeting recently as an advisor and came across this agenda item: ‘Discussions/ Decisions between Meetings: (Any pertinent discussions between board members that the entire board should be made aware of.)’ I like this; if a board meets say quarterly, there are inevitable exchanges between trustees in between times. It’s a good opportunity to bring everyone up to speed and help ensure healthy transparency.

8. Financial Controls Policy
This is another policy newly arrived into our members library. A good starting point for you if you lack this one. Presenting a financial report at an AGM recently, I was struck afresh by the total trust people have in the Hon Treasurer and the fact that so few people lack even a basic understanding of charity finances. It’s well worth refreshing yourself in the model Anti-Fraud policy, also in our library. These are good reminders that even basic checks and balances can have a significant effect on reducing the possibility of fraud. When money goes missing it’s not the money that’s lost, it’s the damage of trust and respect that often finishes off the organisation.

9. Trustee Training
I’m not keen on traveling much in the winter months; now summer’s a coming I’m keener to venture out. Most of the enquiries coming in are from the Midlands, so I shall be up and down various motorways. But I have been booked for a session in Bournemouth which is much nicer as I can go early and paddle. E-mail me if you’d like to explore training tailored to your particular needs; seaside venues preferred but I will travel inland if I need to.

10. Dangers of Going Over the Top
Most of us have got too much on our plates, and we lack the time we need. I’m taking steps to simplify my life in every area; this is hard; 3 steps forward, 2 back. Something I have noticed though is the tendency of some of us to make life as difficult as possible for those around us. I have a friend, a trustee who was told categorically that he was legally obliged to undertake a certain training course. When he asked to see the ‘legal requirements,' he was invited to read over 100 pages of small print which left him none the wiser. Another trustee was asked to complete a detailed form about himself, including his medical history; he was also told this was the law! I’ve seen other examples recently which I won’t bore you with. Keep it simple; be proportionate, make sure you really do have to do things others say you must do. Rant over!

11. Risk Assessment
Getting regular questions asking for help to prepare risk assessments including DSE. Please note that where charity workers are required to work from home, the risk assessment should include an assessment of the risks to the worker that arise from working at home.

12. How can we help you?
This year we’re extending our advice and support services. We can now help with:

All aspects of accounts including year end and book-keeping
Outsourcing
HR support
Legal advice
Fundraising, including Charity Shops
HMRC and Charity Commission issues
Training
General Advice and Consultancy
Extensive library of briefings and policy templates

13. And Finally...

May is going to be a busy month for you. Here’s a prayer to help you stay centred.

COMPASS
Thank you for being the firm centre of my world.
I may dash here and there to listen,
hug and comfort,
write or pray -
But always circle back again
to home, and you.

Your love grounds me
in stability -
roots to my giving,
an anchor in storms.
Where would I be without you?
Endlessly adrift, without horizons.

Thank you for freeing me to reach out
(It's who I am why I'm here)
But like a compass draws a circle,
I need you at my centre
to find purpose
to be whole. (Christine Rigden)

Go well. Enjoy a new summer. Thank you for your encouraging messages. 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 take a moment to pass it onto others who might appreciate it.

Daryl Martin

BULLETIN No. 162: March 2017

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What do we have this month?

1. Fundraising Tip
2. Persons of Significant Control
3. Improve Your Meetings
4. Handling Dismissals
5. Charity Shop Blunder
6. Charity Commission Guidance on Charity Finance
7. Self-Employed Contractors
8. HMRC Fit and Proper Persons Test
9. Trustee Training
10. Statutory Reporting Requirements
11. Data Protection
12. How can we help you?
13. And Finally...

1. Fundraising Tip
By the time you read this, you’ll have the new pound coin starting to hit your pockets. By October 15th the existing coins will no longer be accepted, though they can still be paid into banks. This gives you time to plan a strategy to collect up old coins once they’re no longer legal tender. With over a billion pounds worth in circulation, there’ll be plenty left in sofas and jacket pockets for years to come to make it worthwhile for you to find ways to gather them up. And don’t forget all the old £5 notes that’ll be soon knocking around, needing homes in your charity.

2. Persons of Significant Control
This new reporting requirement for companies has been with us for almost a year, and many company charity directors are anxiously trying to work out whether they have one or more PSCs to report, and if they do this makes them even more anxious. Worry not.

This requirement was to identify companies and individuals who are finding ways to evade taxes, breach UN sanctions and generally commit fraud. I’m a PSC of several companies, but because I’m not doing any of these things my conscience is clear. A recent survey found over 3000 PSCs listed that were companies registered in tax havens, which as we all know is illegal. Also, 300 PSCs are disqualified, directors. That’s probably just the tip of the iceberg. If you have concerns email me but don’t lose sleep, (at least not until I’ve had a look)

3. Improve Your Meetings
I thought I understood the KISS principle (Keep it simple, stupid; something I always try to follow). Another KISS has appeared, this time from Dan Rockwell (Leadership Freak; worth following), to help you manage meetings better:

KEEP - What do we need to keep doing to make it work?
IMPROVE - What can we do to make it work better?
STOP - If we stopped doing this what would happen?
START - What do we need to start doing? What new opportunities are there?

And of course don’t forget to end each meeting by writing down who does what and when.

4. Handling Dismissals
If you have a difficult staff situation and it looks as though dismissal is appropriate, you might find my latest briefing helpful. What I do advise though is that before doing too much, you get some HR advice. One false step, however well intentioned can land the charity in trouble. The briefing is free; advice from our HR specialist might cost a little, but it could be a very sound investment. Email Becky for a copy.

5. Charity Shop Blunder
A charity shop worker made a huge error when she accidentally sold an electrician's £200 tools for £1. Andrew was working for free fitting a new light switch in the charity shop in Cardiff when his tools suddenly vanished. He had nipped out to his van when his toolbox went missing. It quickly became clear that they’d been sold - for just a pound. Andrew said: 'It was a job as a favour. They mentioned that they had a faulty light switch so I said I would come back and change the switch. 'I left my tools on a bookcase and went out to my van to get a switch.” Take care.

6. Charity Commission Guidance on Charity Finance
The Regulator has just updated its guidance (CC25), making it very clear how trustees should get to grips with their financial duties. Paula Sussex, Charity Commission CE said: “Robust financial management is vital to ensure that charities are able to meet the needs of their beneficiaries and also to increase public trust and confidence in the charitable sector. …Weak financial governance can be extremely destabilising for charities, affect their ability to operate and leave them vulnerable to fraud and abuse. It is vital that trustees are familiar with the charity’s governing document, understand the finances, ensure control and procedures are in place and work and ask the right – and sometimes difficult – questions.” It’s the last bit that trustees often stumble over. Get me in one evening for a briefing session.

7. Self-Employed Contractors
Well, it seems the government has got it in for the self-employed contractor sector. HMRC isn’t that keen on them either, and if your charity is one of the thousands out there staffed by anyone, not on payroll, you must be sure of your ground. HMRC isn’t above deeming your payments as being paid net, grossing up with tax and NI, and sending you a big bill. We’ve had some experience helping charities prepare robust contracts. Email us if you need help on this.

8. HMRC Fit and Proper Persons Test
This has just been updated, and the new declaration should be brought into use immediately. We have a briefing with a template containing the new wording, and a summary of who needs to complete it. (Grateful thanks to Ian Clark for telling me about this)

9. Trustee Training
The Regulator is stepping up its advice that boards have a strategy in place to ensure that new trustees benefit from a proper induction process, and current trustees are refreshed from time to time. This is something I enjoy being involved in. Email us for details of what’s on offer. I focus on simplicity and proportionality amongst other things. Flexible on content and costs.

10. Statutory Reporting Requirements
I’m delivering a set of lectures to students at our local university who need to know a bit about how charities operate. Email us for a copy of the briefings I prepared for them. It clarifies when an audit is needed, when an independent examination is needed, when nothing or very little is needed; different thresholds etc. .

11. Data Protection
This is becoming such a key issue that most months it’s going to get a mention. The requirements for collecting and maintaining data are getting tougher. They’ll get even tougher next year when the new EU-wide General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) come into force. I’ll prepare a briefing when I get a moment; you’ll need to start getting ready for it as soon as you can.

12. How can we help you?
This year we’ve extended our advice and support services. We can now help with:

All aspects of accounts including year end and book-keeping
Outsourcing
HR support
Legal advice
Fundraising
Training
General Advice and Consultancy
Extensive library of briefings and policy templates (No need for you to re-invent the wheel)

13. And Finally...

This bulletin pretty much writes itself, but I spend more time agonising on this bit than all the rest put together. Last month’s blessing brought in a record number of responses including a warm note from Peter Martin, the CEO of Memralife, the charity that owns the rights to the song. They gave me a link for anyone who wants to down-load it from iTunes: https://itun.es/gb/Kehw8?i=1012429268

This is an extract from Frederick Buechner’s story of Brendan the Navigator who some believe found America before anyone else. A thoughtful book.

PUSHING DOWN HARD with his fists on the table-top he heaved himself up to where he was standing. For the first time, we saw he wanted one leg. It was gone from the knee joint down. He was hopping sideways to reach for his stick in the corner when he lost his balance. He would have fallen in a heap if Brendan hadn't leapt forward and caught him.

'I'm as crippled as the dark world,' Gildas said.

'If it comes to that, which one of us isn't, my dear?' Brendan said.

Gildas with but one leg. Brendan, sure he'd misspent his whole life entirely. Me that had left my wife to follow him and buried our only boy. The truth of what Brendan said stopped all our mouths. We was cripples all of us. For a moment or two, there was no sound but the bees.

'To lend each other a hand when we're falling,' Brendan said. 'Perhaps that's the only work that matters in the end.'

Go well. Enjoy the spring weather. Thank you for your encouraging messages. We look forward to hearing from you with your questions, your suggestions, your re-quests for help and advice. If you find this bulletin helpful, please take a moment to pass it onto others who might appreciate it.

Daryl Martin

BULLETIN No. 161: February 2017

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What do we have this month?

1. Fundraising Regulator
2. What Structure is Appropriate for Your Charity
3. Reserves Policy
4. Village Hall Under the Cosh
5. Do Your Contracts Need Updating
6. Dangers of Keeping Too Many Eggs in One Basket
7. AFVS Charity Toolkit
8. Trustee Training
9. Fake Appeals
10. Data Protection
11. Outsourcing
12. AFVS Resources
13. And Finally...

1. Fundraising Regulator
The Charity Commission recently referred a charity to the Fundraising Regulator to investigate. Clearly, they are going to be working closely together when they have concerns. My hope is that the regulator won’t see charities which in the main are doing a good job, as the enemy, but they will increasingly act as a critical friend. Some charities do need a good kicking, but most of them need encouragement and advice. By the end of December, the Regulator had received 439 complaints and are currently investigating 19. Charities are encouraged to register with the Regulator, and for 50 quid you’ll be able to include their logo in your material. The Code of Practice runs to 76 pages. To help you stay sane we’ve summarised it for you, (still, runs to 5,000 words and 13 pages).

2. What Structure is Appropriate for Your Charity
There’s a steady movement of unincorporated charities converting to CIOs, and I regularly visit trustees thinking of doing this to explain what’s involved. I prepared a briefing this month outlining the differences between the different structures. (Actually, I stole most of the material from my colleague Rachel, but I did bring it up to date.). It might spare you the cost of a visit, or at least prepare the ground, so I have time to talk about other issues. Ask us for a free copy.

3. Reserves Policy
One of our members had an observation from one of their funders that their reserves are too high which might impact their future grants programme. Reserves are a matter for trustees to decide, there are no hard and fast rules. Too high and you risk losing funding; too low and you might be seen as a risk. If you need help deciding what’s right for you ask for our briefing on the subject. Don’t forget that the risk currently associated with the impact of Brexit should be factored in.

4. Village Hall Under the Cosh
Louise Beaton, our valued associate who specialises in village halls, expressed sympathy for a very small village hall charity when it was criticised recently by the Charity Commission. She felt it rather heavy handed to issue a report naming and shaming a rural village hall. Where they are they probably have rubbish broadband, she said, with hard-pressed trustees busy on their own affairs, who misunderstood instructions on the CC website. The Regulator doesn’t always get it right, though they’ll be better resourced when they start levying fees which is probably inevitable now. However small you are, you must ensure you follow the correct procedures and respond to any reminders. Louise will be delighted to hear from any community hall trustees who need her help. (www.communityhallsadvice.co.uk)

5. Do Your Contracts Need Updating
We’re getting requests to help charities update their employment contracts. Let us know if it’s time yours were looked at. If you work with contractors, anyone with self-employed status, you should have an appropriate contract in place to keep you safe. It’s not good practice to rely on verbal agreements however much you all trust one another. We’re always glad to help in these situations.

6. Dangers of Keeping Too Many Eggs in One Basket
Local authorities keep having to adjust their budgets and local charities they’ve supported for many years are getting their grants reduced or even stopped, meaning the charity either has to shut down or make the shortfall good from other areas. Don’t take your funders for granted and try to avoid over-reliance on one source. We can work with you to put a strategy together if you need help.

7. AFVS Charity Toolkit
My colleague Jo just sent me the latest edition of our Toolkit which now contains a completely new section on Charity VAT, written by Les Howard, a widely-respected charity VAT specialist. (Always there if you need reliable guidance on charity VAT.) This link will take you to a list of contents to give you an idea of what else the Toolkit contains.

8. Trustee Training
Boards are increasingly becoming aware that a solid briefing will help them stay up to date and safe. I work through my Toolkit, providing the back stories on why it’s important to keep governance in good order. I focus on simplicity and proportionality amongst other things. E-mail if you’d like me to show up at one of your board meetings. Flexible on content and costs.

9. Fake Appeals
Many charities use their funds to support other charities. Worth watching out for fake appeals that drop into our inbox. Currently, Action Fraud is investigating a migrant helpline and a fake animal welfare charity. Often the fraudsters clone a genuine charity and it can be hard to tell the difference. Take care; if you click the links, you’re in danger of downloading a Trojan which can steal your information. Before donating make sure you’ve verified the charity in some way. Better to send your donation directly rather than on-line. Charities can visit www.charitiesagainstfraud.org.uk for advice and top tips on how to protect their charity against fraud.

10. Data Protection
Probably mentioning this issue too much recently, but I read that a couple of charities have had to pay nearly £50k in fines. Apparently, they get 20% off if they pay up swiftly. A big issue for small charities is the amount of sensitive information held on personal laptops and even smartphones. Make sure you have a robust policy. I’ve a note to send out our sample policies; let me know if this would help you.

11. Outsourcing
Smaller charities are increasingly looking at this option, especially when they lose a long-standing administrator who has carried the burden of running the charity, leaving the trustees to pick up the pieces. It can be particularly helpful on the financial management side of things. A good outsourcing arrangement will leave the trustees free to carry on the mission-related work they’ve been called to do. We provide a range of services tailored to different sizes of charities, mostly in London, but what works there will work elsewhere. Significant cost savings can be enjoyed, up to 35%, I’m told. Another benefit is that the charity has access to expertise that might otherwise be beyond their means.

12. AFVS Resources
This year we’ve extended our advice and support services. We can now help with:

All aspects of accounts including yearend and bookkeeping
Outsourcing
HR support
Legal advice
Fundraising
Training
General Advice and Consultancy
Extensive library of briefings and policy templates (No need for you to re-invent the wheel)

13. And Finally...

(this bulletin pretty much writes itself, but I spend more time agonising on this bit than all the rest put together. This is something I posted on FB; it got a record (for me) number of likes and re-posts).

A blessing on my readers to start the month. Find somewhere quiet to sit and read slowly.

Go Peaceful
Go peaceful
in gentleness
Through the violence of these days.
Give freely
Show tenderness
In all your ways.

Through darkness
In troubled times
Let holiness be your aim.
Seek wisdom
Let faithfulness
Burn like a flame

Be righteous
Speak truthfully
In a world of greed and lies.
Show kindness
See everyone
Through Heaven's Eyes.

God hold you
God enfold you
And keep you wrapped around his heart.
May you be known by love (Paul Field)

Go well. Enjoy the spring weather. Thank you for your encouraging messages. 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 take a moment to pass it onto others who might appreciate it.

Daryl Martin

BULLETIN No. 160: January 2017

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What do we have this month?

1. Jedi not Recognised by the Charity Commission
2. CIOs Four Years On
3. Data Protection Policy
4. Complaints Policy
5. Staff Handover Document
6. Setting up a Social Enterprise
7. Charity Toolkit
8. Trustee Training
9. Charity Healthcheck
10. Staff Handbook
11. Volunteers
12. Resources
13. And Finally...

1. Jedi not Recognised by the Charity Commission
Commission, in its decision, noted that it will not recognise as a religion 'everything that chooses to call itself a religion' and was unconvinced by evidence proposed to support Jediism as a legitimate faith. 'The Commission is not satisfied that the observance of the Force within Jediism is characterised by a belief in one or more gods or spiritual or non-secular principles or things which are an essential requirement for a religion in charity law.” I understand your disappointment, but put those lightsabers down now and go about your business quietly. Let the Jedi in, and they’d be wanting to register Discworld next. Three charities which did pass the regulator’s recent scrutiny were Little Hiccups, Allo Mate, and Classrooms in the Clouds. If you’re setting up a new charity, a chat with us might help you on your way to a good outcome.

2. CIOs Four Years On
CIOs have bedded down nicely with coming up to 12,000 across the UK. This structure doesn’t only appeal to small charities; the biggest CIO has £2.3b assets. I’ve prepared a briefing to summarise where we are today with them. I tried not to get into too much detail. If you’re still an unincorporated charity and thinking about moving across, take a look at my briefing: afvs.org.uk/public_resources/CIOs 4 Years On.pdf.

3. Data Protection Policy
A number of enquiries on this subject recently, mainly asking whether they should be registered. That’s probably the wrong question. Better to ask: do we have a robust policy in place? I’ve recently been involved in a heavy duty subject data request situation. We have a template policy for you to adapt which is available on the AFVS members area (we make a small admin charge for non-members; email Becky for details). I’ve listed it to write a briefing on the importance of keeping data properly. It’s a complex area, but it can be costly in time and money if you get it wrong. Let me know if you need help in this area. I’m also trying to build into this briefing something on Record Retention. Oh, and a national charity was fined recently for sharing data with another organisation.

4. Complaints Policy
Earlier this month I was asked what I meant by ‘Secondary’ policies. Complaints is a ‘secondary’ policy; but woe betide you if the Charity Commission asks to see it and you don’t have one. A couple of points to remember if you’re a fundraising organisation:

Organisations MUST have a complaints procedure which MUST also apply to any Third Parties fundraising on their behalf.
Organisations MUST respond to any complaints from donors, beneficiaries or other parties in a timely, respectful, open and honest way.
Organisations MUST ensure that the learnings from any complaints are acted upon.

I recommend you build these points into your policy (makes note to check it’s in our policy template, which is available to download from: www.afvs.org.uk/public_resources/Complaints%20Policy.pdf ).

5. Staff Handover Document
We duly had requests for this and I set to work. Pleased with the result and getting some good feedback. It’s in the AFVS members area on the website (we make a small admin charge for non-members; email Becky for details). You won’t be disappointed. A useful aide-memoire should you or other kept players ever move on; also useful for any staff or volunteers who leave.

6. Setting up a Social Enterprise
Emma Moresby sends us an occasional piece on charity-related issues. This time it’s a well-written piece aimed at readers who are thinking of taking on the challenge of a Social Enterprise. If this is you, it’s worth studying, with some interesting links. This link takes you to her article.

7. Charity Toolkit
First 4 parts of the VAT section have been received from Les Howard, a widely respected charity VAT specialist. (Always there if you need reliable guidance on charity VAT.) Just need the final parts before the next edition comes out. Someone wrote to ask me about a policy on what to do in the event of a terrorist attack. Section 6.3 covers this nicely.

This link will take you to a list of contents to give you an idea of what else the Toolkit contains (Toolkit_Contents_List.pdf).

9. Charity Healthcheck
Becky recently sent me a couple to review and provide feedback on. We used to call it the Charity MOT (I still do, but don’t tell Becky). It is FOC to AFVS members and accessible via the member’s area of the website. If you want access and are not members please contact Becky for more details on how to subscribe to membership, and what benefits and services are available for your charity (bbenford_blows@afvs.org.uk). To some extent, it was overtaken last year by the Toolkit. It still has a place, though. If you want a simple tool to give you a good overview of how well your charity is doing from a regulatory and operational standpoint, it’s surprisingly easy to fill in. Send it through to us, and we’ll give you an evaluation with recommendations and any other help you might need.

10. Staff Handbook
I spoke to a trustee last week about their new staff handbook. If they’d had it a year earlier, it could have saved them a few thousand pounds in costly HR support. If you’d like us to review yours, or are starting from scratch, contact us to see how we can help. If you have a tricky staff situation, get advice before you take decisions or actions that later on you might regret. Our associate Nathalie has built up a good reputation for helping charities with HR issues.

11. Volunteers
Last week I posted on Twitter an excellent NCVO article by Jarina Choudhury. In a poll they asked whether respondents thought that volunteers have a legal status:

71% thought that volunteers have a legal status

15% thought that volunteers do not have a legal status

14% were unsure.

Unlike employees, volunteers are not entitled to the NMW; they’re not covered by employment legislation. Employees work under a contract and are obliged to turn up; volunteers are free to come and go as they please. Of course, this is not to say that volunteers don’t have a relationship with the organisation they volunteer for; they do. But it’s a relationship based on expectations rather than obligations. Let me know if you want a copy of Jarina’s article.

12. Resources
This year AFVS has extended its advice and support services.

We can help with:

All aspects of accounts including year end and book-keeping

Outsourcing

HR Support

Legal Advice

Fundraising

Training

Consultancy

We also have an extensive library of briefings and policy templates (No need for you to re-in vent the wheel)

13. And Finally...to encourage you…

“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes.

Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're Doing Something.

So that's my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody's ever made before. Don't freeze, don't stop, don't worry that it isn't good enough, or it isn't perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life. (A motto I frequently use is ‘Ready, Fire, Aim!)

Whatever it is you're scared of doing, Do it.

Make your mistakes, next year and forever.”

― Neil Gaiman

Go well. Enjoy the opportunity of a new year and a clean slate; thank you for your encouraging messages. 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 take a moment to pass it onto others who might appreciate it.

Daryl Martin

BULLETIN No. 159: December 2016

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What do we have this month?

1. When do DBS Checks Need Renewing
2. Reporting Incidents
3. Policies
4. Qualified Accounts
5. Handover Document
6. Charities That Want to Import Goods for Resale Without Incurring Tax
7. Charity Toolkit
8. Trustee Training
9. Employing Staff from Abroad
10. Staff Handbook
11. Future Plans
12. Resources
13. And Finally...

1. When do DBS Checks Need Renewing
A DBS check has no official expiry date. Any information included is accurate at the time the check was carried out. Whether or not to carry out a subsequent check is up to the trustees. Some authorities suggest a new check every 3 years.

2. Reporting Incidents
This month I came across a couple of incidents I mention, pour encourager les autres, where delays in reporting added to the stress of the situations. The first related to a serious safeguarding incident which came to the attention of the CEO on a Friday evening; he notified the police on the Monday following. They're thinking of charging him for this delay. The lesson here is that if you pick up on something, you must give close attention to your Safeguarding Policy and do what it tells you to do. The second involved failure to immediately notify the Charity Commission of an incident being investigated by another regulator. The Commission was very critical of this delay. 3 lessons: Don't delay, ensure all board members are in the picture. Inform the Regulator; if you don't and they find out from the local press, it's a serious matter. Write to me if you need a steer; I've seen it all before.

3. Policies
During my training sessions, this year I've spent time looking at charity policies. Generally, what I find is that most of the important policies are in place, though they might need a bit of updating. What's so often missing is the secondary policies which are still important, and often need to be there to guide you when something comes up and help you stay safe. We're working with a number of charities right now to help them get in place the policies appropriate for them. If you need to do work in this area, don't try to re-invent the wheel; contact us.

4. Qualified Accounts
I've mentioned this once already this year, but the practice of ticking the box which asks whether your accounts are qualified when completing your on-line report to the Charity Commission still seems widespread. Someone proudly told me last week that his accounts were qualified, when they clearly weren't. A report said that 20% of charities were doing this. Surprisingly a quick piece of research I carried out showed a similar figure. Remember, qualified bad, unqualified good.

5. Handover Document
The chair of one of our member charities was departing too far-flung parts (possibly Cornwall even), and he sent me a copy of the document he prepared to give his successor a fighting chance. It impressed me as being very helpful. I've had it listed to do some work on it for some months now. If 3 or 4 of you ask for a copy, this could give me the impetus I clearly need to get on with it.

6. Charities That Want to Import Goods for Resale Without Incurring Tax
This is a complex area that puts off many charities from an activity which could produce small income streams. This month I was asked to give advice on the subject, which was new to me. When I got over my initial panic, I asked the enquirer to be more specific. To my great relief, it turned out that he was actually offering to share the expertise his charity has built up. Let me know if this is an area you might benefit from, and we'll see what help is possible.

7. Charity Toolkit
The new year will be the time to start to think about the next update: We plan to add in a whole new section on Charity VAT. If the Toolkit has missed your attention, it's a distillation of our training material and briefings library built up over many years, boiled it down to make it ideal for busy trustees and administrators. It's a ‘live' document that's already had several updates. This link will take you to a list of contents to give you an idea of what it contains (Toolkit_Contents_List.pdf).

8. Trustee Training
This year I've carried out more training sessions than ever before; I'm even getting asked back to give refreshers. Boards are increasingly becoming aware that a solid briefing will help them stay up to date and safe. I work through my Toolkit, providing the back stories on why it's important to keep governance in good order. I focus on simplicity and proportionality amongst other things. E-mail if you'd like me to show up at one of your board meetings. Flexible on content and costs.

9. Employing Staff from Abroad
Many thousands of charities employ workers from overseas. Reminder: if you negligently employ an illegal worker you could face a fine of up to £20,000. Make sure your recruitment practices are up to date. Contact us if you need help on this. Don't forget to make diary notes where permissions need to be checked and reviewed annually.

10. Staff Handbook
We've been doing some work lately to help charities bring their staff handbooks up to date. If we can help you with yours, let us know. Staff issues do crop up from time to time in the best organisations; make sure you're well prepared. If something goes wrong and your policies aren't up to date, you could end up wishing you'd made the investment.

11. Future Plans
What with increasing training demands and the daily advice service to our charity friends I'm finding it harder to get this bulletin out on time. I think I even missed a month this year. It's important though to keep it going. There's someone out there reading this who might quite like to work with me on it. Someone who can keep their sanity sifting through endless bits of material to pick up on the occasional nugget that will help readers keep up to date and safe. Please tell me about yourself.

12. Resources
This year we've extended our advice and support services. Don't forget we can help with:
  All aspects of accounts including yearend and book-keeping
  HR support
  Legal advice
  Fundraising
And much else besides.

13. And Finally...

When Advent comes these lines always pop into my mind, summing up for me the essence of this tremendous time of year. We complain endlessly about the commercialism and tell one another that the true meaning of Christmas has been lost somewhere between Santa Clause and excessive eating and drinking. But we still know the carols, and we still sing them! Take some moments to read the lines slowly and let them remind you.

And is it true? and is it true, This most tremendous tale of all, Seen in a stained-glass window's hue, A Baby in an ox's stall? The Maker of the stars and sea Become a Child on earth for me?

And is it true? For if it is, No loving fingers tying strings Around those tissued fripperies, The sweet and silly Christmas things, Bath salts and inexpensive scent And hideous tie so kindly meant,

No love that in a family dwells, No carolling in frosty air, Nor all the steeple-shaking bells Can with this single Truth compare – That God was Man in Palestine And lives to-day in Bread and Wine.

Extracted from John Betjeman's 'Collected Poems.'

Go well. Enjoy the Advent season; thank you for your encouraging messages. 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

BULLETIN No. 158: November 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. Wills
2. Data Protection
3. Staff Handbook
4. Charity Toolkit
5. New President
6. PSC Register
7. Interest Rates low; where to invest?
8. Charities not clear when to Report
9. Charity Fraud
10. VAT for Charities
11. Trustee Training
12. Contact Details
13. And Finally...

1. Wills
Over 37,000 wills that went to probate in 2015 contained an average of 3 legacies to charities; that means over 121,000 charity bequests. The baby boomer generation are beginning to pop their clogs, and they're a generous bunch. Make sure you have a good fundraising strategy for legacies. Contact us if you need help on this.

2. Data Protection
Whilst charities aren't generally subject to the Freedom of Information Act, they are subject to Data Protection legislation. This means that any individual has the power to request that you release all information that concerns them as a named individual. If you get a complaint, it's best not to let it escalate if you can avoid it. You should bear this in mind in your record keeping. Factual comments are ok as a rule, but if you're making subjective comments on an individual take care. We're involved in a Subject Access Request as I write; it's time-consuming, a distraction for the trustees to say nothing of the cost of getting the professional help they need. Contact me if you need help in this regard. Make sure you have a good complaints policy which is followed.

3. Staff Handbook
We've been doing some work lately to help charities bring their staff handbooks up to date. If we can help you with yours, let us know. Staff issues do crop up from time to time even in the best organisations; make sure you're well prepared if it gets squally.

4. Charity Toolkit
The successor to my Trustees Manual which I decided needed dusting down and bringing up to date. It’s a distillation of the training material and briefings library that I’ve built up over many years; I’ve refined and boiled it down to make it ideal for busy trustees and administrators. Launched in May to a hundred administrators, it’s a ‘live’ document has already had several updates. This link will take you to a list of contents (Toolkit_Contents_List.pdf). If you’re not too far away, I’d be delighted to come over and spend an evening going through it with you. I need 2 hours’ minimum. If I get longer, I can drill down deeper. We are now taking bookings for the first quarter next year.

5. New President
By the time this goes out; hopefully, some of the anxious comments that are going around about the world unravelling with Armageddon around the corner will have eased up. If you want to know what I think’s going on you might find some time to watch a good production of King Lear, as I did last week. There are great Biblical themes running through this great play, and it might reassure you. I see Lear in Trump, his life already drawing to a close; he wants a legacy his children will be proud of. The only way he’ll achieve that legacy is through a process of self-awareness. He can’t change history, but he can impact the future. Give him some time. ‘Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid. I am with you.’ (Buechner)

6. PSC Register
Following comments on PSCs in recent bulletins I had a very kind message from Lee Robins the Senior PSC Compliance Manager offering guidance to anyone with questions or queries. This is helpful. Small company charities where the numbers of directors are on the low side, can easily have to register one or more PSCs. Let me know if you need help of any sort.

7. Interest Rates low; where to invest?
It’s getting to be a big problem to those charities holding reserve funds; now we have the prospect of rising inflation. Government bonds will get you something, property funds a bit more, but higher returns have to be paid for by either increased risk or longer term investment, or sometimes both. You need good advice from a specialist. We can advise you on this if you don’t know who to turn to. You can of course always turn to Premium Bonds, where at least you have the chance of a good result, and you can always get your capital back. Don’t even think about lottery tickets as one charity did!

8. Charities not clear when to Report
There’s been a plethora of material being posted reminding charities about the importance of reporting to the Regulator if a serious event occurs in your charity. This link takes you to a tweet I posted a few weeks back. If there’s a serious incident which you fail to report, and the Charity Commission picks it up from another source, you’re likely to be in trouble. http://linkis.com/org.uk/Igewt. Worth getting our thoughts on it if you aren’t sure.

9. Charity Fraud
We’re told that one in five of us are victims of some sort of scam every year. I’d be surprised if most of my readers haven’t been caught; we are too trusting by far. The government has come up with a new website to try to help charities stay safe. It looks at types of charity fraud; common types of fraud that could affect your charity; how you can protect your charity against fraud, and a list of organisations working to combat fraud in charities. Lots of good material here. http://charitiesagainstfraud.org.uk/

10. VAT for Charities
I can talk about VAT in general terms, but if you need to drill down to know where you are on a big project, we have a valuable associate in the shape of Les Howard, charity VAT specialist. Give us a call if you need his services and let him help you save money on your projects!

11. Trustee 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 one of our training days: Email Becky for details. (New venue available soon in Southampton.) PLEASE NOTE that we are now fully booked for 2016, but are happy to take bookings for the New Year. If you would like a quote, we just need a date to pencil in the diary and an idea of how many delegates wish to attend. .

12. Contact Details
In order to ensure that you remain on our mailing list please can you update us when you change your email address as unfortunately some people end up missing out as we don’t have updated emails. Also, if any of your colleagues or trustees wish to be added to the Free Charity Bulletin please subscribe via our website www.afvs.org.uk or email Becky with their email address. Unfortunately, we cannot accept generic email addresses such as office@, admin@, support@, etc.

13. And Finally...

As I write this the news of Leonard Cohen’s death is coming in, and again the world pays its respects to another great entertainer lost to us.

“There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in.” ― Leonard Cohen, Selected Poems, 1956-1968

“Remember when I moved in you and the holy dove was moving too, and every breath we drew was, 'Hallelujah.” ― Leonard Cohen

“Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin Dance me through the panic 'til I'm gathered safely in Lift me like an olive branch and be my homeward dove Dance me to the end of love ” ― Leonard Cohen, (safely gathered in?)

“There is a war between the ones who say there is a war and the ones who say there isn't.” ― Leonard Cohen

Go well. Enjoy the advent season; 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

BULLETIN No. 157: October 2016

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

BULLETIN No. 156: August - September 2016

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What do we have this month?

1. Granny Cloud
2. PSCs
3. Spam Boxes
4. Healthcheck
5. Charity Toolkit
6. Charity Tax Returns
7. Training
8. Office Holders & Employment Contracts
9. Internet and Social Media Policy
10. Treasurer Wanted
11. Fundraising Strategy
12. And Finally...

1. Granny Cloud
I’m way behind the curve on this one; it’s been going for at least 6 years, and I only discovered it a few days ago. Basically, it’s how anyone with some teaching skills and a bit of time, can impact people the other side of the world. Enormous possibilities here for so many charities, particularly those that support education overseas. There’s a useful Ted talk if you’re as ignorant as I am on the opportunities opening up for us today.

2. PSCs (Persons with Significant Control)
Many charity directors and administrators are still puzzling over how they should complete the PSC section of their annual return (now known as the Confirmation Statement). In most cases, it’s pretty straightforward, but I know a fair number of charities where new directors, whatever the governing document says, can only be considered on the say so of the chief exec. Professional advisors need to take care not to perjure themselves. Send me an e-mail if you need guidance.

3. Spam Boxes
I’ve come across 3 examples recently of important e-mails ending up in the recipient’s spam box. Sadly, they had no system for checking their spam boxes, which I struggle to understand given how keen they are to grow their organisations. I checked with 3 people who run small organisations successfully; all check on a daily basis. I do mine probably twice a week. End of rant. Actually not quite whilst I’m at it; I’m coming across too many examples of websites, publicity materials and the like, where there are spelling mistakes and misplaced apostrophes scattered around almost at random. Current thinking seems to say it doesn’t matter, but there’s a sizeable body of people out there (me included) who set store on these matters, and you risk losing their respect. If you don’t want to lose business, and other opportunities get someone to proof read your work before letting it loose. Let’s all tighten up.

4. Healthcheck
We’ve renamed our Charity MOT and now call it a health check. I preferred the old name but was outvoted. It’s a useful tool to review your governance and operations. It can be carried out by you easily enough, or you can book me in to do the work at your office. I carried out a review in a Surrey charity this month; It yielded some useful issues to look at, though mostly it highlighted that this particular charity was well run and in a good place. It’s helpful to know that; some very conscientious people worry unduly and need to be reassured. Let us know if you’d like your operation to be reviewed.

5. Charity Toolkit
A couple of years ago I wrote a guide to inducting new trustees/ directors. When I read it recently, it looked rather tired and needed an overhaul. I’ve strengthened it and added it to the latest Toolkit. I’ve also included an aide-mémoire summarising The Responsibilities of a Director. E-mail to find out how you can get hard copies personalised for your charity.

The re-written Equalities Policy will find its way into the Toolkit as will a briefing on why CIO trustees should give some thought to Directors Liability cover. Also a new template for a Register of Interests. Every charity should have a register; the regulator is very concerned at the Conflicts of Interest in so many charities that aren’t being properly managed.

6. Charity Tax Returns
I seem to need to gently remind my readers regularly about this one. Unincorporated UK charities are liable to income tax, whereas those constituted as companies or CIOs are liable to corporation tax. If you receive a tax return, you must not sit on it. The chances are you won’t have to pay any tax, but you will incur a penalty if you don’t send in the return. Best thing is to let your accountant handle it, which he’ll do for a small fee.

7. 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.

8. Office Holders & Employment Contracts
We come across many charities where staff contracts aren’t in place, or where the contract clearly isn’t appropriate. For instance, church ministers should have an Office Holders Contract reflecting the realities of their position. The Regulator recently wrote to one of our members requiring them to provide up to date contracts for every-one on staff. If you have key people working for you that are self-employed, do you have an effective contract in place? Let me know if you need help on any of this.

9. Internet and Social Media Policy
Internet and social media represent tremendous opportunities, but they do have a dark side which we see far too often. Does your charity have an Internet and Social Media Policy to help keep your staff and volunteers on the straight and narrow? Again, let me know if you need help with this.

10. Treasurer Wanted
An interdenominational Christian charity promoting peace and justice is in need of a new treasurer. It’s based in the Midlands. The day to day accounts work is carried out by an accounts assistant, but the accounts can be accessed on-line, so the new treasurer doesn’t have to be too local. If you’d like to explore this write to me and I’ll hook you up.

11. Fundraising Strategy
Too many charities are closing down due to lack of funds. If you need help to put together a fundraising strategy, there are ways we can help which won’t cost you the earth. Our starting point is a one-hour consultation and a report with recommendations; the cost payable by you is covered by a bursary we can access. People are finding it helpful. Let us know if it interests you.

12. And Finally...

“My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four. Unless there are three other people.” - Orson Welles

“Don’t brood. Get on with living and loving. You don't have forever.” - Leo Buscaglia

“The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.” - Ernest Hemingway

“You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality.” - Ayn Rand

Enjoy what might be an Indian summer; thank you for all your support and interest. We look forward to hearing from you with your questions, your suggestions, your re-quests 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

BULLETIN No. 155: July 2016

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What do we have this month?

1. Charity Scam
2. Charity Fraud
3. Pension Fund Shortfalls
4. Salary Scales
5. Charity Toolkit
6. Equalities Policy
7. Training
8. Office Holders & Employment Contracts
9. Companies House Return
10. Directors’ Insurance
11. Website
12. Fundraising Strategy
13. And Finally...

1. Charity Scam
Let’s get the bad stuff out of the way. We’re being hit every day now with someone trying to part us from our hard won cash and the papers regular run heartbreaking stories of scams that have succeeded. http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/types_of_fraud: This is a good starting point to remind your teams of staff and volunteers about the dangers. Don’t open files from an unknown source; don’t even engage with anyone on the phone who isn’t genuine, and don’t toy with them as some do; that’s not wise. They’re a lot cleverer than we are. And all too often they succeed. Please take care of older folk, who may not be aware of the danger.

2. Charity Fraud
An RAF mess charity’s controls were so lax that they lost a lot of money, and the Regulator decided to set up a Statutory Class Enquiry to look at their general financial controls. No room for complacency anywhere in the world of charities where unpaid volunteers are giving their hard-won discretionary time to support a cause and corners inevitably get cut. Let us know if a review of your procedures would help make you safer. If you don’t have the budget for it, we sometimes have access to bursaries. Our Charity Health Review is a good starting point.

3. Pension Fund Shortfalls
This has been mentioned in a couple of bulletins recently. I shall let the last word go to my good friend Ian Clark, who has a depth of experience on the matter that not many of us possess. He wrote extensively to me; to summarise he feels that many deficits will probably not turn out as bad for many DB schemes as the current very prudent valuation methods imply. Any charity faced with difficult pensions decisions has a legal duty to seek fully qualified professional advice under both pensions and trust law. Every scheme and valuation are different (particularly multi-employer ones), so they need specific advice for their particular set of circumstances. Thanks, Ian.

4. Salary Scales
We’re regularly asked to provide information on salary scales for church ministers, particularly for newer denominations that don’t have set scales. We’ve put the information we have together in a briefing. Let us know if it might be useful to you. I’d also appreciate any information you can give me on the subject, to help us refine what we have.

5. Charity Toolkit
The re-written Equalities Policy will find its way into the Toolkit as will a briefing on why CIO trustees should give some thought to Directors Liability cover. Also, a new template for a Register of Interests. Every charity should have a register; the regulator is very concerned at the Conflicts of Interest in so many charities that aren’t being properly managed.

6. Equalities Policy
Our Equal Opportunities Policy has been re-written with some help from one of our members (grateful thanks Guy). There’s a copy on the AFVS member's website. E-mail us if you can’t find it.

7. 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.) July and August are now full; we’re taking bookings for September onwards. E-mail Becky for details.

8. Office Holders & Employment Contracts
We come across many charities where staff contracts aren’t in place, or where the contract clearly isn’t appropriate. For instance, church ministers should have an Office Holders Contract reflecting the realities of their position. The Regulator recently wrote to one of our members requiring them to provide up to date contracts for everyone on staff. If you have key people working for you that are self-employed, do you have an effective contract in place? Let me know if you need help on any of this.

9. Companies House Return
Don’t forget that the Annual Return has been replaced by a Confirmation Statement. You have 14 days from the end of the relevant review period in which to do this. This statement will include the information in your PSC register, which all charities have to keep since 6th April. There’s a template in the latest version of our charity toolkit. Let me know if you need help.

10. Directors’ Insurance
I’m regularly asked whether Trustees of CIOs should take out indemnity insurance. I used to think not, and the Charity Commission says that trustees of a well-run charity shouldn’t need this type of cover. I’ve had a re-think and believe there is a case for it. Barry Walker, who runs the Insurance Division at Kingdom Bank very kindly wrote a briefing on the subject for AFVS. Let us know if you’d like a copy; also if you’d like Barry to look at your insurances (he just reduced insurance costs for one of our members by almost 50%).

11. Website
My son Jonathan is making good progress building a business designing and installing websites. I’ve looked at a couple of his recent efforts, and they look pretty good to me. He’s giving some very good rates to charities, and even has access to some modest bursaries to help with the cost. If this interests you check out this example, and let me know if you want a quote or a proposal. www.grandadsfrontroom.co.uk (A very simple site, still under construction, and surprisingly low cost). Jonathan’s website is: www.fournineteen.co.uk

12. Fundraising Strategy
Too many charities are closing down due to lack of funds. If you need to put together a fundraising strategy, there are ways we can help which won’t cost you the earth. Our starting point is a one-hour consultation and a report with recommendations; the cost payable by you is covered by a bursary we can access. People are finding it helpful. Let us know if it interests you.

13. And Finally...

An elderly man was on the operating table, about to be operated on by his son, a famous surgeon. Just before they put him under, he asked to speak to his son: 'Don’t be nervous, boy, just do your best and just remember, if it doesn’t go well, if something happens to me… your mother is going to come and live with you and your family.”

On a more reflective note, I offer these thoughts from T.S. Eliot for you to meditate on: (The first one is for those of us, possibly most of us, unsettled by what’s going on around us and the speed at which events are unfolding.)

‘Teach us to care and not to care Teach us to sit still and not Even among these rocks, Our peace in His will And even among these rocks’ Ash-Wednesday

‘We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time.’ Four Quartets

‘Whatever you think, be sure it is what you think; whatever you want, be sure that is what you want; whatever you feel, be sure that is what you feel.’

‘Most of the evil in this world is done by people with good intentions.’

‘Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.’

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

BULLETIN No. 154: June 2016

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What do we have this month?

1. BREXIT
2. Legal Expertise
3. Pension Fund Shortfalls
4. Wasps
5. Charity Toolkit
6. Mergers
7. Training
8. Social Enterprises
9. Fixed Term Contracts
10. Fraudulent Insurance Claims
11. Discretionary Council Tax Relief
12. Equipment Loan Agreement
13. Fundraising Strategy
14. And Finally...

1. BREXIT
My first thought on Friday morning was, ‘My oh my, what have we gone and done?’ My more considered thought is that the sky won’t fall in for charities, or anyone else for that matter. Too much posturing and extreme statements on both sides has led to a good deal of anxiety on what the future might hold. What we now need is to allow a settled process of negotiation and considered mature discussion. In times of uncertainty I find these words of Julian of Norwich strangely comforting, ‘All shall be well and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well’.

2. Legal Expertise
Thought I’d start with some very good news. We’re working closely with a solicitor who is a charity specialist. More details in the next bulletin, but if you do need legal advice or help let me know. He’s already given me advice on four separate cases, and he clearly knows his stuff. One case is where a church wants to sell its building, and the original trustees have got lost in the mists of time and are nowhere to be found.

3. Pension Fund Shortfalls
There are horrendous pension shortfalls in all sectors. In the charity sector, YMCAs and The Baptist Union are faring badly, through no fault of their own I add. Situations are coming to light where Baptist ministers and staff who have been part of the scheme have left for employment in charities other than Baptist Charities, but elected to remain in the pension scheme for convenience. If this is you, it makes sense to get advice quickly. Sometimes it’s worth crystallising the loss sooner rather than later as the situation is likely to get worse over the years for various reasons.

4. Wasps
Now wasps are much misunderstood. Small children and more than a few grownups run in terror from them; we flap newspapers to get them to go away from our picnic spread. You mustn’t do this, as they simply go back to the nest and fetch all their friends. The first one must be killed if you want to keep your food safe. Only kill the one though because I’m reliably informed that a wasp does a tremendous amount to protect our environment.

5. Charity Toolkit
Just about to pass over the next batch of material to Jo to format into the Charity Toolkit. It will include some comments on the Insurance Act 2015 which is just about to come into force, a briefing on the legal status of PCCs, and the Equipment Loan Agreement mentioned elsewhere. This is a valuable resource for administrators and trustees, and free to all AFVS members.

6. Mergers
The Regulator encourages mergers for many reasons; in these turbulent times, a merger might be a good move. It can be a problem if the talks gather momentum, expectations are built up, difficulties are put on one side, and no one has the courage to be realistic about facing issues, or worse, pretends they aren’t there. I know of two mergers that failed; in one case because of hidden financial liabilities, and in other due to serious staffing issues. We have a useful briefing if you’re ever involved in such discussions. Due diligence is vital. Don’t rush. Take advice.

7. 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.) June has been busy for training events. We are now taking bookings for the autumn, but there is still availability in July, (August too, but who wants training then!). E-mail us for a synopsis.

8. Social Enterprises
Most of us by now understand the different forms of charities, and we know that a CIC isn’t a charity, but is clearly a significant part of the voluntary sector. Where things often get muddled is when there’s talk about Social Enterprises. I’ve heard people speak with great authority about what a Social Enterprise is and isn’t. What many seem to miss is that, unlike charities, there’s no legal definition of a Social Enterprise. There is an informal definition but with no legal status, so you can’t rely on it. I have material, and if I can find the time and the strength, I’ll get a briefing together. Meantime if you need a steer for any reason, or it’s keeping you awake at night, e-mail me.

9. Fixed Term Contracts
We often use these forms of employment contracts when we have funding which might come to an end and we can’t guarantee the financial security of the post. I’ve discussed this a few times recently. In my research, I came across the fact that the expiry of a Fixed Term Contract can be seen as a dismissal for the purposes of the unfair dismissal laws, and there need to be good reasons for not renewing the contract. We have a HR specialist who will be pleased to give advice on specifics.

10. Fraudulent Insurance Claims
I could never put in a dodgy claim; I’m apologetic enough when it’s genuine, especially if it was my fault in the first place. But I was involved with a Charity that put in a claim that clearly included fraudulent elements. If you’re putting in a claim remember the Insurance Act 2015 (in force from August 2016); If any part of a claim turns out to be fraudulent, the insurer can refuse the whole claim. To give more protection to genuine claimants, insurers are required to play a more active role in asking questions; which is what they’re doing as you’re finding out when your renewal notice arrives.

11. Discretionary Council Tax Relief
A reader wrote to tell me that his charity has lost the 10% discretionary Council Tax relief on its offices which it has always received (on top of the mandatory 80%) - quote: 'on reviewing your ongoing costs, you are in a financial position to pay your business rates liability.' When has the discretionary relief ever been related to the ability to pay? The council review covered the last 3 years amongst other things. Anyone else suffering in this way?

12. Equipment Loan Agreement
How many times have we been caught out by other organisations or individuals being given the loan of equipment which either we never see again, or it comes back damaged? The idea of getting a signed agreement when equipment is lent out is a good one. By putting the arrangement in writing gives you a much better chance of it being looked after and even returned in good condition. Charles Zeeley, one of our readers, took an agreement I had drawn up and made some considerable improvements to it. It’ll find its way into the next version of the Charity Toolkit.

13. Fundraising Strategy
A new service for AFVS members. If you need help to put together a fundraising strategy, there are ways we can help which won’t cost you the earth. Our starting point is a one-hour consultation and a report with recommendations; the cost payable by you is covered by a bursary we can access. Early feedback is good; let us know if it interests you.

14. And Finally... (bit long but worth it!)

This last month we have been inundated with people telling us what it means to be British. This is what it really means:

Staring at your phone in silent horror until the unknown number stops ringing.

Hearing a recording of your own voice and deciding it's perhaps best never to speak ever again.

The relief when someone doesn’t answer their phone within three rings, and you can hang up.

Filming an entire fireworks display on your phone, knowing full well you’ll never, ever watch it again.

Mishearing somebody’s name on the second time of asking, meaning you must now avoid them forever.

Leaving it too late to correct someone, meaning you must live with your new name forever.

Changing from ‘kind regards’ to just ‘regards’, to indicate that you’re rapidly reaching the end of your tether.

“You’ll have to excuse the mess” – Translation: I’ve spent seven hours tidying in preparation for your visit.

The overwhelming sorrow of finding a cup of tea you forgot about.

Turning down a cup of tea for no reason and instantly knowing you’ve made a terrible, terrible mistake.

Waiting for permission to leave after paying for something with the exact change.

Watching with quiet sorrow as you receive a different haircut to the one you requested.

Being unable to pay for something with the exact change without saying “I think that’s right.”

Deeming it necessary to do a little jog over zebra crossings, while throwing in an apologetic mini wave.

Looking away so violently as someone nearby enters their PIN that you accidentally dislocate your neck.

The huge sense of relief after your perfectly valid train ticket is accepted by the inspector.

Worrying you’ve accidentally packed 3 kilos of cocaine and a dead goat in your suitcase as you stroll through “Nothing to declare.”

Being unable to stand and leave without first saying “right.”.

Not hearing someone for the third time, so just laughing and hoping for the best.

Go well into the summer; thank you for all your support and interest. We look forward to hearing from you with your questions, your suggestions, and your requests for help and advice. If you find this bulletin helpful, could you take a moment to pass it onto others who might appreciate it.

Daryl Martin

BULLETIN No. 153: May 2016

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What do we have this month?

1. Tax on Employer-Provided Accommodation
2. Charity Toolkit
3. PSCs and RLEs
4. Charities at Risk of On-line Extortion Demands
5. Conduit Funding
6. Trustees Signing Contracts
7. Pension Fund Deficits
8. Beryl Hobson
9. Training
10. Fundraising Strategy
11. And Finally...

1. Tax on Employer-Provided Accommodation
If you provide accommodation for staff, including the manse scheme you will be interested (or horrified) to note that the government has been consulting on the future of the tax breaks HMRC allows. They're considering not only whether the exemptions need to be updated and simplified, but also whether they're still relevant, with the increasing availability of technology and more flexible ways of working. I've just completed a briefing on the subject as the information in my Toolkit was a bit thin.

2. Charity Toolkit
This is my attempt to put down the different components of my trustee training into one valuable document. (Actually, it comes in two slightly different versions, one for Charities and one for Churches.) It was originally launched at a conference for church administrators in March. I decided to make it a living document capable of being regularly updated, giving me the opportunity to improve it as it's road tested and add in new material. We've already had two revisions, and a third should be completed by the time this goes out. The latest updates are posted onto both the AFVS and UCAN websites with a summary of the changes. AFVS members can download their free copy from the AFVS website member's area. Non-members can purchase a hard copy for £40, which includes p&p. Let me know if you would like to purchase a copy. (Please note: purchased hard copies does not include access to future updates).

3. PSCs and RLEs
This is a new Companies House requirement from April 6th. We're gradually getting the hang of it. If your charity has a separate trading company, then that will mean an entry in the RLE register (Relevant Legal Entity); but nothing to be afraid of. Let me know if you aren't sure. I'm having a lot of conversations over who the company members are. A lot of confusion for different reasons. (We update directors' information but often overlook the members, and also churches often confuse company members with church members). My briefing is still available on request. The revised Toolkit has a template PSC Register in the appendix.

4. Charities at Risk of On-line Extortion Demands
Most of us think this will never happen to us, but the Charity Commission recently repeated its detailed warning so it must be happening to someone somewhere. Businesses including charities have received online extortion demands from a group demanding payment of money in Bitcoin. If you don't pay they threaten a cyber-attack, with consequent reputational damage.
Action to take: If you get such a demand, don't pay up, call Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040, or go to their website: www.actionfraud.police.uk. Make sure you hang onto all the evidence.

5. Conduit Funding
Interesting how the same question often comes along in short spaces of time; this time it's the old situation whereby someone comes along with a stack of money and wants the charity to Gift Aid it and send it to someone abroad, or even another work in the UK. This commonly affects churches, and often it's a member who wants the gift sent on to a mission of their choice abroad. (I'm talking about genuine requests, not money laundering operations.) There's confusion about whether this can be done. Sometimes it's done when it shouldn't be and sometimes it isn't done when it could be. HMRC sets out (fairly) clear guidelines that, for the donation to be eligible for Gift Aid, the charity trustees must clearly take ownership of the funds and follow the guidelines; otherwise it can be classed as Conduit Funding (another term is Fettered Giving, take your pick). Email me if you have a specific concern. (If I'm really honest I think the HMRC guidance is a tad ambiguous, for people who want to do the right thing). Don't forget my briefing on sending funds abroad.

6. Trustees Signing Contracts
I’m involved with a couple of situations right now where I feel a certain sympathy for the trustees. In one case they signed a contract and wished they hadn’t. In the other, they’re about to be asked to sign a contract but feel out of their depth. It’s very easy for these situations to arise, especially where there’s a strong, commanding chief exec (shades of Camilla and Kids Company) who wants to push on to achieve their vision. There are two important things you must do if you get into this kind of situation: assess the risk and take advice where you need to; if you lack information or understanding don’t be afraid to ask questions. If a contract with a commercial organisation goes wrong, get help quickly. Always take care when you sign anything.

7. Pension Fund Deficits
We lost another charity (major in terms of influence rather than size), recently. One of the key deciding factors was the size of the pension deficit, which was over seven times what they had in the bank at the year end. A lot of charities aren’t facing up to the issue soon enough. The link below is a report from a charity that did. I know it’s a big charity and smaller ones feel helpless, but it’s still worth getting some sound advice. We were able to help a small charity deal with this issue recently. The file is from the Civil Society (Email me if you can’t get the file to open).
https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/b330e2d5-6c09-4db6-96bf-1e66461938a3

8. Beryl Hobson
It was a delight to meet Beryl for lunch recently while I was working in Battle for a week (long story). She gave me the link to the article mentioned above. Beryl’s very experienced in the world of big charities and available for consultations: I’ve consulted with Beryl many times, and she knows what she’s talking about. www.profgov.com.

9. Training
This is becoming a lot easier now I have my Toolkit to work from. My diary is filling up, but I still have spaces available. My emphasis these days is taking away the complexities that so often creep in. Leaving you with my tried and tested Ten Top Tips for Keeping Things Simple and Safe. I find a day or a half day great fun as I can go into lots of background, but a more disciplined approach will get through the material in a long evening, still with plenty of time for questions.

10. Fundraising Strategy
A new service for AFVS members. If you need help to put together a fundraising strategy, there are ways we can help which won’t cost you the earth. Our starting point is a one hour Skype consultation and a follow-up report with recommendations; a bursary we can access covers the cost payable by you. Early feedback is good; let us know if it interests you.

11. And Finally... (in the absence of any more decent jokes)

The Washington Post invited readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition. Here are some of the winners:

Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period of time.

Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with.

Reintarnation: Coming back to life as a hillbilly.

Bozone ( n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.

Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.

Inoculatte: To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.

Karmageddon: It's like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer.

Decafalon (n.): The gruelling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.

Dopeler Effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.

Arachnoleptic Fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.

Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito, that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.

Caterpallor ( n.): The colour you turn after finding half a worm in the fruit you're eating.

Go well. 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.
Daryl Martin

BULLETIN No. 152: March / April 2016

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What do we have this month?

1. Toolkit for AFVS Members
2. Risk, Again!
3. PSC Register
4. Banks Requesting Detailed Information
5. Health & Safety Poster
6. Training
7. My Activities
8. Fundraising Strategy
9. AFVS
10. The Impact of Tax Changes on Gift Aid
11. And Finally...

1. Toolkit for AFVS Members
Earlier this year I began to put together a set of detailed notes on the essence of the training I deliver to charity trustees and administrators to help them stay safe. I’ve prepared 2 versions; one for charities generally, the other specifically for churches. I’ve taken the opportunity to review the briefings on the AFVS website and boil them down into bite sized pieces for busy trustees and executives. Launched at last, to some good reviews. I’ve already amended it. Mainly tidying up some issues in the numbering of the hall hire section and I’ve also added a section on the new PSC requirements, and Health & Safety posters (see below for both). If you’ve had a copy of the Toolkit and want an updated version e-mail me and I’ll send you one. I can see that most members won’t want to download an updated Toolkit every month, so I’ll provide a summary of the changes.

2. Risk, Again!
I mentioned recently the sad case of a toddler who choked to death on a cube of raw jelly. This month a nursery which failed in its duty of care was fined £180,000 plus costs. Over the Easter holiday, a bouncy castle became airborne in the high winds, and a child died. 2 people were arrested for gross negligence. Clearly there’s a difference between negligence and gross negligence. Negligence is when someone acts incompetently or below the recognised standard of care, and causes harm through a lack of reasonable and expected action. Gross negligence goes a step further than simple carelessness and is seen as a complete failure to show care that in fact implies recklessness or a wilful disregard for safety and human life. Gross negligence isn’t necessarily covered by insurance; I took this from an insurance website: ‘Childminders are covered for allowing babies and children to play with toys and games in their houses if appropriate care has been taken to ensure the baby and child is safe’. (Knutsford Childminding notes 2011.) Charities must take care with their risk assessments, especially where children and vulnerable adults are concerned.

3. PSC Register
From April 6th, all companies registered at Companies House must set up a register with the names and details of all people with significant control. This register must be open to the public. This is an interesting new requirement, designed to deal with money laundering and terrorism, but it will have a significant impact on many incorporated charities. I’ve prepared a detailed briefing on the subject. Let me know if you need specific help. The Annual Return, which companies file with Companies House, is being replaced in June by a ‘Confirmation Statement’.

4. Banks Requesting Detailed Information
This month we’ve had several instances where charities are being contacted by their banks and being asked to provide detailed information. Information requested varies but includes 6 months’ worth of statements in respect of all accounts with other banks, Yearend accounts for 3 last years, lists of beneficiaries. One bank warned that if the information were not quickly forthcoming, all facilities would be withdrawn. This all seems very draconian; I suspect it’s all to do with FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act), and banks getting their records updated to comply with USA requirements. You’ve no choice but to comply, as the banks in their turn have no choice. If you need help with this, let us know. Meanwhile, we hope that the law of unintended consequences doesn’t come into play, though it probably will.

5. Health & Safety Poster
Somewhere in your premises, usually the kitchen, one might come across an ancient yellowed A3 sized document blue-tacked onto the wall. No one ever reads it, but the law says you must have it displayed. Well, the law changed, possibly quietly, and you no longer have to display it. If you don’t, all your workers must be given a leaflet with the equivalent information. Probably better to keep the one on the wall, though it might be hygienic to get a new one to put up. You’d not be surprised at the number of places that think they have one, but it fell down years ago and was never replaced.

6. Training
Lot easier now I have my Toolkit to work from. My diary is filling up, but I still have spaces. My emphasis these days is taking away the complexities that so often creep in. Leaving you with my tried and tested Ten Top Tips for Keeping Things Simple and Safe.

7. My Activities
Another busy couple of months, much of the time taken up with my new Toolkit, more discussions around fundraising, ever more important as other sources dry up. We’re advising a couple of charities which had their registration refused by the Charity Commission. This is not uncommon. Often it’s because they haven’t got the objects properly nailed down, and the Commission thinks that there will be a mix of charity and non-charity activities going on. If you’re not totally sure, best get advice from people who understand. There must be clear understanding and differentiation between primary, secondary and ancillary trading. There’s a lot of confusion. Also working on situations where complaints have been made against charities, some vexatious, some not. The key to dealing with complaints well is to deal with them quickly, and openly, not trying to hide away. A very interesting enquiry on how to handle an anonymous donation, and another donation which had strings attached.

8. Fundraising Strategy
A new service we offer to members of AFVS. If you need help to put together a fundraising strategy, there are ways we can help which won’t cost you the earth. Our starting point is a one-hour consultation and a report with recommendations; cost covered by us. Early feedback is good; let us know if it interests you.

9. AFVS
More than 30 new members so far this year. We do appreciate the charities and individuals that are coming into membership. Every new and renewing member strengthens us and enables us to do more to help charities stay strong and safe. Every paying member helps us to help the small charities who need a little extra help in these turbulent times. Grateful thanks for your support.

10. The Impact of Tax Changes on Gift Aid
This year more people will be taken out of having to pay tax, especially with the first £1000 of savings income being tax-free to a basic rate payer, and the first £5000 of dividend income being income tax-free. Charities should remind donors this time of year that they must pay enough tax to cover gift aided donations, or they could face an unexpected bill. Every year people get caught; don’t let it be you. Often HMRC will invite the charity to repay any tax they have wrongly claimed, but the law states that the donor is responsible for paying it.

11. And Finally...

Last month’s story from Ireland got good reviews; so here’s another:

Paddy McCoy, an elderly Irish farmer, was hit by a truck owned by a delivery company. In court, the company’s hot-shot solicitor was questioning Paddy. ‘Didn’t you say to the police at the scene of the accident, ‘I’m fine’?’
Paddy responded, ‘Well I’ll tell you what happened. I just loaded my fav’rit cow Bessie into the …’. ‘I didn’t ask for any details interrupted the solicitor, just answer the question. Did you or did you not say, ‘I’m fine.'
Paddy said, ‘Well, I’d just got Bessie into the trailer, and I was driving down the road …’. The solicitor interrupted again. ‘Your honour, I’m simply trying to establish the fact that, at the scene of the accident this man told the police on the scene he was fine. Now, several weeks later he is suing my client. Please tell him to simply answer the question’.
By this time the judge was quite interested to hear Paddy’s answer, so he said to the solicitor, ‘I’d like to hear what he has to say about his favourite cow.’
Paddy thanked the judge and proceeded. ‘Well, as I was saying, I’d loaded Bessie, my fav’rit cow into the trailer and was driving her down the road when this huge truck came thundering through a stop sign, and we both ended up in the ditch. I was hurt and didn’t want to move. I could hear old Bessie, moaning, and groaning, and I knew she was in terrible pain. Then a policeman on a motorbike turns up. He could hear her groaning, so he went over to her. After he looked at her and saw how she was, he took his gun and shot her right between the eyes. Then he came across to me, with his gun still in his hand. He looked at me and said, ‘how are you feeling?’
Now, what would you say?

Go well. 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.
Daryl Martin

BULLETIN No. 151: February 2016

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What do we have this month?

1. Charity Commission
2. Sending Money Overseas
3. Stay in Touch with your Insurance Broker
4.Westpoint Code of Conduct
5. Policies
6. When Things go Wrong
7. Conference for Church Administrators
8. Training
9. My Month
10. Fundraising Strategy
11. Gift Aid - New Declarations
12. AFVS
13. And Finally...

1. Charity Commission
A couple of weeks back I sat in on a meeting between a charity and 3 gentlemen from the Charity Commission, who had travelled down from Liverpool to examine some issues. It was an interesting experience. They were tough but fair; they know what questions to ask. The charity was transparent and didn’t try to hide anything and had prepared well beforehand. Best to avoid them visiting you if you can; it can be very time consuming getting yourselves ready. If they do come knocking let me know and I’ll help.

2. Sending Money Overseas
HMRC holds trustees accountable to ensure that money sent overseas is used for charitable purposes. If you can’t provide decent evidence, they can penalise you. Trustees put different interpretations on what constitutes decent evidence. I spent time with a small charity this week. The issue was concerning them, but after a good discussion creative solutions were found and I’ve no doubt they’ll find a way to stay safe. Another charity I know wanted to tie up the receiving organisation with so much detail that the whole endeavour was lost, which was sad. Be proportionate; be creative; send for me if you aren’t sure.

3. Stay in Touch with your Insurance Broker
If you work with a busy charity, there’ll always be something going on, whether it’s taking a party of schoolchildren to do some relief work in Africa, a coach load to a conference, or a putting a marquee in the grounds for a spring fair. Whatever you’re up to that’s at all out of the ordinary ask yourself whether you should inform your broker. If something goes wrong and you haven’t, it could affect your cover. Also, bear in mind that if something does go wrong and you haven’t reviewed risk.

4. Westpoint Code of Conduct
When I’m carrying out induction training for new trustees I like to emphasise the importance of signing up to a Code of Conduct. The one I use is rather long, with 14 clauses to it. The code adopted by Westpoint Military Academy is short and sweet: "A cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do.”
It’s accompanied by Three Rules of Thumb:

Does this action attempt to deceive anyone or allow anyone to be deceived?
Does this action gain or allow the gain of privilege or advantage to which I or someone else would not otherwise be entitled?
Would I be dissatisfied by the outcome if I were on the receiving end of this action?

Perhaps everyone in any sort of public life should sign up to this?

5. Policies
In my Administrator’s Toolkit is a list of 20 policies that trustees need to at least think about. I asked someone recently how many policies they had. The answer was, none. Well, they do have policies, but if they’re in someone’s head this won’t help if a problem tips up. Keep things simple and relevant, and review them annually. A recent casualty of a poor Health & Safety policy was a poor child who choked on a piece of raw jelly in a nursery play session. No one had thought to carry out a risk assessment. Sentencing takes place in March; I’ll keep you posted.

6. When Things Go Wrong
We’re involved with a couple of charities where staff issues have got to the point where ACAS is involved, plus costly settlement agreements. In both situations, an examination of the history showed that early warning signs were ignored leaving a heavy price to be paid in money and stress two years down the line. If something’s wrong in the workplace or on the board, fix it swiftly; it’s not likely to go away. Get help if needed.

7. Conference for Church Administrators
Record numbers are booked in for the conference at the Bloomsbury Baptist Church on Wednesday, March 18th. I shall be launching my Church Administrators Toolkit, a must for every church administrator in the land to help them manage risk: http://www.john-truscott.co.uk/Administrators/UCAN-events. There’s still plenty of room.

8. Training
We now have more training events in the diary for this year than we achieved in the whole of last year. This is a major gear change. I’m going to need help. This year I plan to draw people in alongside me. (and about time too I hear my long-suffering wife say.)

9. My Month
Another busy month, much of the time taken up with my new Toolkit, which I have high hopes of; a number of discussions around fundraising, ever more important as other sources dry up, and firming up on several training events in different places. We’ve been working with charities that are separating up projects into their own charity, another charity that sadly is shutting down, and a couple of others in merger talks. We’ve had a number of conversations around risk and Health and Safety, which is a major concern right now. Another situation where tax and NI were deducted from wages but not passed onto HMRC; what’s the liability of the employee? And sending funds abroad safely is a regular query. Also a number of questions on the new gift aid declaration.
(I share this list simply to give you an idea of the breadth of issues we’re involved in.)

10. Fundraising Strategy
A new service we offer to members of AFVS. If you need help to put together a fundraising strategy, there are ways we can help which won’t cost you the earth. Our starting point is a one-hour consultation and a report with recommendations; cost covered by us. A number of charities have expressed interest in this; let us know if it interests you.

11. Gift Aid - New Declarations
Charities can finish their supply of gift aid declaration forms before using the updated wording, says HMRC, taking a welcome common sense approach. HMRC “recommends using the new declaration now”, but, it said in a recent update that “Charities and CASCs holding stocks of printed materials that were ordered and printed before the new declaration was amended, can use up their current stock before using the new declaration.” You may need to be able to show that you ordered stocks with the old declaration before October 2015. The wording does not reflect any changes in procedures; it simplifies the declaration but adds a reminder that donors are liable to pay the difference if they haven’t paid enough tax to cover what’s been claimed back.

12. AFVS
More than 20 new members so far this year. We do appreciate the charities and individuals that are coming into membership. Every new and renewing member strengthens us and enables us to do more to help charities stay strong and safe. Every paying member helps us to help the small charities who need a little extra help in these turbulent times. Grateful thanks for your support.

13. And Finally...

If you run your own small business this will resonate.

Paddy McCoy, an elderly Irish farmer, received a letter from the Department for Work & Pensions stating that they suspected he was not paying his employees the statutory minimum wage, and they would send an inspector to interview them.

On the appointed day, the inspector turned up. "Tell me about your staff," he asked Paddy.

"Well," said Paddy, "there's the farm hand, I pay him £240 a week, and he has a free cottage.

Then there's the housekeeper. She gets £190 a week, along with free board and lodging.

There's also the half-wit. He works a 16-hour day, does 90% of the work, earns about £25 a week along with a bottle of whisky and, as a special treat, occasionally gets to sleep with my wife."

"That's disgraceful," said the inspector, "I need to interview the half-wit."

"That'll be me then," said Paddy. (Which reminds me; let me know straightaway if you still haven’t got round to registering for auto-enrolment.)

Go well in the run up to Easter. Thank you for all your support. We look forward to hearing from you with your questions, your suggestions and your requests for help.

Daryl Martin

BULLETIN No. 150: January 2016

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What do we have this month?

1. Corporate Denial
2. Year End Deadlines
3. Church Administrators Conference
4. Risk Toolkit
5. On-Line Bookkeeping Systems
6. Have You Made Your Will Yet
7. Health & Safety
8. My Week (or TGIF!)
9. Fundraising Strategy
10. Safeguarding
11. Twitter
12. AFVS
13. And Finally...

1. Corporate Denial
Just read an alarming set of accounts on the Charity Commission website. Income over the last 5 years averaging a bit over £300k, expenditure averaging over a million pounds a year. Each year the trustees made only a passing reference to the huge and growing deficit in their annual report, whilst giving glowing accounts of their ‘achievements’. Oh and each year they pledge their commitment to achieving a balanced budget. Their reserves won’t last another year. I wonder if the always hard pressed regulator should have some means of sifting out the non-performers. When the inevitable crash finally arrives, it will have a serious ripple effect as it supplies important services (probably too cheaply) to hundreds of other charities. Trustees must make sure they aren’t simply rearranging the furniture while the building is burning down. And you do risk your credibility if you ignore the big issue in your annual report.

2. Year End Deadlines
Most charities have long since finalised their accounts and Charity Commission filing. Many charities deadlines are the end of January. Make sure you’ve completed the work; if you haven’t the CC won’t give you an extension, you’ve had ten months which should be quite long enough. If you do need help contact me; we can work fast. When trustees complete their annual online filing, the Regulator asks a number of questions about whether certain policies are in place. If you answer no, it’s not necessarily a hanging offence; simply ask yourselves whether you should have that particular policy in place. If you need help constructing a policy AFVS can help. We have guidance notes, even some examples of most policies that you might need. Take care though if you decide you don’t need a particular policy; its absence will be noted if something serious happens.

3. Church Administrators Conference
I’m busy gearing up for a conference at the Bloomsbury Baptist Church on Wednesday, March 18th. There’s still some room. Many church administrators will have come across John Truscott; his website has a library of very helpful material to make life easier for churches. You can find more details about the conference here: http://www.john-truscott.co.uk/Administrators/UCAN-events.

4. Risk Toolkit
We plan to launch a new Church Administrators Toolkit at the conference, a must for every church administrator in the land to help them manage risk. Side by side with the Toolkit I will also be launching a Charity Administrators Toolkit. More details to follow.

5. On-Line Bookkeeping Systems
There’s a general move towards on-line systems, which makes life a lot easier when you want your accountant and other people to have remote access. We have helped a number of charities move to the online accounts platform Xero, which we like for small to medium charities. Although, lately we have been working on an increasing number of Quickbooks Online conversions. Many charities that use the desktop version of QuickBooks prefer to stay with the same application. Drop us a line if we can advise and help you in this.

6. Have You Made Your Will Yet
Three weeks ago I visited a dear family friend who was seriously ill, to advise him to make a will. He demurred, until last week when he asked me to sort it out which I gladly did. Sadly the next day he died. The will means that the people who took care of him will have something to remember him by; otherwise, it would have gone to people who had nothing to do with him, or even the government. Apparently 70% of people with children under 18 haven’t got round to making a will. Have you? Put it on your to-do list, now. Don’t forget your favourite charities.

7. Health & Safety
An academy school just got fined £30,000 after a technician was seriously injured preparing for a firework party. It was an exemplary school, but H & S Inspectors found serious weakness in their H & S policy regarding dangerous substances. We’re involved in other cases; at least one as serious as this. I recommend that trustees review their risk policies, strengthen them where they need to, and make sure proper training is provided. We don’t need to go overboard on Health and Safety, and we can’t eliminate risk, but we must make sure those we are responsible for are protected.

8. My Week (or TGIF!)
It's Friday and I’m looking back to see where my time went. Just this week I:

a. Advised a charity merging with another one, and changing their name.

b. Advised in a situation where there is potential conflict between trustees & executive (Hoping to nip it in the bud)

c. Advised a charity whether they are excepted or not. (CC appeared to disagree with me but who am I?)

d. Worked to help rescue an application to register which had been turned down by the Charity Commission

e. Advised on employing a worker from overseas and FATCA implications.

f. Advised a board where a trustee is under investigation by HMRC (He’s innocent, but poorly advised possibly)

g. Reviewed employment contract and recommended improvements

h. Reviewed position of trustees liability where a serious H & S incident occurred in November.

i. Arranged session to provide fundraising expertise

j. Advised on a Village Hall ownership issue

k. Advised an Independent Examiner on a trustee conflict of interest

l. Got involved in a staff grievance enquiry

m. Advised on a pension fund contribution query

n. Advised a Chair who has been requested to make a loan to a nearby charity which can’t pay the overdue rent due.

A lot to get through in one week; so lunchtime I’m taking my dear wife Anita to a hotel where there’s a spa, and I shall forget about village halls and fundraising and conflicts of interest and have a nice weekend away. (I share this list to give you an idea of the breadth of issues we’re involved in.)

9. Fundraising Strategy
If you need help to put together a fundraising strategy, there are ways we can help which won’t cost you the earth. Our starting point is to offer AFVS members a one-hour consultation, cost covered by us. Let me know if this interests you.

10. Safeguarding
This heading keeps coming up. We’re currently arranging safeguarding training for charities that need bringing up to date. Let us know if one of our courses will help you. Better safe than sorry.

11. Twitter
Another interesting month on Twitter: I send out heavy duty but relevant articles on charity issues, with a pithy comment (Twitter only allows pithy). Mostly useful fundraising or management issues. Last month I sent out articles warning about increasingly sophisticated frauds hitting your inbox; a warning not to be complacent about filing your accounts (CC are doing more public naming and shaming); the top 20 charity shop window displays and data protection failures incurring fines. Star award goes to Debbie Andalo’s piece claiming that too many charity boards are male, pale, and stale (How dare she!). An interesting one on the Law of Inverse Relevance being the reason many charities fail. E-mail me for copies.

12. AFVS
A number of bigger charities have joined us since Christmas. We so much appreciate the charities and individuals that are coming into membership. Every member strengthens us and enables us to do more to help charities stay strong and safe. Every paying member helps us to help the small charities who need a little extra help in these turbulent times.

13. And Finally...

Some much-needed encouragement and advice to those ever-optimistic souls who’ve launched out on yet another diet:

"Never eat more than you can lift." - Miss Piggy

“I have written the only diet book that I believe needs to exist, and here it is: CHAPTER ONE: Eat a bit less. CHAPTER TWO: Move about a bit more. THE END.” - Miranda Hart

"The only time to eat diet food is while you're waiting for the steak to cook." -Julia Child

"You have to stay in shape. My grandmother started walking five miles a day when she was 60. She's 97 today and we’ve no idea where she is." - Ellen DeGeneres

"I'm not overweight. I'm just nine inches too short." - Shelley Winters

"I'm on a bit of a health kick, so I'll take the low-fat vanilla. With the following toppings: Snickles, Gooey Bears, Charlottesville Chew, Nice 'n Many, Kat Kit, Herschel Smooches, Mrs. Badbar, and Milk Dudes." - The Simpsons

"I'm going to take the stairs instead of taking the elevator. Escalator, maybe. Baby steps." - The Mindy Project

“If I knew I was going to live this long, I’d have taken better care of myself” - Micky Mantle

“I tried every diet in the book and some that weren’t. I tried eating the book. It tasted better than most of the diets” Dolly Parton

“Red meat’s not bad for you. Blue-green meat; now that’s bad for you” Tommy Smothers

“Aerobics came about when the gym instructors got together and said, ‘if we’re going to charge by the hour for this, we can’t just call it jumping up and down” - Rita Rudman

Go well into the new year. Thank you for all your support. We look forward to another year of hearing from you with your questions, your suggestions and your requests for help.
Daryl Martin

BULLETIN No. 149: December 2015

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What do we have this month?

1. Changes at AFVS
2. The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act - FATCA
3. What Policies Should a Charity Have in Place?
4. Fundraising Strategy
5. Equality & Diversity
6. New Gift Aid Declarations
7. High Governance Costs
8. Health & Safety
9. Safeguarding
10. Board V Executive
11. Twitter
12. AFVS
13. And Finally...

1. Changes at AFVS
We’re strengthening and adding to our services.

Training: Having delivered a record number of training events this year we’re strengthening our team to be able to handle the steadily increasing demand. After so many recent high-profile failures on the part of charity boards, trustees are beginning to realise they need help to keep them safe. Our training is tailor made and designed to keep you strong and safe.
Community Halls: There are 10,000 village halls across the country, often run by dedicated volunteers on a shoestring. We can now provide experienced guidance and help on all aspects.
Other Services: Independent examinations, book-keeping, charity set up, Gift Aid, Charity Commission issues, HMRC issues, migration to Xero, Salesforce, etc., etc.: affordable services in all these areas.

2. The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act - FATCA
It’s been almost three years since I posted a briefing on this subject, a briefing I doubt many people have read. Since then there hasn’t been much movement as far as charities are concerned. Nevertheless, individuals and charities are increasingly being asked by banks to complete forms to confirm whether or not they have any US links. For most it’s a formality but if you do get a form and need help filling it in, let us know. You can’t ignore it because your bank won’t be able to action whatever triggered the request. Don’t blame them; FATCA is a US law that UK banks must comply. (Just heard about a charity that had its account frozen because it didn’t get the information back to the bank. They got compensation but suffered a lot of reputational damage.)

3. What Policies Should a Charity Have in Place?
We had a record number of requests for this briefing that I mentioned last month. If you didn’t receive the briefing or you missed out and want to check you’ve covered all your bases, click on the following link (Policies Briefing) I had a Conflict of Interest policy sent to me this week. I couldn’t believe its length; it ran to 15 pages. I wonder if anyone ever read it, let alone understood it. A Conflict of Interest and Anti-Bribery Policy I drew up recently ran to 4 pages that I thought too long.

4. Fundraising Strategy
AFVS is now able to give advice and practical help to charities to raise funds. For bigger charities, we have a panel of trusted and proven fundraisers. For smaller charities, we can provide a bespoke service that can even include bid writing.

5. Equality & Diversity:
We recently drafted a suggested policy for smaller charities. Might be worth looking at if you haven’t got one in place yet (click here).

6. New Gift Aid Declarations
I should have mentioned last month that you don’t have to get new declarations for existing donors. The new declaration must be in place for new donors from 1st April next. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/charities-and-casc-gift-aid-declaration-forms-for-multiple-donation. (I found a charity still using the last but one declarations only this month. Now they will be in trouble if HMRC picks it up.)

7. High Governance Costs
The Charity Commission has been looking at charity accounts that show unusually high governance costs. This is common enough where charities use accountants that don’t understand SORP 2005 which defines governance costs as costs associated with governance, as opposed to general running costs or fundraising, etc. It should be obvious enough but do e-mail me if you aren’t sure. If your governance costs are inordinately high, this could be an opportunity to make some savings.

8. Health & Safety
A charity client had a volunteer in to do some repairs. He fell off a ladder breaking his back in 2 places. The charity has a safety policy, but it needs strengthening to cover contractors working on-site and also volunteers. Might be worth checking your own policy. Contractors should be able to produce their own risk assessment and show you a copy of their public liability insurance. For volunteers, you must have adequate controls in place to ensure their safety as far as possible.

9. Safeguarding
I’m delighted to say that the C of E church I mentioned last month, who were taking a slightly dismissive attitude to safeguarding, is busily getting its house straight and reassuring everyone that everything is under control. (Actually, it took a resignation and a couple of folk leaving to get them to that point, but at least it’s getting sorted.)

10. Board V Executive
The National Audit Office made an interesting point on Charity Commission activity when they commented on the willingness of commission board members to express strong opinions on the work of the executive. They said: "There is a risk that the board's continuing involvement in executive matters for an extended period could limit its independence and ability to hold the executive to account effectively.” In my training, I lay particular emphasis on the importance of a healthy interface between boards and executive. There’s often a swinging between board members rubberstamping what their executives are doing to micromanaging the minute something goes wrong. (See Kid’s Company et al.) I do have strong views on how the board and executive should work together, but I can see both sides of a complex situation; so I can be a useful part of any conversation on this subject.

11. Twitter
Busy time on Twitter: I send out heavy duty but relevant articles on charity issues, with a pithy comment (Twitter only allows pithy). Mostly fundraising or management issues; Last month I sent out articles on the importance of an Investment Policy, Value of Small Charities, a caustic note asking why we bother with auditors when they let Kids Company get away with such mayhem. The star award goes to a brilliant piece from The DSC on how Terry Terrible and Beryl Brilliant make a difference to their boards. And much more. E-mail me for copies.

12. AFVS
Just to say how much we appreciate the charities and individuals that are coming into membership. Every member strengthens us and enables us to do more to help charities stay strong and safe. Every paying member helps us to help the small charities who need a little extra help in these turbulent times.

13. And Finally...

Some leadership/ management quotes from Peter Drucker to reflect upon:

‘The new information technology... Internet and e-mail... have practically eliminated the physical costs of communications.’ (Self-evident but don’t forget this)

‘Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window.’

‘Most of what we call management consists of making it difficult for people to get their work done.'

‘The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t being said.’

‘Management is doing things right; leadership is doing right things.'

‘There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.’

This is my last briefing for the year. We all wish you a happy Christmas, a healthy, prosperous and safe new year. Thank you for all your support, your questions, and your membership of AFVS which enables us to do so much unpaid work. We look forward to hearing from you in the new year, with your questions, your suggestions and your requests for help.
Daryl Martin

BULLETIN No. 148: October/ November 2015

This is 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.

The fallout from the Kids Company shambles is reminding trustees of the advisability of getting a briefing from someone who knows a little about charities and how they work. I have a few training dates left this year; then it’s into the New Year, which will arrive soon enough.

Always glad to hear from anyone who needs help generally or specifically. Drop me a line or call me. If I can’t help I might just know someone who can.

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What do we have this month?

1. Auto Enrolment
2. How long should a trustee serve?
3. What Policies Should a Charity have in Place?
4. Do you have an Effective Fundraising Strategy?
5. Website Security
6. Increase in National Minimum Wage
7. Trustees who lack Powers of recall
8. New Gift Aid Declarations
9. Charity Trading
10. Safeguarding
11. Twitter
12. CRE at Eastbourne
13. And Finally...

1. Auto Enrolment
After saying that I wasn’t going to write anymore on this it was only a few days ago I picked up that every employer, even if their employees are below the thresholds, must register on the auto-enrolment website. A new government website is due out this week to help you, so it should be easy enough for you to register. If you still need help, (and I know I do), let us know and we’ll advise you or even do it for you, at minimum cost. As I said before, get this wrong and big fines await.

2. How long should a trustee serve?
I was asked this question recently. There’s no right or wrong answer of course; it all depends. Nevertheless, it’s still a good question and I managed to turn my response into a considered briefing. Let me know if you’d like a copy. I wonder how different things might have turned out if the chair at Kids Company hadn’t been turned into such a long term situation until it turns into someone’s personal fiefdom?

3. What Policies Should a Charity have in Place?
This is another question I’m asked regularly. I spent last week at Center Parcs giving my beached whale impression trying to get round the rapids, grand-children darting around me like quicksilver, asking anxiously if I’m alright. Eventually exhaustion set in and I was kindly given a note to sit quietly for a session. I managed to complete the briefing mentioned above, and I also found some time to put together a detailed list of policies that the well run charity will have in place. Let me know if you’d like a copy.

4. Do you have an Effective Fundraising Strategy?
Amid the reports that the charity sector is flatlining we are getting a lot of successes coming through. For example, disability charity Parkinson’s UK increased its income by £6.4m to £30.9m last year – marking an “unprecedented” income growth and beating the charity's own targets. This means that for every winner there must be equivalent losers. Do you have an effective strategy? Talk to us if you need help.

5. Website Security
Last month a major UK charity wrote to their website users and visitors to alert them to a risk to the information held about them. They’d been compromised by malicious software. Stephen Cross of Charity Office writes, ’Attacks on web services are nothing new and as technology advances, so do the techniques used by criminals to gain access to private data. The key is proactive review and planning. You need a plan for maintaining your services, a plan for ensuring staff are following the best practice, procedures for spotting breaches if they occur, and guides to follow if the worst does happen.’ Get help if you need it. Don’t be complacent. A big problem is when staff are allowed to access data with their own laptops, mobiles and iPads, any of which can open a doorway for mischief makers. (Wrote this before TalkTalk)

6. Increase in National Minimum Wage
Don’t forget that from 1st October the NMW for workers aged 21 and over has gone up 3% from £6.50 to £6.70 per hour. The youth development rate for workers aged 18 and not yet 21 has gone up 3.3% from £5.13 to £5.30 per hour, and the young workers rate for 16 and 17 year olds who are above school leaving age and are not apprentices has gone up 2.6% from £3.79 to £3.87. (Thanks to Sandy Adirondack for this reminder.) Whilst on this, it’s surprisingly easy to fall foul of the law: fines given to businesses for not paying the minimum wage have reached record highs. Nearly £1m was clawed back from employers last year - more than eight times as much as five years ago. HMRC is increasingly focusing on this area; Charities are not exempt!

7. Trustees who lack Powers of recall
The Northern Ireland Charity Regulator is taking steps to remove 3 trustees from 2 charities. Both charities have appealed to the Charity Tribunal for Northern Ireland. The tribunal papers noted that evidence presented by one of the trustees was, "quite remarkable for his lack of recollection of crucial matters". Most of us know if we’re doing something dodgy. Then when it does come out as it surely will, some of us do all we can to hide it. Why not just ‘face the music and dance’? You’ll feel all the better for it. Write to me if you’re in a hole and still digging.

8. New Gift Aid Declarations
This link will take you to the new declarations: Must be in place by 1st April next year: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/charities-and-casc-gift-aid-declaration-forms-for-multiple-donation

9. Charity Trading
Still some confusion about what trading a charity can carry out before it breaches HMRC guidance. I’m in touch with a charity that didn’t get this right. HMRC started poking around, found other things that weren’t right and slapped on a penalty. I cover these issues and much more in my trustee briefing sessions specially put together to help charities stay safe. Attending one, or getting me to come to you can save a lot of anxiety and heartache. Give Becky a call. I’m taking bookings for the spring now. Stay safe.

10. Safeguarding
I’ve been involved recently with a C of E which has decided that it doesn’t need to DBS check its volunteers or even to send them on (free) diocesan training. There really is no excuse for this and only today I discussed with a PCC member who had no idea that safeguarding is the direct responsibility of the PCC. If you’re a trustee (and that’s what PCC members are), check not only that you have a policy, but that it’s being followed. Ask to see the paperwork. Question for you to think about: should trustees themselves be DBS checked whether or not they work with children?

11. Twitter
I’ve had a busy month or so on Twitter: if you follow me you may have seen articles on the absolute importance of Protecting your Data (just before the TalkTalk news broke), importance of checking new trustees and volunteers before taking them on, banking problems, several in praise of small local charities (to offset the damage caused by Kids Company), paying fees to the charity regulator, warnings on Fraud, how to be a great fundraiser, how to be more visible on social media, and much else besides. Let me know if you missed anything and want to catch up.

12. CRE at Eastbourne
Christian Resources is holding a pop up exhibition in Eastbourne on November 25th. If you live nearby and would like a chance to catch up with us, drop by our stand. I’m holding out against wearing the AFVS t-shirt; having little enough dignity as it is. Email Becky for more information and free tickets.

13. And Finally...

Steven Covey said, ‘When trust is low, speed decreases and cost increases’ Sadly I see too many charities where low trust levels are driving charities into penury and a slow death by a thousand cuts. I put an article onto FB and Twitter recently which is very helpful to anyone trapped in a low trust culture.

On the positive side I’ve found another writer; Flannery O’Connor has been delighting me with her stories and her letters. When her name came up I assumed she must have been a male Irish writer who died of the drink. Turns out she lived in Georgia enduring Lupus for many years dying aged under 40 and not of drink.

Some of her wry gems to tempt you with:

“I don't deserve any credit for turning the other cheek as my tongue is always in it.”

“All human nature vigorously resists grace because grace changes us and the change is painful.”

“Faith is what someone knows to be true, whether they believe it or not.”

“If you don't hunt it down and kill it, it will hunt you down and kill you.” (one I’m still meditating on)

“What people don't realise is how much religion costs. They think faith is a big electric blanket, when of course it is the cross. It is much harder to believe than not to believe. If you feel you can't believe, you must at least do this: keep an open mind. Keep it open toward faith, keep wanting it, keep asking for it, and leave the rest to God.”

I had another quote which I put onto my FB page. I was immediately instructed by my eldest to take it down, which of course I did. She told me I was being immature. I told her to get out of my fort.

Let me know if I can help you in your search for safe pathways for your charity without undue complexity.
Daryl Martin

BULLETIN No. 147: September 2015

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;

Having a job to get this out before next month begins; the fallout from the Kids Company shambles is reminding trustees of the advisability of getting a briefing from someone who knows a little about charities and how they work. I’ve a few dates this year; then it’s into the New Year, which will arrive soon enough.

Always glad to hear from anyone who needs help generally or specifically. Drop me a line or call me. If I can’t help I might just know someone who can.

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What do we have this month?

1. Twitter
2. Telephone Banking Scam
3. Risk
4. Drucker's 13 Principles Of Disagreement
5. Is Your PTA Claiming Gift Aid?
6. Vicarious Liability For Charity trustees
7. Giving Lowers Blood Pressure
8. Charities Sending Money Overseas
9. How Many Charities Are There?
10. Charity Trading
11. Auto-enrolment
12. CRE Diary Date
13. And Finally...

1. Twitter
This month I've posted on Scams, Surviving Troubled Times, How Many Charities There are, Legacy and other Fundraising Strategies, How to Work With Celebrities and much more. Follow me at https://twitter.com/martin_daryl and don't forget https://twitter.com/AFVS1, which Becky maintains.

2. Telephone Banking Scam
A conman phoned a company pretending to be from their bank. He told them that the bank was dealing with a virus on their internet banking facility and their funds needed to be transferred to a holding account while the problem got fixed. These people are very plausible and sophisticated; in this case they got away with a million pounds. Charity staff are very trusting. Which takes me neatly onto…

3. Risk
I mentioned in the August bulletin that I have developed a risk register that can be adapted and added to reflect your own unique situation. I should have said it is available for download to AFVS members on the website (in the 'For Trustees & Directors' section). My aim is to provide simple but practical tools that will help your charity stay safe in an increasingly complex world.

4. Drucker's 13 Principles Of Disagreement
As various statutory bodies continue to trawl through the wreckage of Kids Company to come up with the inevitable conclusion that this was a disaster always waiting to happen, let's make sure we learn some lessons from it. It's not rocket science, (how many times have I used that hackneyed phrase lately in my briefings). Well it isn't, but have we all taken on board what Drucker had to say? If you don't know who Drucker was you might need to start your education soon. He was very clear that no decision can be properly made without disagreement. That's why we have boards; to examine, explore, consider the options, then to come to a high quality agreement, rather than rubber stamp what the CEO or the chair want to do. This was all tweeted a week ago; if you didn't get it email me for a copy.

5. Is Your PTA Claiming Gift Aid?
Less than 20% of PTAs claim Gift Aid. This is a great shame; the extra money can make a big difference at those coffee morning fundraising events. Check out your local PTA, and any other charities short of funds.

6. Vicarious Liability For Charity trustees
Taken a while but this briefing is now available from the AFVS members area. Grateful thanks to David Kirby for his labour of love. This issue is 'on the move' said a High Court judge in a recent judgement. I've looked at 4 recent cases where damages have been awarded; mostly around the £10k mark but one got up to £200k. Charities not involved, but bad things can happen around charities easily enough. Insurance cover will only take you so far. Stay safe.

7. Giving Lowers Blood Pressure
I tweeted on this a couple of weeks ago. Research carried out in Canada, and also in Nigeria for some reason, discovered that giving money to charity actually improves the health of the person giving, in particular they benefit from lower blood pressure. The research is detailed. If you follow my tweets you'll benefit from these nuggets which can transform your day. So if you feel sluggish today go and make a donation somewhere.

8. Charities Sending Money Overseas
I prepared a quite decent briefing on this subject recently. I sent it to a charity which has been handed a £40k tax bill by HMRC because they didn't feel their audit trail was strong enough. The charity is appealing. If you send money overseas make sure you're safe. I can look at your systems and paper trail if it'll help.

9. How Many Charities Are There?
This is something I've often wondered about, and occasionally I make a stab at what the figure might be. David Ainsworth (www.civilsociety.co.uk) started out with the 160,000 charities registered with the Charity Commission, and then went to a number of other sources to find how many charities aren't registered for various reasons; ending up with his own estimate of 400,000. That's a lot; all, or almost all, making a significant difference to the fabric of our society in big and small ways.

10. Charity Trading
Still some confusion about what trading a charity can carry out before it breaches HMRC guidance. I'm in touch with a charity that didn't get this right. HMRC started poking around, found other things that weren't right and slapped on a penalty. I cover these issues and much more in my trustee briefing sessions. Attending one, or getting me to come to you can save a lot of heartache. If you're interested email Becky. Probably be the spring as I'm getting pretty booked up. Stay safe.

11. Auto-enrolment
I've mentioned this enough; shan't do so again. If you're a small employer and still haven't got this nailed down, you should do so right away before you forget again. Otherwise you could be fined. We can help.

12. CRE Diary Date
Christian Resources is holding a pop up exhibition in Eastbourne on November 25th. If you live nearby and would like a chance to catch up with us, drop by our stand. I'm holding out against wearing the AFVS tee-shirt; having little enough dignity as it is. Contact Becky for more information and tickets.

13. And Finally...

My latest find is Barbara Brown Taylor; her books are well worth reading: 3 gems from her, and then some other quotes I came across for you to sit quietly, glass of single malt in hand and reflect upon:

'It does seem to me that at least some of us have made an idol of exhaustion. The only time we know we have done enough is when we are running on empty and when the ones we love most are the ones we see the least.'

'I thought being faithful was about becoming someone other than who I was...it wasn't until I failed that I began to wonder if my human wholeness might be more useful to God than my exhausting goodness.'

'Once I gave up the hunt for villains, I had little recourse but to take responsibility for my choices.... Needless to say, this is far less satisfying than nailing villains. It also turned out to be more healing in the end…'

Generally it's been a good year but I notice that when I get into difficulties with people I find that so often they're the ones that take themselves far too seriously and lack a sense of humour.

'A person without humour is like a wagon without springs; jolted by every pebble in the road'. Henry Ward Beecher

'As we journey through life, discarding baggage along the way, we should keep an iron grip to the very end, on the capacity for silliness. It preserves the soul from desiccation'. Humphrey Lyttleton

'If you love somebody, set them free—it also works equally well if you hate somebody'. Josh Stern

'The only people with whom you should try to get even are those who have helped you.' John E. Southard

'Life is not about how fast you run, or how high you climb, but how well you bounce.' Unknown

Let me know if I can help you in your search for safe pathways for your charity without undue complexity.
Daryl Martin

BULLETIN No. 146: August 2015

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;

On the domestic front we’re still updating our website, slowed down by too much else going on. Our latest briefings are going onto the new site so may not be accessible until it goes live; shouldn’t be long now. E-mail if you want something and can't find it.

I’m always glad to hear from anyone who needs help generally or specifically. Drop me a line or call me. If I can’t help I might just know someone who can.

Daryl Martin
d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What do we have this month?

1. Kids Company
2. Risk
3. Reserves
4. Sending Workers Overseas
5. Conflict of Interest and Anti-Bribery Policy
6. E-cigarettes
7. Twitter
8. August Tweets
9. Charity Commission
10. Vicarious Liability
11. Charity Commission Investigations
12. Trustee Training
13. And Finally...

1. Kids Company
Better start with this as the media's been full of it for some weeks. So far it’s had the Daily Mail, the Charity Commission, various police departments, all digging into it; now Parliament wants to have a crack at the major players, and I imagine the serious fraud office is sniffing around somewhere. All, it seems to me, for want of a decent policy on risk and reserves. To be effective this charity needed a strong visionary at the helm, supported by a strong board of trustees. Without that the balance is out of kilter with predictable results. Don't let the damage caused by careless and complacent charities affect the hard won reputations of the 200 odd thousand good charities out there. If you have a solid risk policy, tell the world how safe you are (see item 2 on risk and item 3 on reserves).

2. Risk
Trustees are required to carry out risk assessments, generally across the charity and specifically in respect of projects. This isn't to stop you doing what you want to do but to help you do what you want to do safely. So don't put a jobsworth in charge of it; find someone who's good at being cautious and prudent, pair them up with your biggest risk taker and let them fight it out between them. I've prepared a new briefing on Risk; it's in 2 parts; part 1, how to measure risk, part 2 is a ‘soft’ template (one for charities, one for churches), which has been partly completed with suggestions; what you have to do is fill in the gaps add to it where necessary and personalise it. If Kids Company had had it who knows where they might be now. It's on the AFVS website. I’ll gladly review it for you, and help with any specific issues.

3. Reserves
This is hilarious: I picked it up from a set of accounts off the Charity Comm. website in the notes to the financial statements: ‘The trustees aim is to keep running costs as low as possible, and consider the keeping of reserves to be inconsistent with this aim.’ I simply can't imagine where that statement came from; it's absolutely meaningless. I’m often asked ‘what is an appropriate level of reserves’. There’s no answer to this. 3 to 6 months income is often mentioned, but this isn’t laid down anywhere that I can see. Trustees must make their own decision with their own rationale (as these trustees clearly have). Let me know if you need help.

4. Sending Workers Overseas
This is a possible case of no risk assessment with serious consequences: A charity sent a husband and wife team overseas to work in a charity doing homeless work. The charity at the other end made assumptions regarding work permits which never materialised leaving the couple stranded on short term visas. They'd resigned from their jobs and spent a lot of money to get over there; now they have to come home and rebuild their lives. I wonder if the sending charity carried out a risk assessment to highlight all the issues that needed to be resolved before they went. Hindsight's a wonderful thing but let’s all take note; assess the risks and deal with them. To be fair I think the receiving charity let them down and there were other factors.

5. Conflict of Interest and Anti-Bribery Policy
This is the latest policy briefing to come out of AFVS. It's written for charities, with a mirror policy for a charity's trading arm. Heavy duty. On the AFVS website.

6. E-cigarettes
Problem with these things is that from a distance it looks as though people are smoking real cigarettes. If you have a non-smoking policy in your staff contract or manual, you might want to add in e-cigarettes. An employee recently sued for wrongful dismissal in an e-cigarette situation. (If they'd been dismissed it would have been upheld, but they sued for constructive dismissal so the employer wasn't liable.)

7. Twitter
This is a useful way to communicate with my contacts. Most days 20/30 articles pass across my desk; I pick out the 1 or 2 that might be relevant to my readers and send them out, rather than wait a month for my next bulletin. So if you want to stay in touch can I suggest you follow me at twitter.com/martin_daryl and also twitter.com/AFVS1 (which Becky maintains). Becky is better than me at it, with a lighter touch; my posts are mostly serious, but not all, and are well worth watching out for.

8. August Tweets
I do accept that most of you have better things to do than watch out for my Twitter feeds. Some of the August articles worth reading are: Silent Auctions; Auto enrolment (good reminder of where you should be); Patrons; Legacy Strategy is worth a look; nice one on Granny Cloud, where oldies over here are finding ways to teach kids in India who desperately need a teacher. How to take care of staff is another one; nothing new really but we always need reminding. A good few on fundraising (I recommend Fundraising by Cake), including Ten Top Tips, and When you should Refuse a Donation.

9. Charity Commission
People in the media are already blaming the Charity Commission for not picking up the issues with Kids Company sooner. The Charity Commission came out fighting on this one declaring that full legal responsibility rests with the trustees. The regulator is there to advise, but the buck stops with the trustees. I'm with the regulator on this one. Trustees have never had such levels of access to high quality help and advice. Very little is rocket science and most issues boil down to simple elements; trustees taking benefits where they shouldn't; not seeking advice where they should; being too passive; allowing one person, or a small group, to unduly dominate, generally not taking things seriously. Anything new there?

10. Vicarious Liability
Still working on this one, so keep an eye on twitter for updates. Should be ready in a couple of weeks!

11. Charity Commission Investigations
The Commission has an ever lengthening list of charities that it's looking at. Only today the regulator reminded us that failure to submit accounts and returns is actually a criminal offence. Also if you're a new trustee you take legal responsibility to remedy any existing defaults that occurred before you took office. The regulator knows full well that a charity that can’t get its accounts in on time will have a 70% plus chance of other serious issues, so it's a no brainer to take a good look at what else is going on.

12. Trustee Training
I'm delivering training to old and new charities, big and small, across the UK this autumn. I've still some space left. Smaller charities seem to find my training as helpful as the bigger ones, perhaps more so. In case you're concerned about costs, we're aware that small charities mostly have small budgets; we still have access to some bursaries which can help. Contact us for more details.

13. And Finally...

"Nine times out of ten what sounds like a gaffe is really just a flash of normality in a scenario where normality is taboo" - Hugo Rifkind in The Times

"All of us have moments in our lives that test our courage. Taking children into a house with a white carpet is one of them"- Erma Bombeck

And some of the better lines from the Edinburgh Fringe:

Darren Walsh: I just deleted all the German names off my phone. It’s Hans free.

Adam Hess: Surely every car is a people carrier?

Masai Graham: What’s the difference between a hippo and a Zippo? One is really heavy, the other is a little lighter.

Mark Nelson: Jesus fed 5,000 people with two fishes and a loaf of bread. That’s not a miracle. That’s tapas.

Simon Munnery: Clowns divorce: custardy battle.

Jenny Collier: I never lie on my CV, because it creases it.

Ian Smith: If you don’t know what introspection is, you need to take a long, hard look at yourself.

Gyles Brandreth: Whenever I get to Edinburgh, I’m reminded of the definition of a gentleman. It’s someone who knows how to play the bagpipes, but doesn’t.

Ally Houston: Let me tell you a little about myself. It’s a reflexive pronoun that means “me”.

The summer continues mainly wet; be kind to yourself and those you love.
Daryl Martin

BULLETIN No. 145: July 2015

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.

On the domestic front we're still updating our website, slowed down by too much else going on. Our latest briefings are going onto the new site so may not be accessible until it goes live; shouldn't be long now. E-mail if you want something and can't find it.

I'm always glad to hear from anyone who needs help generally or specifically. Drop me a line or call me. If I can't help I might just know someone who can.

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What do we have this month?

1. Twitter
2. More Twitter
3. Charity Commission Wants Your Bank Details
4. Vicarious Liability for Charity Trustees
5. Charity Commission Investigations
6. Trustee Training, Smaller Charities
7. Charities Sending Money Overseas
8. AFVS
9. AFVS Briefings
10. Auto-enrolment
11. Tesco Beginning to Get it Right
12. Legacy Fundraising
13. And Finally...

1. Twitter
This is fast becoming an important way to communicate with my contacts. Most days 20/30 articles pass across my desk; I pick out the 1 or 2 that might be relevant to my readers and Tweet them out, rather than wait a month for my next bulletin. So if you want to stay in touch can I suggest you follow me (@martin_daryl, and also @afvs1, which Becky maintains). Becky is better than me at it, with a lighter touch; but my posts are worth watching out for.

2. More Twitter
Recently I tweeted out Michael Hyatt's delightful blog on 'How to say No nicely'. It's worth following me for that one alone; could change your life, all you people pleasers (and I'm the worst offender). Another helpful post was on the importance of Social Media to chief execs and leaders - apparently 8 out of 10 of us are more likely to trust (and therefore use or buy from) an organisation whose CE and leadership team are active on Social Media. E-mail me if you want these sent to you. (I do recognise that there are loads of people who have better things to do with their time than watch Twitter feeds all day; I probably just need to get out more). Oh and another one on Charity Pound Shops, a new concept which has some mileage in it.

3. Charity Commission Wants Your Bank Details
A number of charities have been in touch with us over what some of them described as a 'sinister' e-mail purporting to come from the CC. Many of them even thought it was a scam it was so wordy and convoluted. It was simply a request for bank account details to be submitted to them. Just a bit heavy handed, telling trustees they are committing a criminal offence by not recording this information already. I know they didn't mean it, and they've a lot on their plate right now.

4. Vicarious Liability for Charity Trustees
This whole issue is 'on the move' said a High Court judge in a recent important judgement. It's a long judgement with implications for trustees. Most of it was over my head, but I'll tell you what; if 6 people e-mail me for a briefing, I'll screw my courage to the sticking place and see what I can come up with. Reluctantly!

5. Charity Commission Investigations
A revitalised lean and mean regulator has increased its investigations by 60% over the year. They mean business. I've been involved in a number this year, and I can tell you they know what questions to ask. If they write to you, don't treat it lightly. Get in touch with me or your advisor. Get help to put right whatever's gone wrong. They asked a charity only last month to seek restitution of over £100k of wrong spending by a trustee.

6. Trustee Training, Smaller Charities
I've delivered training to a couple of smaller charities recently. It's harder actually than going to a medium or big charity because I have to work hard to scale the requirements and accountabilities down to match the size, without losing the edge of the need to keep good systems. Proportionality is a matter of fine judgement. I conclude though that small charities will find my training just as helpful as the bigger ones, perhaps more so. In case you're concerned about costs, we're aware that small charities mostly have small budgets, so we do have some bursaries which can help. Contact us for details.

7. Charities Sending Money Overseas
Many trustees whose charities send money overseas to support work in Africa, India etc., still see themselves acting pretty much as conduits, with no responsibility apart from taking the money and sending it off. HMRC is clear that without a good audit trail to the end use of the funds, they will not accept that the money has been spent charitably. I had lunch with a very highly placed Gift Aid specialist today and he underlined that if charities don't meet HMRC guidelines they should return the gift aid tax they've received. I don't want to be alarmist. I'm currently working with a couple of charities on this issue. Let me know if you need help.

8. AFVS
This is our CIC advice service set up to help charities stay strong and safe. You might recall my confession last month that I gave some dodgy advice out about Scottish charities. Rachel quickly put me right so no harm was done. I duly said sorry and fully expected the charity to want nothing more to do with me. Well, said charity has now signed up for full membership! Much value in a timely apology. (Of course they've got me over a barrel now; when they want me to jump, I ask, 'how high'!)

9. AFVS Briefings
Recently completed briefings include: Directors Liability Insurance (or Trustee Indemnity Insurance), Fraud, Restricted Funds, Conflict of Interest and Anti-bribery Policy, Auto-enrolment, Sending Funds Abroad (CC & HMRC expectations), Reporting Serious Incidents. I'm way behind with my briefings. If there's something you can't find let me know; it may be in my 'awaiting action' file which gets longer by the day.

10. Auto-enrolment
Time's running on and if they haven't already, small employers need to begin to think about how they are going to deal with this issue. Your pension provider or payroll bureau can deal with it; we're also geared up to working with charities of any size. Let us know if you need our help. Don't delay too long, it all takes time, and any failures could incur penalties.

11. Tesco Beginning to Get it Right

The're inviting charities to sign up to a new mobile app, FareShare FoodCloud, which enables store managers to alert local bodies when they have surplus food to distribute. Perhaps they really are changing the culture. (Just Tweeted this)

12. Legacy Fundraising
Just saved Llana Jackman’s excellent study on this subject to Tweet next week. This particular project resulted in a 250% increase in confirmed known legacies, an immediate one-off £29,000 major gift from a new legator "because I don’t expect to die very soon", and a 4% increase in regular donors contacted. Some very tasty results.

13. And Finally...

Some timely thoughts to reflect on as you sit by the poolside drink in hand.

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell

"Political correctness is tyranny with manners."- Charlton Heston

"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use."- Galileo Galilei

"I'm living so far beyond my income that we may almost be said to be living apart." - E E Cummings

"In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." - Martin Luther King Jr.

"Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right." - Henry Ford

"Try to learn something about everything and everything about something." - Thomas Henry Huxley

Have a great summer; be kind to yourself and those you love.
Daryl Martin

BULLETIN No. 144: June 2015

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.

On the domestic front we are currently updating our website, so unfortunately some of the latest briefings may not have been uploaded. E-mail if you want something that you cannot find on the site.

I’m always glad to hear from anyone who needs help generally or specifically. Drop me a line or call me. If I can’t help, I might just know someone who can.

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What's on offer this month?

1. Conflict of Interest & Anti-Bribery Policies
2. Chief Exec Found Guilty
3. Legacies
4. Charity Commission
5. Twitter
6. Training
7. Trustee Indemnity Insurance
8. Scottish Regulator
9. Year End Accounts
10. Gift Aid
11. Facebook
12. And Finally...

1. Conflict of Interest & Anti-Bribery Policies
Fresh from reading about FIFA, and hearing more shenanigans at the BBC, I thought it was time to strengthen the Conflict of Interest and Anti-Bribery policies, with some help from a charity that’s done some useful work on the subject. Generally I’m impressed with the integrity shown by charity leaders and trustees who do so much for so little, as against so many of the quasi-public bodies who seem to do so little for so much. Contact me if you need help to strengthen your policies.

2. Chief Exec Found Guilty
An astonishing headline emerged recently when it transpired that trustees of a charity which employed a Chief Exec found guilty of serious offences want to reinstate him as soon as they can. The Charity Commission has serious concerns about the idea; they're already investigating the charity. One charge related to sexual assault; others around intimidating witnesses. But he can’t go abroad they say, until the court imposed curfew is lifted. It’s hard to know what to say. When this sort of thing happens you can understand the regulator asking Parliament for more powers to regulate unwise trustees. Also there’s such a thing as reputational damage. I certainly wouldn’t encourage giving to a charity which appears to condone this kind of culture.

3. Legacies
I just tweeted an interesting article by Llana Jackman on Legacy Giving, the result of research she carried out in Kingston University. Key finding showed that when solicitors ask Will clients if they would like to ‘make a charitable bequest’, the number of donors doubles. BUT when they ask what causes they care about, the number of people who leave a gift to charity triples. Follow me on Twitter to get (mostly) useful posts: @martin_daryl

4. Charity Commission
After working through savage funding cuts in recent years the regulator is facing a further 6% cut in 2015/16. So that’s another million they have to save. Last year they saved half a million by moving from print based to web only publishing. There’ll be more job cuts. It’s amazing how much can be saved when money is taken away. They’re doing their best in a tough situation and setting a good example to the rest of the public sector. On the front line, they might be leaner than before but they’re tackling increasing numbers of charities where scrutiny is needed. If they start to take a hard look at your charity, they probably have good reason to; so get help and get it quickly.

5. Twitter
We’re up and running on Twitter, and making good progress. We’re using it to publicise what we’re doing and also what our members and friends are doing, and any interesting charity related links that come my way. If you’re a fellow Twitterer can you help; by giving us news to share, following us, inviting us to follow you and generally Tweeting onwards anything sensible we might come up with. (@AFVS1)

6. Training
I’ve been booked for 4 training sessions since the last bulletin; mostly evening sessions, but I can run to a Saturday if I give my ever patient wife Anita reasonable notice. If it’s a long distance, she’ll even help with the driving. (Can’t have you driving all that way at your age!) Contact Becky if you are interested; bursary funds still available to help with the cost. An issue many charities grapple with, particularly those in the faith sector: where do trustees’ duties end and executive’s start; and vice versa. I’m quite good on this, mainly through learning by trial and error, mostly error, but gradually working out some helpful principles.

7. Trustee Indemnity Insurance
I’ve modified my views on this subject over the last few months. I’ve moved from a position of not encouraging trustees to take out TII to being grudgingly accepting that there might be occasions when it’s useful (though do check whether any of your other charity insurances include TII) I’ve written up a briefing on my current thinking; it’s on the members website.

8. Scottish Regulator
I gave out some dodgy advice last week which fortunately I had the sense to check with Rachel, who knows rather more than I do about setting up charities. If you set a charity up in England and it has part of its operations in Scotland, the charity must also be registered with the Scottish Regulator. But, interestingly, the reverse doesn’t apply. Anyone know why?

9. Year End Accounts
If you need a new Independent Examiner to work with you on getting your accounts to the regulators quickly, contact IEL. Their service is fast, helpful, and affordable (monthly payment terms and special rates for small charities where money’s tight). Last month the regulator opened an enquiry into a debt counselling charity whose accounts were nearly 1300 days overdue. The trustees blamed the accountants! If your accountant is sitting on your work there will be a reason. Find out what it is and act accordingly.

10. Gift Aid
I’ve been reading some influential and widely circulated blogs calling for an end to Gift Aid (spend the money instead on state education etc.), and the resulting comments. The arguments were very one sided shallow and biased, (well I would say that wouldn’t I?) Where you come across arguments in favour of weakening the voluntary sector can I encourage you to engage with them? Gently, (I know you wouldn’t ever rant), point out the other side of the issues that they seem to want to overlook. So often I look the other way when people are ranting. It’s time we put our own side of things.

11. Facebook
If you’re on FB, when you get a moment could you ‘like’ our AFVS page. Helps keep the name in front of people. Also send us your news, and get us to like your page so we can help raise your profile as well as our own.

12. And Finally...

Adrian Chiles bravely committed to visiting a different church every day during Lent, which meant mass at 46 different churches. In describing his odyssey he included his favourite homily, from Father Terry Tastard, a man with an unforgettable name in the happy habit of delivering pretty unforgettable homilies. At one weekday Mass he simply said: ‘How is it that we're always so keen for others to change when we're so reluctant to change ourselves.’ ‘I think about it often’ said Adrian. As ‘I'll always think back to this Lent as one of the most rewarding and quietly intense 46 days of my life.’

This one’s slightly dodgy, but I can’t resist it; Thanks Terry:

A Priest was being honoured at his retirement dinner after 25 years in the parish. A leading local politician and member of the congregation was chosen to make the presentation and to give a little speech at the dinner. However, he was delayed, so the Priest decided to say his own few words while they waited.

‘I got my first impression of the parish from the first confession I heard here. I thought I had been assigned to a terrible place. The very first person who entered my confessional told me he’d stolen a television set and, when questioned by the police, lied his way out of it. He stole money from his parents and his boss; had numerous affairs: taken illegal drugs. Lurid details of other moral failures followed.’

I was appalled that one person could do so many awful things. But as the days went on, I learned that my people were not all like that and I had, indeed, come to a fine parish full of good and loving people."

Just as the Priest finished his talk, the politician arrived full of apologies at being late. He immediately began to make the presentation and give his talk:

‘I'll never forget the first day our parish Priest arrived,’ said the politician. ‘In fact, I had the honour of being the first person to go to him for confession.’

Go well into the summer
Daryl Martin

BULLETIN No. 143: May 2015

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.

On the domestic front we are in the process of updating our website (see item 1 below), so some of our latest briefings may not be listed on the website. E-mail if you want something that you cannot find.

I'm always glad to hear from anyone who needs help generally or specifically. Drop me a line or call me. If I can’t help I might just know someone who can.

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What do we have this month?

1. ARE YOU MOBILE FRIENDLY?
2.AWAYDAYS
3.FRAUDULENT INVOICES
4.CHARITIES WHICH HAVE INCORPORATED
5.SHOULD CHIEF EXECS BE PAID?
6.DONATIONS DOWN £400 MILLION IN 2014
7.THE GIFT AID SMALL DONATIONS SCHEME - (A CORRECTION)
8.WRITTEN POLICIES
9.LEAVING MONEY TO A CHARITY
10.VOLUNTEERS
11.POLITICAL ACTIVITIES
12.TRAINING
13.FACEBOOK
14. AND FINALLY...

1. ARE YOU MOBILE FRIENDLY?
Last month Google made a massive change to the way it ranks websites. How massive? The change comes down to one very important criteria: whether your website, landing pages, and blog are fully optimised for mobiles. This is now a key Google ranking signal. Are you prepared for this? We’ve posted a helpful briefing that is accessible to our AFVS members on our website, with details of my own research which shows that 70% of organisations haven’t yet picked up on this issue.

2. AWAYDAYS
Nothing like a bit of warm spring weather for people to want to get away and do some work offsite, preferably where there’s a nice garden. A briefing I started a year ago and only just got round to finishing will give you a good starting point. I just found a briefing that Becky did, as good as mine or better). You can e-mail Becky (bbenford_blows@afvs.org.uk) for more details and if you want to run your own Awayday then please contact us as this is an area we can work with you, we offer competitive rates and can tailor the day to your charities aimes, needs and requirements.

3. FRAUDULENT INVOICES
I’m getting these most days now and they seem to be able to avoid my spam box. They must have some small success rate or they’d die out. I’m sure your financial control systems have checks and balances to ensure that invalidated invoices don’t get under the radar on account of their small size. Next month I might need to warn you about some very attractive ladies from Russia who’ve seen my photo and are keen to send me theirs if only I’ll give them my private e-mail. (I was propositioned a few days ago via LinkedIn - now that does surprise me!)

4. CHARITIES WHICH HAVE INCORPORATED
It’s a tried and tested process. When my colleagues handle an incorporation they send out a detailed summary of what the charity needs to do to complete the process. Where property is concerned we generally recommend that solicitors are consulted to avoid anything going wrong. The charity can DIY the process with the Land registry, easily enough, but care is needed. I’ve heard good reports of the Ethical Property Foundation being available to help charities with property related issues: http://www.ethicalproperty.org.uk/. I’ve come across 3 charities recently which, incorporated, breathed collective sighs of relief and quite overlooked the need to get their property into the name of the new charity. (Even the auditors didn’t pick up on one of them!)

5. SHOULD CHIEF EXECS BE PAID?
Under half of respondents to an nfpSynergy survey thought that a charity chief exec should be paid. Two thirds thought that charity chairs already are paid; not surprising when you consider the weight of responsibility that falls on their shoulders. And charity shop assistants should certainly not be paid (well most of them aren’t anyway). What this points to is a degree of muddled thinking on the subject. A few CEs might be overpaid, but not that many; overall charity CE’s pay fell by 9% last year. I know one CE who took a pay cut of a third to help his charity stay afloat. In other news the CE of a children’s charity pleaded guilty to stealing over £50k to spend on greyhound racing, and the FD of a homeless charity was arrested for fraud when the charity went into liquidation owing over £900k. The answer seems to be to pay them as well as they should be paid but don’t let go the controls.

6. DONATIONS DOWN £400 MILLION IN 2014
CAF research found that giving totalled £10.6bn last year down by 4%. Giving peaked at £13.2bn in 2005. The biggest recipients are churches and other religious charities at 14% of the total. The sting though is that there are a lot of charities showing some big increases. UNICEF one of the giants, put on £17m, up by a whopping 27%. Compassion UK was up 13%. Are you going to be a winner of a loser this year? Another CAF survey revealed that 1 in 7 charities are struggling to survive. Might be worth reading our briefings on Fundraising, and our publication, ‘Fundraising Without Fuss’ (which is downloadable from our homepage www.afvs.org.uk). If you need to talk to a professional fundraiser give us a call 0845 319 8330.

7. THE GIFT AID SMALL DONATIONS SCHEME - (A CORRECTION)
I was gently taken to task last month for not mentioning that the increase in the small donations limit doesn’t take effect until next tax year. I hope my jumping the gun hasn’t impacted too many budgets. (Thanks Nigel for spotting that.)

8. WRITTEN POLICIES
Last month I mentioned that the Charity Commission is asking whether written controls are in place on safeguarding vulnerable beneficiaries, risk management, investment and conflicts of interest. We had numerous enquiries for help and we’ve been doing some work on these and other key areas. Contact us if you need help.

9. LEAVING MONEY TO A CHARITY
25% of us plan to leave a charitable bequest in our wills, according to a survey for Key Retirement Solutions, carried out by YouGov. Of course, the actual number of people who leave a gift in their wills is even smaller: Remember a Charity say that only 7% of people in the UK do so. The problem for charities is that, in addition to this minority interest in giving to charity via a will, there are still many people who never arrange a will at all. My briefing on Legacy Giving is still relevant to trustees. Remember RNLI just got left 2 Ferraris worth £8m

10. VOLUNTEERS
We get asked different questions about volunteers’ rights and where charities stand paying their expenses so forth. I put out regular briefings on issues raised more than once. If you have volunteers in your charity here’s a website full of information which you might find useful. http://www.wcva.org.uk/advice-guidance/volunteers. If you don’t find what you’re looking for, write to me d.martin@afvs.org.uk; another briefing could well emerge.

11. POLITICAL ACTIVITIES
We should all know by now that charities mustn’t get involved in politics. The regulator has written to a number of charities that publicly endorsed the Tory party, a mosque has been ordered to remove a mural supporting the Labour party, and there have been various other infractions of the code. Charities can lobby of course but must rise above party politics, however strongly they might feel.

12. TRAINING
We’re busy putting dates into the diary for training days, half days and evenings. Call us if you want us to come to you (I even managed a trip to Scotland this month), or if you want to book into one of our local events. We can let you have a list of topics covered; which we tailor it to your requirements. We still have access to some modest bursaries so if you’re on a tight budget it’s worth asking. Contact Becky bbenford_blows@afvs.org.uk for more details, prices or to book your charity training day.

13. FACEBOOK
If you’re on FB, when you get a moment could you ‘like’ our AFVS page http://www.facebook.com/AFVS.org.uk. Helps keep the name in front of people.

14. AND FINALLY...

Come and meet Maya Angelou, an astonishing lady who started out as a fast food cook, went downhill, and then came back up ending well. She was an author, poet, dancer, actress, and singer, and more besides. Let these snippets of her wisdom inspire you.

“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” - I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.

“What you're supposed to do when you don't like a thing is change it. If you can't change it, change the way you think about it. Don't complain.” - Wouldn’t Take Nothing for my Journey Now

“To grow up is to stop putting blame on parents” - Becoming Myself

“If I am not good to myself, how can I expect anyone else to be good to me?”

“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.”

“I don't trust anyone who doesn't laugh.”

"Remember, people will judge you by your actions not your intentions. You may have a heart of gold but so does a hard-boiled egg.”

Go well into the summer
Daryl Martin

BULLETIN No. 142: April 2015

This is 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 bulletins that come through to me, plus whatever I've gleaned from charities I'm currently working with. Increasingly readers send me their own thoughts and I'm always glad to get your responses, either correcting or adding to something I've written.

This month mostly reminders as we come up to an accounting year end, (or have just passed one). I put out blogs most weeks, charity related (admittedly sometimes tenuously). Often something on leadership. Let me know if I can subscribe you. Recently I’ve been focusing more on charity briefings to help make life safer for you; they find their way onto the AFVS website.

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What's on offer this month?

1. Spring Budget
2. Saving a School
3. Charity Commission
4. Cars used on Charity Business
5. Turning Loans into Gifts
6. Pensions Auto Enrolment
7. Trustee Investigations
8. Recent Members Briefings
9. Accounts Software for Charities
10. Charity MOT
11. Training
12. Facebook
13. And Finally...

1. Spring Budget
Not like me to be topical but let’s make an exception. Not a great deal for charities (and sports clubs) in general, apart from increasing the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme limits. Gift Aid can now be claimed on up to £8,000 of donations that aren’t tied into a specific donor. This will enable a charity using this scheme to claim up to £2,000, a £750 increase. The government had high hopes of this scheme, but it came to grief through being made unduly complex and rather restrictive, and take up is under 30%. If we can help you on this let me know. It would be nice if they made it simpler. There are other small benefits to specific charities; nothing of any great substance to the charity world in general apart from some primary legislation to formalise the roles of intermediaries in the processing of Gift Aid, giving them a bigger role in processing claims on behalf of charities. But this won’t be until next year at the earliest.

2. Saving a School
This is an interesting case study from Mike Reeves, an Insolvency Practitioner (IP) that we partner with. It relates the story of a private school that got into financial difficulties, and how Mike is helping them towards a resolution which will clear the debts and put the school onto a good long term footing. So often the IP is the last resort coming into charge big fees to clear up the debris. Mike’s not like that. It’s relevant to charities other than schools so if your charity is heading towards some nasty rocks, don’t leave it too late. If you would like a copy of the briefing paper, or would like to speak to Mike, please contact Becky (bbenford_blows@afvs.org.uk).

3. Charity Commission
The CC is beefing up the information it provides on registered charities under a number of headings. When you complete an annual return you’ll be asked whether you have written policies on safeguarding vulnerable beneficiaries, risk management, investment and conflicts of interest. Big charities have these areas covered, but smaller charities have often not got round to putting written policies in place. If that’s you, panic not; we’ve information on most of these issues if you need help. And do get your report and accounts in on time; they get increasingly tricky when you don’t, and rightly so. E-mail me; we can help, fast.

4. Cars used on Charity Business
I mention this from time to time. If your charity pays mileage expenses, it assumes some responsibility for making sure that the car is fit for purpose; taxed, insured and so forth. Corporate manslaughter legislation means that trustees could be failing their duty of care if one of your volunteers is driving around the country in an uninsured rust bucket, which is involved in an accident. You can check www.askmid.com for insurance info, and www.motinfo.gov.uk for MOT info.

5. Turning Loans into Gifts
It’s not uncommon for people to make a loan to a charity then later on they decide to make it into a donation. HMRC is very clear that this can’t be gift aided. If it’s a significant sum they’re likely to check it. If one of your lenders is thinking of making a loan a gift then talk to me first. There might be ways to deal with it, or there might not be, but at least let’s look at it.

6. Pensions Auto Enrolment
We’re beginning to get questions coming through from smaller charities wondering what action they need to take and when. One of our partners, Andrew Alli of KFMC, has prepared a detailed briefing to put employers in the picture. Let me know if you want a copy. Andrew is available to provide you with a briefing specifically tailored to your charity; he can also manage the process if you need this level of support.

7. Trustee Investigations
It’s not unusual to have a complaint made against a trustee or other officer of the charity. When this happens it’s important to have some good protocols in place and do the job thoroughly. If you don’t and the regulator gets involved, or even the police, you could look a bit silly. A big charity was in the news last month for clearing an executive of charges. The complaint then went to the police and he ended up with a guilty verdict and awaits sentencing. Possibly could have been a lot easier for all concerned if the trustees had found differently. I completed a detailed briefing in March based on a couple of experiences, (both where the trustees acted exceptionally well).

8. Recent Members Briefings
I regularly get questions regarding TII (Trustee Indemnity Insurance), so I put together a briefing; you might find it helpful. Another briefing is on the subject of Fire Wardens or Fire Marshals and their two fold responsibilities. Yet another briefing regarding Employment Status for tax purposes, with a passing mention of RTI. I did manage to get one blog out - ‘Wabi Sabi - Celebrating Imperfection’. If you’re flawed as I am, this one might hit the spot.

9. Accounts Software for Charities
We’re continuing to roll out Xero to charities and CICs. The great benefit is it can be accessed remotely so you don’t have to trek to your accountant for (costly) meetings. If you’re considering your options let us know, we can advise and where necessary work with you to migrate your accounts onto a new system. Full training provided.

10. Charity MOT
Our MOT is a service available to AFVS members, and is a simple means of reviewing your policies and practises to identify gaps and potential weaknesses. It is downloadable for all members from the website. If you have any queries let us know.

11. Training
We’re busy putting dates into the diary for training days, half days and evenings. Call us (0845 319 8330) if you want us to come to you, or if you want to book into one of our local events. We can let you have a list of topics covered; which we tailor it to your requirements. We also have access to some modest bursaries so if you’re on a tight budget it’s worth asking.

12. Facebook
Keep meaning to ask this favour; if you’re on FB, when you get a moment could you ‘like’ our AFVS page. Helps keep the name in front of people.

13. And Finally, in a reflective mood...

One life on this earth is all that we get,
whether it is enough or not enough,
and the obvious conclusion would seem to be
that at the very least
we are fools
if we do not live it as fully and bravely and beautifully as we can.
- from The Hungering Dark

In the end, just three things matter:
How well we have lived
How well we have loved
How well we have learned to let go”
- Jack Kornfield

“Am I crazy?" she asked. "I feel like I am sometimes."
"Maybe," he said, rubbing her forehead. "But don't worry about it. You need to be a little bit crazy. Crazy is the price you pay for having an imagination. It's your superpower. Tapping into the dream. It's a good thing not a bad thing.”
- Ruth Ozeki, A Tale for the Time Being

“Few of us ever live in the present. We are forever anticipating what is to come or remembering what has gone.”
- Louis L’Amour

Go well into the summer
Daryl Martin

BULLETIN No. 141: February/ March 2015

My monthly (or bi-monthly this month due to unforeseen circumstances) 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;

This month mostly reminders as we come up to an accounting year end, (or have just passed one). I put out blogs most weeks, charity related (admittedly sometimes tenuously) and often something on leadership. Let me know if I can subscribe you. Recently I’ve been focusing more on charity briefings to help make life safer for you; they find their way onto the AFVS member’s website.

Daryl Martin
d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What do we have this month?

1. Tax for Charities
2. Charity Website Hacked
3. Diet Affects Donations
4. Payroll and RTI
5. Don’t Neglect People Issues
6. Do You Have Enough Trustees?
7. Audit Threshold
8. Recent Briefings
9. Libellous Accusations
10. New Trustee Notes
11. Accounting Software for Charities
12. Everything for Christians
13. Training
14. And Finally...

1. Tax for Charities
There’s often confusion over when and even whether charities should complete tax returns each year. Trustees often assume that the charity is exempt from paying tax. Not so; charities have generous exemptions where minor trading is concerned, but outside those exemptions, tax may be payable. So don’t ignore a tax return if it pops through your letterbox or inbox. Fail to complete a return when requested and you’re likely to be get a penalty. I’ve posted a briefing covering this in more detail with a look at charity trading.

2. Charity Website Hacked
In January the Women’s Resource Centre, a charity based in London, has had its website hacked by a pro-Isis group, according to the Guardian, Voluntary Sector Network. The homepage was replaced by a page stating “I love Isis & Jihad” and “Je suis Isis” along with a promotional video, which contains distressing scenes. The Women’s Resource Centre is currently working on getting the page back to normal.

3. Diet Affects Donations
Scientists researching the brain and cognition have discovered that a compound found in eggs acts on brain chemicals including serotonin, to make people give twice as much to charity. High levels of serotonin as you know give rise to feelings of well-being, so naturally you will be more generous than those who didn’t have a 3 egg omelette for breakfast. Fish, soy and milk can work the same way. The test involved giving 16 men and women the equivalent of 3 eggs; a similar group had a placebo. They were all paid £10 euros for taking part and invited to make a donation into a selection of charity boxes. The group high on what they are calling the ‘cuddle’ hormone gave an average of 1 euro; the other group gave half that. You will no doubt want to apprise your fundraising team of this vital piece of research immediately. Never say I don’t go the extra mile for my readers.

4. Payroll and RTI
The start date for automatic in-year filing penalties for late submission of an RTI return will be 6 March 2015 for PAYE schemes that have fewer than 50 employees. HMRC gave extra time to smaller employers, who were experiencing the greatest difficulties with RTI, to adjust their processes to comply with RTI requirements. Also allowed HMRC more time to update its systems and enhance its guidance and customer support. Get it wrong and there are penalties. If you aren’t confident of your payroll arrangements e-mail us at support@afvs.org.uk for a quote to take this particular load off your shoulders.

5. Don’t Neglect People Issues
People issues often pose the most difficult challenges in project management. Rather than trying to ignore, deny, or avoid them, address them quickly and decisively before they get too big. Specify the problem, think about possible causes and the effect on your team, and then take action. For example, if conflicts of personality or working styles are causing problems on your team, propose solutions, not blame. Focus team members on goals, not on personal feelings. If team members become too friendly, reorganise to disrupt cliques and emphasise that social gatherings are for after work. Pay attention to small signs; a team member’s increased irritability, loss of enthusiasm, or difficulty making decisions. Raise these issues quickly. The only way you’ll squash problems is through frequent, daily communication—not weekly staff meetings.

6. Do You Have Enough Trustees?
Between a third and a half of charities are currently short of trustees. I’m working with 3 charities where the lack of trustees is seriously damaging the important work the charity is carrying out. It especially saps the morale of existing trustees who end up feeling trapped, particularly treasurers. The Charity Commission tells us that 46% of trustees are over 60 and less than 1% under 24. Also people with disabilities and those from minority backgrounds are underrepresented. Even women are underrepresented. We do need diversity and a broad range of backgrounds and understandings to ensure that decisions aren’t made by people who essentially all think the same. Don’t be complacent, look ahead, where will you be in 5 years’ time. It can be a good idea to set term limits on board appointments to keep the board fresh. I have some useful material available for trustees and am always available to train and advise. Please contact Becky and she’ll arrange this for you bbenford_blows@afvs.org.uk

7. Audit Threshold
It’s been agreed to raise the threshold to £1m, below which simpler and less costly Independent Examinations are acceptable. The changes are due to come into force on 31 March, with the government saying a statutory instrument to this effect will be laid before parliament before its dissolution on 30 March. It would release 4,000 charities from the obligation to pay for the services of a statutory auditor. But the proposal that charities with assets of more than £3.26m would have to have their accounts audited only if their annual income exceeded £500,000 – up from the existing level of £250,000 – will not be carried forward. It means the annual income threshold for audits for charities in this bracket will remain at £250,000. If you’re one of the fortunate 4,000, let me know if we can organise a quote for you.

8. Recent Briefings
I’ve been writing more briefings than blogs recently. There's so much material to get through to get the paperwork on my desk down to manageable levels.

Paternity Leave Policy; a template for a policy prepared for an AFVS member which others might find helpful.
Protocols of keeping Board Meeting Minutes (electronic or paper etc.).
Do you want to set up a new Charity; trustees often don’t stop at one charity, so if you’re thinking of a fresh challenge this’ll give you some pointers.
Year End; it’s that time of year when we need reminding about what needs doing and when.
Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act; once the excitement of a contentious new act dies down we tend to forget the detail. This is a helpful reminder.
Volunteers’ Expenses; mentioned in passing last month.

9. Libellous Accusations
One of our members had some very nasty accusations levelled against them a few months back, and the Regulator felt obliged to look into them. Nothing of substance was found and everyone’s time was wasted. The sad thing was that the complainant didn’t take the trouble to check the facts with the charity first. I’m involved in a similar situation where unpleasant charges are being bandied around. In this situation lawyers had to be drawn in. So far I estimate its cost the parties over £20,000 and rising. Mediation was offered and declined. Lessons: go for mediation where you can. Take advice. Have a robust complaints policy.

10. New Trustee Notes
I had more than 50 requests for this briefing, designed with new trustees in mind. I passed it to a colleague to tidy it up; she found some errors that had crept in, mostly format and layout. If you’d like a copy of the revised document it’s available on the members AFVS website (or should be very soon).

11. Accounting Software for Charities
Our accountants have found a software programme Xero that they like, particularly I think because it can be accessed remotely, which is where we seem to increasingly be heading these days. This was a comment that came in last week, ‘I have reviewed the accounts and reporting setting up you done for us. Xero is simply impressive - in the spirit of the company, 'beautiful accounting software' If you’re considering your options let us know support@afvs.org.uk we can advise and where necessary work with you to migrate your accounts onto a new system and provide a training package.

12. Everything for Christians
This is a very young site with the aim of providing a detailed directory for the Christian marketplace. £25 gets you in on the ground floor to promote your product or service for a whole year. Check out the website: www.everythingforchristians.com

13. Training
We’re busy putting dates into the diary for training days, half days and evenings. Call us on 0845 3198330 or e-mail Becky at bbenford_blows@afvs.org.uk who arranges the training days. Let her know if you want us to come to you, or if you want to book into one of our local events based near Chichester. We will send over a list of topics covered; and can then tailor it to your requirements.

14. And Finally...

My Internet went down for about 5 minutes the other day so I headed downstairs and spoke to my family. They seemed like nice people - Letter to The Daily Telegraph from John Tilsiter

‘Expect to have hope rekindled. Expect your prayers to be answered in wondrous ways. The dry seasons in life do not last. The spring rains will come again.’ Sarah Ban Breathnach

‘Another belief of mine: that everyone else my age is an adult, whereas I am merely in disguise’. Margaret Attwood, quote on Oprah.com

‘When your children are teenagers it’s important to have a dog in the house, so someone is pleased to see you’. Nora Ephron, quoted in the Guardian.

‘I don’t want yes-men around me. I want everyone to tell me the truth, even if it costs them their jobs’. Samuel Goldwyn, quoted in the Guardian.

Go well and email me if I can help in any way.

Daryl Martin

BULLETIN No. 140: January 2015

This is 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.
This month mostly reminders as we come up to an accounting year end, (or have just passed one). I put out blogs most weeks, charity related (admittedly sometimes tenuously). Often something on an aspect of leadership. Let me know if I can subscribe you. Recently I've been focusing more on charity briefings to help make life safer for you; they find their way onto the AFVS members' area of the website, but I've mentioned a few below:. Let me know if I can subscribe you.

Daryl Martin
d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What do we have this month?

1. Accountants can now Submit Accounts to the CC
2. Annual Accounts
3. Patrons
4. Reporting a Serious Incident
5. Conflict of Interest
6. National Minimum Wage
7. Annual Return Changes
8. Volunteers' Expenses
9. AFVS
10. Tax Returns
11. Fundraising & Governance Training
12. Training
13. And Finally...

1. Accountants can now Submit Accounts to the CC
The Charity Commission has launched a digital service that allows a charity's accountant or other nominated agent to submit accounts on behalf of their client. This brings them into line with Companies House and HMRC. As an integral part of the independent examination or audit process it'll make life a little easier for hard pressed trustees. Filing online is a quick, easy process with overnight updating. Use the existing change your charity's details service to authorise the agent who can then can register to use the new service.

2. Annual Accounts
Don't forget that all CIOs, regardless of income, and other charities with annual incomes of over £25,000 must file accounts with the commission, and have up to 10 months from the end of their financial year to send them in. If you're late your Charity Commission page is highlighted, and it doesn't look good. Failure to submit accounts on time is actually a criminal offence. The regulator says that it amounts to mismanagement and/or misconduct in the administration of a charity and is often linked with poor governance issues. If you need help with this let me know and we will put you in touch with one of our charity associates at IEL who have fast and effective solutions, including training to help you stay safe.

3. Patrons
Does your charity have a Patron? I joined an interesting discussion on LinkedIn in December on this subject. I kept an eye on the many interesting points that were made and turned them into what I hope might be a useful briefing on the subject, helpful to anyone giving the idea some thought. It'll go onto the members' area of the AFVS website.

4. Reporting a Serious Incident
I'm often asked whether this or that issue should be reported to the Charity Commission. They've updated their guidance; this link will take you there. https://www.gov.uk/how-to-report-a-serious-incident-in-your-charity. Remember that here are changes in the annual report to the Commission and trustees now have to confirm whether or not there have been any serious incidents. Independent examiners and auditors are also under a similar duty to report. Contact me if you aren't sure whether you should report something.

5. Conflict of Interest
More from the Charity Commission who have updated their guidance on conflicts of interest. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/conflicts-of-interest-a-guide-for-charity-trustees-cc29. Nothing has actually changed; they're emphasising the importance of identifying and managing conflicts of interest. It should be one of the first things looked at if a new trustee is being considered. Always remember; conflicts of interest are not forbidden, they are to be managed well. Don't hide anything away. Always be open and upfront. Oh, and take advice.

6. National Minimum Wage
Employers can inadvertently fail to comply with the NMW rules in a number of ways. Typical 'at risk' areas can be unpaid time, such as training or travelling time or internships, or deductions from wages. Last year HMRC conducted 1,455 NMW investigations. Errors were discovered in almost half of the employers they looked at. Contact us if you need help or advice on this.

7. Annual Return Changes
A small charity with limited activities is completing its annual return and answering the question on written policies, (Risk, Investment, Vulnerable Beneficiaries, Conflict of Interest, Volunteer Management, and complaints) they realise they don't have anything in writing. Is it just good practice or is it a requirement for them to have these policies in writing? This question arrived on my desk last week. The trustees worry that if they answer no to all of these questions the Commission will beat them with a stick. The answer is that charities come in all shapes and sizes and what's right for one may not fit another, particularly where smaller charities are concerned. Keep things simple; make sure you have written policies where you should have them.

We've got plenty of material for our members on the AFVS website if you need a steer. This could also be a good time for members to get stuck into our MOT 4 Charities accreditation service, designed to highlight any gaps. If you are not currently a member of AFVS and want to take advantage of this and many more of our services and offerings, then please subscribe to membership today by following this link http://www.afvs.org.uk/membership

8. Volunteers' Expenses
A trustee contacted me to ask if their charity could pay £40 a month to a volunteer towards their mobile phone bill. As far as HMRC is concerned this is a big No No, they will see it as taxable income for the recipient. We found a way around the problem easily enough, and one that HMRC will happily go along with. It's important to get advice if you're doing anything that could get you into trouble, however well-intentioned you are. (The research I had to do to sort this one out resulted in yet another briefing paper.)

9. AFVS
We've quietly re-launched this company. It's now a CIC (Community Interest Company), and we've renamed it 'Advice For the Voluntary Sector'. It is what it says it is. If you need advice or practical help contact us first. If we don't have the answer we know someone who does.

10. Tax Returns
Recent call for help from a trustee who'd received a tax return from HMRC and didn't do anything with it on the grounds that 'charities are tax exempt'. Charities aren't exempt from tax. They have generous exemptions from HMRC. One reason for having to complete a tax return is to make sure the charity isn't in breach of trading guidelines. It's a complex area. If you need further help on this let me know; I've just prepared a useful briefing on the subject which tells you all you need to know, unless you're heavily involved in non-primary trading.

11. Fundraising & Governance Training
Facilitating the morning on Saturday 28th February 2015 is Andy Burns the Founder of Café Leadership (www.cafeleadership.org.uk). 'Come and experience Café Leadership's Hospitality which serves up outstanding coffee and cake infused with crucial conversations that will enable your mission to thrive. Leading those crucial conversations will be myself and Mark Markiewicz of Yeomans. Mark specialises in fundraising and after spending time with him, you'll leave with funding strategies that'll enable your organisation to thrive. I'll be there to answer questions on pretty much anything else.

Time: 9:30am - 12:30pm

Venue: St John's Church, Egham. Surrey TW20 9HL

To book simply e-mail: andy@cafeleadership.org.uk

12. Training
We're busy putting dates into the diary for training days, half days and evenings. Call us if you want us to come to you, or if you want to book into one of our local events. We can let you have a list of topics covered; we can then tailor it to your requirements. Please contact Becky directly for more details bbenford_blows@afvs.org.uk

13. And Finally...

Let's all resolve to be that much kinder and patient with one another this year:

Remember that everyone you meet is afraid of something, loves something and has lost something. ~H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness and understanding you can muster, and do it with no thought of any reward. Your life will never be the same again. ~Og Mandino

Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind. ~Henry James

And a telling one from JoAnn C Jones, Guideposts, January 1986: During my second year of nursing school our professor gave us a quiz. I breezed through the questions until I read the last one: "What's the first name of the woman who cleans the school?" Surely this was a joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Before the class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our grade. "Absolutely," the professor said. "In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say hello." I've never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy.

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." ~ Plato

Youth isn't for sissies either (Fred Beuchner)

Go well into a New Year full of opportunities, but try not to take yourself too seriously.
Daryl Martin

Advice For the Voluntary Sector
Registered in England & Wales No: 7939754

BULLETIN No. 139: December 2014

This is 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.

This month the usual Charity Commission stuff, some domestic updates, some dark tales to keep us on our guard. I put out a short blog most weeks, charity related (admittedly sometimes tenuously). Often something on an aspect of leadership to provoke some thinking. Let me know if I can subscribe you.

Daryl Martin
d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What do we have this month?

1. HR Blunders
2. New Trustee Joining the Board
3. Charity Commission
4. Mistletoe, Wine, Elf & Safety
5. OSCR - The Scottish Regulator
6. Fundraising & Governance Training
7. Grants for Listed Buildings
8. Skype Training & Consultancy
9. Gift Aid
10. Teenager Sacked From Guide Dogs Fundraising Job
11. AFVS
12. Should a Lapsed Treasurer get a Second Chance?
13. And Finally...

1. HR Blunders
"We are also looking for a decent good looking girls (sic) for reception. The role is just part time." Five errors in this advert posted by a major restaurant chain, quite apart from the questionable legality. What kind of impression does this sort of message give out! Anything that goes out into any of the media in your name needs to be something you can be proud of. Should also be legal! We're here for you if you need help or advice.

2. New Trustee Joining the Board
After several requests I've finally got round to preparing a detailed briefing for a new trustee. It is still in development, but I sent it out for the first time this week and got this response, 'It's great. I think I would probably pull it out into separate documents as an induction pack for new trustees and use the first section as a JD'. It's useful for all trustees to have something like this in front of them. I included a template for a Register of Interests and a Declaration of Eligibility. (Had this been available for use by one of our members it might have spared them a Charity Commission investigation.) Let me know if this is something that might interest you?

3. Charity Commission
The CC continues to attract criticism for the things they aren't doing, i.e., offering an advice and support service which they used to do so well, but since the cutbacks. haven't really had the resources. They do seem to have enough on their plate right now. An inquiry has opened into a charity with £1m accounting discrepancy. Slight difference between what was reported and what was in their accounts. Their initial look see indicated the missing money had gone out to a couple of trustees. The issues are private benefit and conflict of interest. They also had to find the time to investigate another charity which had employed someone with a criminal conviction that affected their suitability to work with children. Police involved with this one. In another case a trustee was jailed after using charity funds to pay his dentist and go on holidays. (In this one the trustees cancelled 3 meetings that had been arranged with the CC, all at the last minute. I could go on; there seem to be so many villains around that the CC has its hands full. If they chase you for anything, don't worry unduly (unless of course you're one of the villains), they do accept that honest mistakes are made at times. Let me know if I can help you understand the issues around Conflict of Interest. My job is to help you stay safe.

4. Mistletoe, Wine, Elf & Safety
We're building some links with Paul Beard, a Health and Safety and Risk specialist. His paper on enjoying the season without undue risk is worth a look: this link will take you there. He's already quoting a member for an Asbestos Survey and Fire Risk Assessment. Let me know if you need anything of this order. I've seen his work and it's good.

5. OSCR - The Scottish Regulator
Most months I publish something on the CC and what it's up to. The number of our Scottish members and contacts is slowly growing, so I need to make space to cover what's going on North of the border. The truth is that OSCR generally gets quietly on with the good work it does, so there often isn't anything much to report. OSCR and The CC work in tandem so what applies to one pretty much applies to the other.

6. Fundraising & Governance Training
Andy Burns (www.cafeleadership.org.uk) has put together a training morning on Saturday 28th February 2015. 'On the morning you'll experience Café Leadership's Hospitality which serves up outstanding coffee and cake infused with crucial conversations that will enable your mission to thrive. Leading those crucial conversations are charity experts: Mark Markiewicz of Yeomans: (www.yeomansmarketing.co.uk/team-member/mark-markiewicz/), and myself.

Mark specialises in fundraising and after spending time with him, you'll leave with funding strategies that'll enable your organisation to thrive. I'll be there to answer questions on governance and pretty much anything else apart from fundraising.

Date: Saturday 28th February 2015
Times: 9:30am - 12:30pm
Venue: St John's Church, Egham. Surrey TW20 9HL
To book: andy@cafeleadership.org.uk

7. Grants for Listed Buildings
The Heritage Fund has persuaded the UK Government – the Department of Culture etc., to consider applications from trustees of listed buildings, to obtain grants of between £10k to £100k for the repair of roofs together with rainwater goods ceilings etc. The deadline is 30th January, so you need to get a move on. I don't know whether there are any particular conditions attached to the grant, so check this out carefully.

8. Skype Training & Consultancy
Based as we are about as far South as you can get it's not always easy to spend time with our friends in the Northern fastness's (or anywhere North of Milton Keynes). But sometimes face to face rather than voice to voice is important, so we're developing Skype as a means of holding a discussion where a visit isn't convenient. Big cost savings as well. Let us know if we can work with you in this way.

9. Gift Aid
I mentioned last month that The CC is to issue amended guidance 'to reflect the fact that trading arms such as charity shops cannot make Gift-Aided donations from their reserves to their parent charities'. As far as we can see profits can be gift aided to reduce CT liability, but if the donations are made from reserves, great care must be taken. I won't go into details but it's important to ensure that your accountant has done the sums and is satisfied it's legitimate. It's possible for money other than trading profits to find its way into reserves. Let me know if you need specific help on this.

10. Teenager Sacked From Guide Dogs Fundraising Job
It's tough when you have a problem with your sight, but a young lady got the push from her telesales job in Bristol, apparently because she needed special equipment to see her computer screen. Well you would probably need special equipment if you've got a sight problem. This sort of takes me back to my first item.

11. AFVS
We posted a briefing on VAT for Charities in November, Let me know if you can't access it but would like a copy. Trustee Training dates for 2015 are going into the diary; let us know if this is something that interests you, either at your place or ours.

12. Should a Lapsed Treasurer get a Second Chance?
This is an all too common dilemma, particularly where churches are concerned where forgiveness is an essential part of the culture. Is it wise though to give a treasurer a second chance at the cash? I'm sure there are lots of other jobs he can do. An accountant who was appointed church treasurer after he claimed to have 'found God' has been jailed after stealing £30,000 from the parish funds. He'd done the same thing in 1992 in a different setting. When these things happen there's a deep sense of betrayal; people have given sacrificially and someone's used it to buy a car, when they have to take the 'bus. It takes a long time to rebuild trust. What's worse is his wife was in on it too. We still have to forgive though; once the anger has died down.

13. And Finally...

1. This month I offer you some selected thoughts from a writer who's had a significant impact in my life these last couple of months; Anne Lamott, an American with an unerring ability to cut through to the core of things.

You can tell if people are following Jesus, because they are feeding the poor, sharing their wealth, and trying to get everyone medical insurance."

"It's better to be kind than to be right."

"Sometimes this human stuff is slimy and pathetic...but better to feel it and talk about it and walk through it than to spend a lifetime being silently poisoned."

"I didn't need to understand the hypostatic unity of the Trinity; I just needed to turn my life over to whoever came up with redwood trees."

"I know some very great writers, writers you love who write beautifully and have made a great deal of money, and not one of them sits down routinely feeling wildly enthusiastic and confident. Not one of them writes elegant first drafts. All right, one of them does, but we do not like her very much. We do not think that she has a rich inner life or that God likes her or can even stand her. (Although when I mentioned this to my priest friend Tom, he said that you can safely assume you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.)"
― Bird by Bird (This one hurts; it already cost me a hundred pounds!)

"One thing I know for sure about raising children is that every single day a kid needs discipline.... But also every single day a kid needs a break."

"Now, if you ask me, what's going on is that we're all up to here in it, and probably the most important thing is that we not yell at one another."

2. How the Internet Started (according to scripture) ...

In ancient Israel, it came to pass that a trader by the name of Abraham Com did take unto himself a healthy young wife by the name of Dorothy.

And Dot Com was a comely woman, Large of breast, broad of shoulder and long of leg. Indeed, she was often called Amazon Dot Com.

And she said unto Abraham, her husband, "Why dost thou travel so far from town to town with thy goods when thou canst trade without ever leaving thy tent?"

And Abraham did look at her as though she were several saddle bags short of a camel load, but simply said, "How, dear?"

And Dot replied, "I will place drums in all the towns and drums in between to send messages saying what you have for sale, and they will reply telling you who hath the best price. The sale can be made on the drums and delivery made by Uriah's Pony Stable (UPS)."

Abraham thought long and decided he would let Dot have her way with the drums.

And the drums rang out and were an immediate success. Abraham sold all the goods he had at the top price, without ever having to move from his tent.

To prevent neighbouring countries from overhearing what the drums were saying, Dot devised a system that only she and the drummers knew. It was known as Must Send Drum Over Sound (MSDOS), and she also developed a language to transmit ideas and pictures - Hebrew To The People (HTTP).

And the young men did take to Dot Com's trading as doth the greedy horsefly take to camel dung. They were called Nomadic Ecclesiastical Rich Dominican Sybarites, or NERDS.

And lo, the land was so feverish with joy at the new riches and the deafening sound of drums that no one noticed that the real riches were going to that enterprising drum dealer, Brother William of Gates, who bought off every drum maker in the land. Indeed he did insist on drums to be made that would work only with Brother Gates' drumheads and drumsticks.

And Dot did say, "Oh, Abraham, what we have started is being taken over by others."

And Abraham looked out over the Bay of Ezekiel, or eBay as it came to be known.

He said, "We need a name that reflects what we are."

And Dot replied, "Young Ambitious Hebrew Owner Operators." "YAHOO," said Abraham.

And because it was Dot's idea, they named it YAHOO Dot Com.

Abraham's cousin, Joshua, being the young Gregarious Energetic Educated Kid (GEEK) that he was, soon started using Dot's drums to locate things around the countryside.

It soon became known as God's Own Official Guide to Locating Everything (GOOGLE).

That is how it all began. And that's the truth. And I know you believe it because everything ever written on the internet has always been the truth.

Go well towards Christmas, let me know if I can help with anything charity related, and be blessed.
Daryl Martin

Alliance For the Voluntary Sector
Registered in England & Wales No: 7939754
Registered Address: Sovereign Centre, Poplars, Yapton Lane, Walberton, Arundel, West Sussex, BN18 0AS
Telephone: 0845 319 8330, Web: www.afvs.org.uk

BULLETIN No. 138: November 2014

This is 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;

This month it's mostly Charity Commission stuff, a bit of gift aid, and some domestic updates. I put out a short blog most weeks, charity related (admittedly sometimes tenuously). This link takes you to a recent one. Let me know if I can subscribe you. http://www.afvs.org.uk/publications/blogs

Daryl Martin
d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What do we have this month?

1. Charity Commission Update
2. Fundraising Review
3. Living Wage Week
4. Statutory Enquiry
5. Gift Aid
6. Gift Aid (2)
7. If it's too Good to be True, it Probably is
8. Charity Commission News
9. Regular Financial Reports Essential
10. Barnardo's Results
11. London School Under Threat of Being Sued
12. Errors in HMRC Statements
13. And Finally...

1. Charity Commission Update
There's been some criticism of the CC following Paula Sussex's comments about the tougher stance it's taking these days. Chris Zealley a trustee of various charities made a good comment on one critical article on Civil Society Governance: 'Punchbag attacks on the Charity Commission are easy and deplorable, whether from politicians or lawyers. "Always keep a-hold of Nurse; for fear of getting something worse", he said. There's some truth in that. Remember though that the voluntary sector is mainly populated by people who put far more into society in so many ways than they take out. If you're involved in charity work in any way, be proud of it, you're part of what makes this country great.

2. Fundraising Review
Is your fundraising strategy in good shape? Sadly, it was reported last week that Beatbullying charity is shutting down after getting into financial (and other) difficulties. Latest accounts show they spent £400k on fundraising which raised only £350k. There was also a significant overspend on technology. It's important that you're well advised. We're extending our Charity MOT into Fundraising, HR, IT and Communications. If your fundraising plans need a specialist to run an eye across them, without spending a fortune, let me know and we'll get onto it. Could make all the difference as you head into 2015.

3. Living Wage Week
I doubt many of us even noticed that we just had the Living Wage Week. Still a small player, the Living Wage Foundation is working hard to persuade employers to pay a 'living wage'. The numbers of 'Living Wage' employers doubled last year to over 1000, with the number of FTSE100 employers signed up increasing from 4 to 18. Something charities should begin to think about especially as grant funders are beginning to insist on it as a condition of making a grant. It's not all altruism; figures show that absenteeism is down 25% and there are other benefits. Living Wage is £7.85 outside London.

4. Statutory Enquiry
The Charity Commission has opened a statutory inquiry into the religious television channel Revelation TV. The regulator will examine concerns relating to trustee benefits, conflicts of interest and a "potential significant loss of charitable funds". This is a continuing problem for many charities and many of my recent requests for help have related to conflict of interest issues. You must get it right; possible penalties if you don't. Let us help you stay safe, by reviewing your governance and accounts.

5. Gift Aid
I have just put together some practical notes on the Small Donations Scheme which is proving so impractical: you'll find it on the website. Meantime something potentially more serious has arisen. The Charity Commission plans to issue amended guidance to reflect the fact that trading arms such as charity shops cannot make Gift-Aided donations from their reserves to their parent charities. This follows legal advice sought by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, which confirmed that claiming Gift Aid on such a payment, as described in Section D5 of the commission guidance Trustees Trading and Tax: how charities may lawfully trade (CC35), was unlawful. I'm getting my head round this. Let me know if you have any thoughts or if it might affect you.

6. Gift Aid 2
Away for a few days Anita and I popped into the local cathedral. We duly paid our entrance fee. I gently chided the lovely lady who took my money for not inviting me to gift aid the price of the tickets. She gave me a garbled and not wholly convincing explanation which seemed to boil down to her making an educated guess as to who might be amenable. I wasn't that shabby and down at heel, well no more than usual, and my wife was her usual elegant self, though by now apologising to everyone in earshot for her grumpy intrusive husband. As we entered my details onto the state of the art but sadly underused system I said to the receptionist, 'If you don't ask, you don't get'. The last cathedral I went into was the same. How many charities aren't asking and consequently, aren't getting?

7. If it's too Good to be True, it Probably is
A retired City banker who cheated churchgoers out of millions in a vast fraud told one victim he had known in church for 20 years, over the phone: 'David, you may not believe this but God has told me to give you a ring.' The victim had just sold his home and had surplus funds to invest. He was offered 6% interest. I'm always a little wary whenever someone tells me that 'God has told them to do something'. It does happen of course but usually it's not that simple. He parted with over £300,000 and lost the lot. The conman, who just happened to be a trustee of his local C of E, got away with £4.5m most of which he lost mainly through gambling. I've come across a couple of dodgy trustees lately; do take care, things are rarely what they seem.

8. Charity Commission News
This is a useful link. It takes you to the CC newsletter, a mine of information for trustees. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/charity-commission-news. This edition reminds trustees that if they have net current liabilities on their balance sheet, there should be some kind of explanation in the annual report, something which is often overlooked. (What are the auditors/ examiners thinking of!) Also a useful mention of when to report serious incidents. In my experience trustees are split between those who want to report everything (don't), and those who don't even think about it. Let me know if you need guidance on a specific.

9. Regular Financial Reports Essential
Looking through another set of accounts for last year it appears that Free Reserves of this particular charity at the start of the year stood at £250k, but by the year end had reduced to £60k. The budget forecast a loss of £31k which ended up at over £160k. Digging down you find that 50% of the debtors were over 120 days. I know the financial parts of the board meeting are painful but it is good practise for the board to be presented with at least a quarterly management report which includes a summary of the key financial indicators. If your charity is going to hit turbulence it falls onto the trustees' shoulders, not the CEO's, and the sooner you know about it the better. You shouldn't be taken by surprise, and the duty is joint and several, so you can't just leave it to the treasurer.

10. Barnardo's Results
Generally holding up in the continuing difficult climate. Income was up by 11%, though this was mainly due to selling off surplus property. Interesting to note that its pension deficit increased by almost 10%, and currently stands at around £100m. This particular issue won't go away for many charities. The CC carried out a review some months back which will be useful if you have a pension deficit. Make sure you are getting good advice, particularly if you're a smaller charity.

11. London School Under Threat of Being Sued
Let's hope this won't ever happen to your charity but if you have care and responsibility for children you need to be aware. A teacher at the school from 2009 to 2013 turned out to be a convicted paedophile from America. When his criminal past was uncovered he promptly committed suicide. Unravelling what might have happened is next to impossible, and a group of parents is taking advice over a potential £1m plus compensation claim. Whether the school should have picked it up in their checks isn't yet clear. In the meantime it's important that counselling and other assistance is offered by the school where needed. There are vicarious liability issues and personal injury and post-traumatic stress and goodness knows what else. The school is being open about things but it's a tough time for the trustees

12. Errors in HMRC Statements
HMRC has confirmed that some of its recently issued statements of 2013/14 tax liability are incorrect. How many? It can't say, but claims it's less and one hundred thousand. According to the DT whistleblowers say it could be many times this. Are you affected, or your staff? Who knows? The statements (Forms P800) can be checked against P60s to see if the figures agree. HMRC is trying to sort it all out, but it'll take time, so be patient. I can no longer make head or tail of my tax anyway, so I'd never know.

13. And Finally...

Miles Munroe died along with 8 others in a plane crash on November 9th. He inspired millions across the world with his teaching on leadership. It can be a bit cheesy to throw a lot of quotes out without much discernment, but those below are pure gold. Let them work their way into your heart and your life and remind you why you're where you are doing what you're doing. (I've lifted this from Paul Sohn's blog)

In honour of Munroe's life and legacy, here are some of the things he said:

"The greatest tragedy in life is not death, but a life without a purpose."

"People generally fall into one of three groups: the few who make things happen, the many who watch things happen, and the overwhelming majority who have no notion of what happens. Every person is either a creator of fact or a creature of circumstance, either putting colour into their environment, or, like a chameleon, taking colour from their environment."

"You must decide if you are going to rob the world or bless it with the rich, valuable, potent, untapped resources locked away within you."

"Leadership is the capacity to influence others through inspiration motivated by passion, generated by vision, produced by a conviction, ignited by a purpose."

"The wealthiest places in the world are not gold mines, oil fields, diamond mines or banks. The wealthiest place is the cemetery. There lies companies that were never started, masterpieces that were never painted… In the cemetery there is buried the greatest treasure of untapped potential. There is a treasure within you that must come out. Don't go to the grave with your treasure still within YOU."

"Reputation is what others think about you. Character is the truth about you. Reputation is what you are in public. Character is what you are in private."

"We manifest character when self-sacrifice for the sake of our principles becomes more important than compromise for the sake of popularity."

"True leaders don't measure their success by comparing themselves to others but by evaluating how they are fulfilling their own purpose and vision."

"Circumstances and crises are God's tools to move you into your purpose and the maximising of your potential."

"The poorest person in the world is the one without a dream."

Go well towards Christmas, let me know if I can help with anything charity related, and be blessed.
Daryl Martin

BULLETIN No. 137: October 2014

This is 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 have gleaned from charities I am currently working with. Always glad to get your comments.

This month we have the usual cautionary tales, some domestic updates, and a few other matters. I put out a short blog most weeks, charity related (admittedly sometimes tenuously). This link takes you to the latest blogs, where you can subscribe to receive email updates. http://www.afvs.org.uk/publications/blogs

Daryl Martin
d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What's on offer this month?

1. Southampton 'Clinic'
2. Charity Commission Updates
3. NMW Investigations
4. Paying Casual Staff
5. Gift Aid
6. Vicars and Money (Comment from last edition)
7. Major Incident Planning
8. Banks and CIOs
9. SORP 2015
10. Termination Agreements
11. Meeting Protocols
12. Peter Pan Virus
13. And Finally...

1. Southampton 'Clinic'
The CRE (Christian Resources Exhibitions) is at the Ageas Bowl from 12 noon to 6pm on Thursday 27th November. We've booked a stand (D6), and will be delighted to meet up with you. If you've any charity related issues we can help with or if you just want to say hello, just drop by. Click on this link to register for Free Ticket/s

2. Charity Commission Updates
'The Commission is now focusing on "robust regulation" and will not allow charities the benefit of the doubt. Paula Sussex, the new boss told delegates at the Charity Finance Summit in London recently that the regulator is becoming "tougher, smarter, more agile and more proactive" under her watch. Charities are facing greater scrutiny from the media, and members of the public are less likely to give charities the benefit of the doubt, she said, so the Commission cannot continue to do so either. It's very clear that the Commission is focusing on regulating and policing the sector, and charities can no longer look to them for the advice and support they've been used to. If you haven't yet signed up to our membership, this might be a good time to check it out: www.afvs.org.uk 'dedicated to helping charities stay safe'

The Commission will be looking pro-actively at accounts, flagging up on their website any that are qualified. (Lesson hard learned from the Dove Trust.)

3. National Minimum Wage (NMW) Investigations
It's easy to get NMW wrong in a number of ways. Risk areas include: unpaid time, such as training or travelling time, internships, or deductions from wages. Last year HMRC conducted 1,455 NMW investigations; of those investigated 47% had NMW errors. This is a high risk area for charities. If you have staff on NMW take care. Let us know if you need specific help.

4. Paying Casual Staff
Another fraught area! I've had a few questions come through on this issue and I've put together a briefing on the AFVS website, to remind you of key HMRC principles. E-mail me if you'd like a copy (and aren't a member of AFVS).

5. Gift Aid
Last month someone was found guilty of making false claims of over £100,000. How do these people sleep at night? Take up of the Small Donations Scheme is disappointingly low. Hardly surprising given the complexity of what was intended to be a simple accessible scheme to help charities. I'm putting together some notes, with the help of our church treasurer, who has infinite patience when working out these claims.

6. Vicars and Money (Comment from last edition)
My June bulletin (number 134), made a point that a vicar and money should be kept well apart (a paragraph about a vicar who'd been arrested for theft over charity funds). I was taken gently to task by David Flowers, a trustee, a financial advisor and a pastor; mostly not all at the same time. He knows many ministers who are competent and experienced at handling money. David agreed that anyone involved in leading a church should do all they could to avoid any perception of financial impropriety, but he disagreed with the point I made about the vicar not having access to the detail of who gives what. There are good pastoral reasons why the pastor should have this information available. 'It is a crucial indicator of discipleship and a warning sign for all sorts of pastoral issues (marriage difficulty, illness, employment etc.).' He believes the risk is around a big giver having undue influence. Some helpful thoughts; thanks David.

7. Major Incident Planning
Zurich have put out a helpful guide to help charities work out a response to a major incident. http://static.guim.co.uk/ni/1384515640842/Zurich-guide.pdf

8. Banks and CIOs
A quiet mention of difficulties CIOs are having when they try to get a bank account set up drew some agonised responses from readers. ...sheer incompetence, forms going missing without explanation. Don't even think of opening a charity account with a clearing bank wrote one reader. I wouldn't go that far, but I understand the frustration. The solution I'm told is to go to Unity Trust Bank, whose 'service is superb'. There's also Triodos, and The Charity Bank, all who understand charities in general, and CIOs in particular.

9. SORP 2015
Next year will see the introduction of 2 new SORPs: FRSSE and FRS 102. Charities will have to decide which to adopt. Most charities below the audit threshold will go for FRSSE, even though it might be changed in a year or so. Nothing to be too worried about, but I've put an initial briefing onto the AFVS website.

10. Termination Agreements
Are you getting the best out of the new law and procedures? Settlement agreements, mandatory conciliation, pre-termination negotiations... All billed as advantages for employers, but you need knowledge and confidence to make the best use of these tools. Our half day courses on 'Termination and Settlement' will cut through the jargon and enable you to benchmark your approach against the rest. With a focus on 'empowering the decision-makers' and expert guidance from the lawyer/trainer, we will ensure your preparation for a dismissal and your reaction to a dispute is swift, commercial and robust. The course will put you in the best possible position to assess risk and likely cost of a claim so you can make quality judgments on how best to respond in individual cases.

11. Meeting Protocols
Having an agenda and arriving on time won't ensure that all will go well during a meeting. You have to actively keep the conversation on track — and the best way to start is by establishing ground rules. Before tackling agenda items, introduce the objectives and desired outcomes. Next, lay a few ground rules so people know to keep things moving. For example, commit to starting and ending on time. Ask for everyone's participation and openness to new ideas. Agree to listen to each other, and make a no-interruptions rule. Clarify how decisions will be made — the group should know if this is a group-decision meeting, a meeting that only calls for people's input, or a meeting that shares an already made decision. And before kicking off, explain your policy on multitasking and device use. (If you've signed up for my blogs you'll know that I regularly write about meetings; I've sat in so many, where the will to live drains away.)

12. Peter Pan Virus
Consumers are being warned of a sophisticated new fraud – eg, a receipt sent by email to confirm the sale of 9 theatre tickets already bought with a credit card. The email, purporting to be from the ticket agency is a scam. This is a variation of similar scams doing the rounds. Open the zip file, said to contain the tickets at your peril, as what it contains is a virus. Check your antivirus/ malware is up to date and operating effectively.

13. And Finally...

A husband asked his wife what her biggest birthday wish would be. She surveyed herself in the mirror, then answered, with a laugh, 'I wish I could be ten again.' Two days later on her birthday, her husband drove her to a theme park and took her on the Wall of Fear, the Death Ride, the Tower of Terror, and the Darkest Dungeon. Before she could thank him, he swept her off to MacDonald's for an enormous big mac, extra fries and a double chocolate milk shake. Not noticing she'd turned a strange colour, he then produced tickets for the cinema where they moved from screen to screen taking in Box Trolls, Rio and the Lego Movie, before washing the day down with popcorn, ice cream and Pepsi Cola before collapsing into bed.

Noting she'd been a little quiet and, needing some affirmation for his thoughtfulness, her husband asked tenderly, 'So, darling, what's it been like to be ten again?'

'I've no idea.' she replied, 'I was referring to my dress size.' (Thanks, Elaine Storkey for this one)

Go well into autumn, and be blessed.
Daryl Martin

Alliance For the Voluntary Sector Ltd
Registered in England & Wales No: 7939754
Registered Address: Sovereign Centre, Poplars, Yapton Lane, Walberton, Arundel, West Sussex, BN18 0AS
Telephone: 0845 319 8330, Web: www.afvs.org.uk

BULLETIN No. 136: September 2014

This is 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; someone gently reminded me recently that my CIO briefing is well out of date, so I have now re-written it.

This month the usual cautionary tales, some domestic updates, and a few other matters. I put out a short blog most weeks, charity related (admittedly sometimes tenuously). This link takes you to a recent one. Let me know if I can subscribe you.

Daryl Martin
d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What's on offer this month?

1. Serious Incidents not Being Reported
2. Tele-sales Abuses
3. Gift Aiding Lottery Tickets
4. VAT on Direct Mail Shots
5. Employment Tribunals
6. AFVS Developments
7. Training
8. Training (2)
9. Charity Commission Investigation
10. CIOs
11. Expense Claims
12. Dress Code Guidance
13. And Finally...

1. Serious Incidents Not Being Reported
Last year less than 13,000 serious incidents were reported to the Charity Commission. They think this is just the tip of the iceberg and there's massive under-reporting going on. Failure to report something serious that comes to light in your charity can get you into trouble, and could compound the problem. The CC has just issued guidance, which they urge trustees to read. If you're not sure whether to report or not, call or e-mail me. Don't report issues that aren't serious. I've seen that make a relatively simple situation worse.

2. Tele-Sales Abuses
The media is beginning to pick up that when you agree to make a charity donation during a call from a telesales firm, most of your donation can end up in the call centre's pocket. Something like 60%. Telesales firms are making millions out of this. Take care when you get a call from a charity. If it's a call from a sales centre they're meant to tell you how much of your donation the charity will receive, but sometimes they forget. Too much of this, and the public might start to get a bit cynical.

3. Gift Aiding Lottery Tickets
Can't be done of course, we all know that. But not nfpSynergy, a consultancy firm specialising in the charity sector. They've proposed a way in which a big chunk of the price of a ticket could be gift aided. If they can persuade a charity to take it up it'll be interesting to see how HMRC responds to it. I'll keep you posted on this one. I know many of my readers are against lotteries in principle; others find it a useful way to raise funds.

4. VAT on Direct Mail Shots
It is common practise for charities sending out large volumes of fundraising materials to subcontract to a specialist firm. Most of the costs of such exercises have been zero rated in accordance with current HMRC guidance. However they recently ruled otherwise in a recent decision, so there's currently a lot of uncertainty. If your charity uses this kind of service you should keep on top of this one and make sure you are protected from the supplier coming to you with an unexpected VAT bill. If you need help on this or any other VAT matter Les Howard our AFVS charity vat specialist is available to work with you. VAT regulations, already complex, change regularly and it makes sense to have a review carried out every couple of years or so.

5. Employment Tribunals
It used to be a common perception that statutory grievance procedures were so weighted in favour of the employee that employers would often throw in the towel even when they had a good case. The pendulum seems to have swung the other way especially with fees being introduced to end frivolous claims. Following detailed research being released by The Guardian to show that genuine potential claimants are being put off. I contacted Nathalie, our AFVS HR specialist. Her view is that if there is a genuine case of discrimination, constructive or unfair dismissal, the facts will speak for themselves, and the fees shouldn't be an issue. We're considering delivering some employment law briefings to help you keep up with developments. Let us know if you're interested. Meantime if you do have an HR related issue and need our help, get in touch sooner rather than later. Can save a lot of heartache, and money.

6. AFVS Developments
I put out a weekly blog, and do my best to make it timely and relevant. Last month's posts include 'Big Charity versus Small Charity', one on Procrastination and another on Listening. I discovered that if you're signed up to this bulletin you might not be signed in for blogs. Let me know if this is you and we'll put it right. You could help me tremendously by encouraging other people to sign up if it's relevant to them. Could you do this for me? Also, don't forget to let us know if your address changes. We'd hate to lose you. Thanks.

7. Training
Our training venue in Barnham is a bit out of the way for many folk. I've got space to come to you this autumn. If you're interested, let me know and we'll send details. We tailor the delivery to your specific needs. I can also do the occasional Saturday, (Subject to prior approval from Anita).

8. Training (2)
The following link takes you to some useful training events organised by The Institute of Fundraising South East over the next few months, particularly relevant for fundraisers, though there are seminars on Time Management and other subjects. http://us5.campaign-archive1.com/?u=6624e7ed8681bae1c4e6677ce&id=14d0b2daae&e=fbfa1fc053. If you're interested you can join their LinkedIn group to stay in touch. (Thanks to Ian Clark for this one.)

9. Charity Commission Investigation
Last week we heard that a statutory investigation has been opened into a charity based in the Midlands. They're late with their accounts. The Commission made a compliance visit last year, found some problems and gave them specific advice and guidance. When they followed up in May, they found it all much the same. Now they have their bank accounts frozen and the beneficiaries are going to pay a heavy price. If the Commission is in touch with you, don't hide, get advice straightaway. If you don't have an advisor we're here to help. Though we may give you some straight talking. Our aim is to help you stay safe.

10. CIOs
There's been a CIO briefing on our website. I looked at it this week; it's a bit negative. I've re-written it more constructively. If you are an unincorporated charity, it's worth taking a look at it to see if it's time for you to switch over.

11. Expense Claims
You couldn't make this up. The Charity Commission investigated a charity recently and found that 2 of the trustees who were related were signing off each other's expense claims! I'm sure none of my readers would be into this kind of carelessness. If you do have concerns in the area of governance, get in touch and I'll give you some simple, effective solutions.

12. Dress Code Guidance
Just noticed that ACAS have put out guidance on Dress Codes. Can be a tricky issue in some situations. Makes a lot of money for HR specialists and lawyers. I'm putting together a briefing. Let me know if a copy will help you stay safe.

13. And Finally...

The cunning art of the put down.

My readers being in the main, fine upstanding people will have little experience of making a studied insult. The Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, has got it to a fine art. This week he told an MP to stop talking and sit down. He then invited him to 'rise to the level of events'.

Here are some of Shakespeare's more memorable offerings for you to practise in front of a mirror in case things get nasty in your next board meeting:

'Methinks't thou art a general offence, and every man should beat thee.' (All's well that ends well)

'I do repent the tedious minutes I with you have spent.' (A Midsummer Night's Dream)

'No longer from head to foot than from hip to hip: he is spherical, like a globe; I could find out countries in him' (Adapted.) (Okay, Dromio of Syracuse, we get it … I'm a little overweight.)

'There's no more faith in thee than in a stewed prune.' (Henry iv pt 1)

'I do desire we may be better strangers.' (As you like it)

'Your abilities are too infant like for doing much alone.' (Coriolanus)

'Your brain is as dry as the remainder biscuit after voyage.' (As you like it)

And best of all: 'Away, you scullion! you rampallion, you fustilarian! I'll tickle your catastrophe.' (Henry v pt 2) A fustilarion is a low fellow, a stinkard; a rampallion is a mean wretch. A scullion as we all know is the one who cleans the pots and kettles in the kitchen, a very menial person. Try this on a colleague next time he gets above his station.

(I think that's enough)

Go well into autumn, and be blessed.
Daryl Martin

BULLETIN No. 135: July / August 2014

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What's on offer this month?

1. A call for Staff Historians
2. Collaboration
3. Local Authority Funding Withdrawn
4. Accountant Fined over Conflict of Interest
5. CIOs and Banks
6. Gas Safety
7. Public and Employer's Liability Insurance
8. Setting up a New Charity got Harder
9. Charity MOT
10. AFVS Briefings
11. What's a Chugger?
12. Trustee Training
13. And Finally...

1. A call for Staff Historians
Companies create history every day: accomplishments, innovations, events, products, etc. Yet, most of it isn't recorded or preserved. This is why companies — especially those with long histories — should think about hiring an historian to manage its collective memory. A staff historian would research and publish stories about the evolution of the brand, and play a role in helping employees understand and relate to the company's mission. And, most of all assist the marketing department in articulating the company's unique identity and value to customers. (I just spent a happy half hour writing a blog on this subject; It's not coming together so I simply leave you with this slightly adapted paragraph from Kevin Evers (Harvard Business Review))

2. Collaboration
Collaboration along with innovation and creativity is a buzzword that some managers and execs like to toss around at will. But it's easy to roll our eyes at their blind faith, because we've all been part of collaborations or team projects that were mired by useless debates and indecisiveness. This is called collaboration fatigue, and if it persists, it can lower morale. It's caused by two oversights: when the purpose of the project isn't stated up front and understood by everyone, and when the group fails to designate a final decision-maker. (Nick Tasler, another gem from Harvard BR). If you are considering any form of partnering or other collaboration it's worth reading my AFVS briefing on the subject. E-mail me for a copy if you don't have access.

3. Local Authority Funding Withdrawn
A charity got into serious trouble with the Charity Commission by failing to report that its Chief Executive had been convicted of sex offences. It's an unsavoury tale compounded by the fact that the trustees allowed the offender to carry on his involvement with the charity and submit an annual return in which the issues should have been disclosed. The charity did not carry out proper DBS checks. The trustees' responsibility to whistleblow is perfectly clear.

Under the Commission's reporting serious incidents policy, trustees should report serious incidents as soon as they suspect them, even if it's already been reported to the police or another regulator. If you have any doubt about whether to report there's a helpful briefing on my website. If you do have a situation e-mail me and I'll help you stay safe (or get to safety if you're heading for rocks). The charity will probably shut down.

4. Accountant Fined over Conflict of Interest
An accountant was fined over £5,800 in total by his professional body after he received payments for acting as a trustee of a grant-making charity for which he also provided professional services. The sums he received over a 7 year period weren't a king's ransom, but you live dangerously if you don't follow an appropriate conflict of interest policy. Again, there's a briefing on my website to keep charities safe. He's a lucky man; in some situations it's a criminal offence. Now, these situations often occur when a decision is carelessly made or made in ignorance and it's carried on year after year without being challenged, which is probably what happened in this case. Don't assume that a payment's legal simply because it's been done for years. Check!

5. CIOs and Banks
If you're planning to set up a CIO or convert to one, there's one area which seems to be throwing up difficulties. Teething issues seem to be getting resolved but the question of the bank account can be a thorny issue. Stories are coming through of charities taking months, anything up to a year even to open a bank account. Some of the banks are still coming to terms with this strange new animal that has appeared in our midst, and they don't quite know how to treat it. If you plan to set up a CIO make sure your bank is on side at an early stage. If anyone has any helpful advice please write to me.

6. Gas Safety
We arrived back at our apartment block a couple of weeks ago to find a strong smell of gas in the lobby. It was late at night but the Gas Board sent someone out straightaway. A serious escape of gas was discovered before damage was done. Apparently one in six homes inspected by the GSR (Gas Safe Register) had unsafe appliances, and every year around 4,000 people are affected by carbon monoxide poisoning. If you have gas on your premises, it should be checked annually and a carbon monoxide alarm fitted. Signs to watch out for: lazy yellow flames, black marks around the appliance, and lots of condensation in the room. www.staygassafe.co.uk and www.gassaferegister.co.uk

7. Public and Employer's Liability Insurance
It's not enough that you should be covered; If you have contractors coming onto your property to carry out work, make sure that they hold their own cover. A Buckinghamshire school found it had a problem when a workman fell from his ladder breaking his spine. The firm employing him had no insurance so it fell back to the school. My briefing takes you to further tips when you employ contractors.

8. Setting up a New Charity got Harder
The Charity Commission has stepped up the number of questions it wants answers to when a registration is considered. It may simplify the process later on by reducing the number of supplementary questions that might be asked. They seem to hope that by asking more questions they can make a considered judgement on whether to register; if they don't register it will likely take the applicant back to square one. We shall have to see how this plays out, but they have warned that they want to streamline the process and will be reluctant to engage in dialogue. They also warn that the response target time is 28 days and they won't allow any chasing within that time.

9. Charity MOT
This is a helpful way of checking how safe your organisation is without getting things unduly complicated. You can find information on our website; www.afvs.org.uk. The first level is free to members. I think the membership fee's worth it for this alone. We've tried to keep it user friendly. Let me know if you have any downloading issues.

10. AFVS Briefings
Apart from briefings on charity issues going onto the website most weeks I put up a charity related blog onto the site every Friday. I keep it more or less charity related, and aim to make it relevant. A reader gently rebuked me for a blog entitled 'Chuggers or Pop up Charities', where I assumed everyone knew what a chugger is (see below if you don't). If you're on FB or LinkedIn any chance you could take a minute to 'follow' the AFVS pages on each site. If I can get the 'follows' up to a million, wonderful things happen. Not exactly sure what, but I'm keen to raise our profile. 'Can I afford not to take a risk' might be worth a read.

11. What's a Chugger?
Paid "charity" street worker (read: student) who has been trained to believe that they are carrying out a worthy task, improving peoples' lives by conning Joe Public out of their money for this week's Good Cause. Usually an agency worker where the agency takes a hefty cut of the hourly rate that the charity in question has paid for, whilst at the same time increasing profits by selling on details of those foolish enough to actually stop and sign up to said Good Cause. (Urban Dictionary)
If you really want to support a charity, do it through their website, not a chugger. (Sorry Chuggers, but I think you've had your day - Pop up Charities now.

12. Trustee Training
I'm taking bookings for the autumn. Often works well with me coming to you. I can come for an evening, a half or a full day, whatever works best for you. If it's an evening I talk fast and tell fewer cautionary tales. I cover an extensive amount of material including trustee responsibilities and staying safe. How to manage risk without tying yourself up in knots. I shall also talk about current issues being picked up by HMRC and the Charity Commission, and what to do if you get a call from them. There's always space to look at any specific issues that concern you.

13. And Finally...

I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman to direct me to the self-help section. She said if she told me it would defeat the purpose. (Steven wright, quoted in Wall Street Journal)

Prejudice is a great time-saver. You can form an opinion without having to get the facts. (E B White, quoted in The Observer)

My writer of the moment is Frederick Buechner, story teller and theologian; A few quotes to whet your appetite.

"Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid." (from Beyond Words)

"You can kiss your family and friends good-bye and put miles between you, but at the same time you carry them with you in your heart, your mind, your stomach, because you do not just live in a world but a world lives in you."

"Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery it is. In the boredom and pain of it, no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it, because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace." (from Now and Then: A Memoir of Vocation)

"When you remember me, it means you have carried something of who I am with you, that I have left some mark of who I am on who you are. It means that you can summon me back to your mind even though countless years and miles may stand between us. It means that if we meet again, you will know me. It means that even after I die, you can still see my face and hear my voice and speak to me in your heart."

Go well gentle reader
Daryl Martin

BULLETIN No. 134: June 2014

This is 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 bulletins that come through to me, plus whatever I've gleaned from charities I'm currently working with. Increasingly readers send me their own thoughts and I'm always glad to get your responses, either correcting or adding to something I've written.

This month the usual cautionary tales, plus some proposed gift aid changes, and a few other matters. I've prepared a few briefings this month which might be of interest.

Daryl Martin
d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What's on offer this month?

1. Board Handling Conflict of Interest
2. HMRC Concerns
3. Cash Transactions on the Rise
4. Vicar Arrested over Fraud
5. Charity MOT
6. AFVS Briefings
7. Training Days
8. Awaydays
9. Tax Returns
10. Naming and Shaming
11. Whistle Blown on British Gas
12. Charity Commission gets Tough on Bad Applications
13. And Finally...

1. Board handling conflict of interest:
This is what the chairman of a national charity said recently after their auditor attempted to dissuade him from an action where a potentially illegal transaction was proposed. 'Trustees will not be amused at this type of intervention by our auditors. To be blunt, it's none of their business what decisions are made by trustees' This quite breathtaking comment showed that the person who said it had little understanding of auditors duties and charity law. The issue at stake was as it so often is, a conflict of interest. Get it wrong and you could end up inside, quite apart from all the reputational fallout.

2. HMRC concerns
The one organisation I don't want to get on the wrong side of is HMRC. Nevertheless, they are giving payroll staff and agents a hard time at the moment. This came though from someone who handles payroll for a hundred or so charities:

"It has been a nightmare. Letters have been sent to clients stating that they have not made payments when they have been made. Following an earlier review they admit that there have been teething troubles with the new systems. But having called regarding incorrect demands for underpayment we were told by one advisor that the Debt management department does not have all the information available to see what payments have been made or the RTI submission information, and this has resulted in incorrect claims of underpayment. One account was being chased for underpayment when they were actually in credit. I dread to think what will happen once they are able to gain access to personal bank accounts. Last time I called them I was on hold for 45 minutes before I gave up!"

So if your charity receives a letter of PAYE underpayment, don't just assume it's correct; check your payments and call them if you're unclear. Now we know the Revenue is full of great people who want to do a good job, so what exactly is going wrong?

3. Cash transactions on the rise
A church recently stopped taking up offerings during services. I wasn't entirely clear on the reasoning behind this, so I'll spare you that. But this is at a time when there's a significant move away from using cards to using cash for small transactions, a trend that started in the USA some time ago. The manager of the local Holland & Barrett told me that a few years ago two thirds of his sales were card based; now it's down to one third. "Counting out cash for a transaction affects a person differently than simply signing a receipt. This emotional attachment to cash can be an effective tool to curb impulse spending, help budgeting, prevent unexpected fees". CAP training states that using cash instead of a card could, over a year, save around 18%. Churches and other charities need to make sure they consider the implications, especially if they're thinking about stopping taking up offerings.

4. Vicar arrested over claims he took cash from 700 bereaved families
I've nothing against vicars per se, but my general advice is that they should do all they can to keep well away from the money side of things. This poor vicar fell into temptation and (whether he's found innocent or guilty) has ruined his future, with all the knock on effects you can imagine, including of course the betrayal of trust. I know our vicar doesn't want anything to do with the cash or the cheque book; he doesn't even want to know details of individual giving. All credit to him. Oh, and if you pre-sign blank cheques stop it. The CC will see this as mismanagement and can hold trustees personally responsible (incorporated or not) Also, as we increasingly carry out banking electronically are you satisfied that your systems are secure? Do review your financial controls regularly. (Our Charity MOT has some helpful pointers)

5. Charity MOT
Completed paperwork is beginning to find its way in to us. It's a helpful way of checking how safe your organisation is without getting things unduly complicated. You can find information on our website; www.afvs.org.uk The first level is free to members. I think the membership fee's worth it for this alone. But you get so much else besides. We've had a couple of issues with charities not being able to open the pdf; it's to do with not having a compatible Adobe plugin for the active form. There are ways round it, so rather than attempt to talk you through it here, if you do get problems, call Tony on 0845 319 5330 or email support@afvs.org.uk.

6. AFVS briefings
I enjoyed writing a briefing on Bikeshed Meetings more for the title than anything else; it's worth a read if you have any say in how meetings are run. Another recent briefings includes tips if you are thinking of replacing paid staff with volunteers (aren't we all!). I'm posting briefings onto LinkedIn these days. A recent one entitled 'Interruptions or Opportunities?' is getting some good comments. If you're on LinkedIn perhaps you could make me a contact. If you're on Facebook any chance you could take a minute to 'Like' the AFVS page. If I can get the 'Likes' up to a million wonderful things happen. Not exactly sure what, but I'm keen to raise our profile.

7. Training days
Our next trustee training day at Barnham is on Saturday 26th July. I'm well aware what a sacrifice it is to give up a Saturday to learn about dull and boring charity issues, so I do my best to keep it as lively as possible. If it's hot wear shorts; we'll sit outside and get barked at by dogs. We're also looking to running a training day in Essex (Romford area) on Friday 12th September, repeated the following day for people who aren't free weekdays. We cover an extensive amount of material including trustee responsibilities and staying safe. How to manage risk without tying yourself up in knots. I shall also talk about current issues being picked up by HMRC and the Charity Commission, and what to do if you get a call from them. There's always space to look at any specific issues that concern you. (Becky is always interested to hear from you if you want to register interest in a training session in your locality)

8. Awaydays
This is a concept that's gaining in popularity amongst charities. We don't have the vast budget that so many of the public services seem to have to fund their jollies but it's quite feasible to put together a great Awayday on a budget. Gives charities the opportunity to get off site and refresh the team, the trustees even, and come back with a renewed sense of purpose. We're putting together a package that can be tailor made for different shapes and sizes of organisations. E-mail us for details.

9. Tax returns
Charities regard themselves as not being liable for tax, so they can safely ignore any tax returns that are sent to them. Legally, charities are liable for tax, but there are HMRC concessions which mean that they will not normally have to pay any tax, provided they follow the rules. If the HMRC sends you a tax return, you must complete it and send it in; otherwise you'll be fined. All incorporated charities must submit a Corporation Tax return each year, and unincorporated charities need to complete a Trust and Estate SA return, but only when they are requested to do so. It is essential that all charities, regardless of whether they are claiming gift aid, complete a Cha1 form. This registers the organisation as a charity for tax purposes and is a requirement in order to claim exemption from Tax on charitable income. This can take time and needs to be done well before the Corporation Tax return is due at HMRC.

10. Naming and shaming
Until recently the Charity Commission has tended to keep quiet about charities they are investigating for one reason or another. The reason for this is that reputations can so easily be damaged if the charity has done nothing wrong. This has changed in line with their new more robust approach and they will announce the names of charities where statutory enquiries have been opened, unless there's a good reason not to, such as an ongoing police investigation or security issues. Some charity specialists feel that this is a step too far when information is put out before any wrongdoing is established. I'm not overly worried. The Charity Commission doesn't set up investigations lightly. They can get it wrong and be heavy handed but generally they show good judgement. If you get a letter from the Charity Commission following a complaint, don't ignore it. Be open and transparent; get the right sort of professional help. Better still make sure everything is above board and the Charity Commission doesn't have to worry about you. (If you work through our MOT, we'll quickly see if you are at risk.) If you do get that dreaded letter, let us know; we can provide speedy advice and support.

11. Whistle blown on British Gas
The Daily Mail (Where would we be without it!), revealed that British Gas sales staff were encouraged to target small businesses and charities and sell the highest tariffs. Cases were cited where energy bills went up by £2,000 a year. British Gas has strongly refuted any suggestions of miss-selling. The problem that the majority of charities have is that often they lack the resources to research the best deal and could end up making a bad call. Do take care. Get advice. Find another charity to talk to which might have more resources to help you ensure you get the best deal. Martin's Money Tips is a good site to keep an eye on. If you have unwittingly signed yourselves into a long term contract which isn't good value for money, you might need to kick up a fuss. They won't want bad publicity.

12. Charity Commission gets tough on bad applications
Another sign of the times. Whilst the processes for new applications are more streamlined than ever, the Charity Commission is losing patience with faulty applications and isn't going to do any more hand-holding. I hear plenty of stories of people trying to do it themselves and getting into muddles. It can work if you have someone experienced to go through the processes but for a modest investment a lot of time and energy can be saved by getting professional help. The Charity Commission website is an excellent resource for people running charities and people wanting to set one up. They've issued 3 revised publications on setting up a charity, all excellent. Study them carefully, then realistically decide whether you need help or not.

13. And Finally...

A dear friend Forrest Malloch recently lost his presence of mind and flooded his Facebook page with one liners that even Tim Vine might cringe at. To add to his embarrassment here are some of the better ones:

Police were called to a playschool where a 3 year old was resisting a rest.

Acapuncture - a jab well done.

Once you've seen a shopping centre, you've seen a mall.

A hangover is the wrath of grapes

He used to have a fear of hurdles but he got over it.

Does the name Pavlov ring a bell?

A man who fell into an upholstery machine is fully recovered.

Practise safe eating - always use condiments

He had a photographic memory but it was never developed

Did the man who invented door knockers get the No-bell prize?

(I think that's enough)

I offer this story to you as it reminded me of my first wife who was one a part-time bar maid and could be pretty straight with tricky customers: 'My wife's a part time barmaid and was having trouble with a rowdy male customer. When he asked her the way to the toilets, she told him, 'Go down that hallway and you'll see a door marked 'Gentlemen'. But don't let that deter you'.' Jason David, Hertfordshire

Go well into summer. Find time to enjoy Wimbledon, and sit in the sun. E-mail me if you need cheering up; I have just the thing for you. (This little invitation brings the most surprising results my way)

Daryl Martin

BULLETIN No. 133: May 2014

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What's on offer this month?

1. MOT 4 Charities
2. Asbestos Regulations
3. FATCA Regulations
4. DBS Checks
5. Claim for Unfair Dismissal
6. Confidentiality Clauses
7. NICs - Some Good News
8. Pension Deficits
9. Are You Licensed?
10. Charity Trading
11. AFVS Briefings
12. Training Days
13. And Finally...

1. Mot 4 Charities
I'm now into the swing of reviewing the MOT paperwork that is beginning to tumble in. Most of the documentation shows well run charities with a bit of tidying up (though I think the links are helping people put their particular house in order before they send the papers in), we did find one charity with more than 20 areas needing improvement; too many, especially as I delivered training to this charity some years ago. It does work though (the MOT; clearly not my training!). Can you find some time to run your charity through the process? It's relatively painless, well it is compared to a visit to your dentist, the main benefit being helpful links from the questions to related briefings and other relevant material. The Bronze level is free to all AFVS members.

2. Asbestos Regulations
Not exactly hot off the presses, but when the regulations were strengthened in 2012 it's possible that a lot of people didn't pick up on it. If you have responsibility for a non-domestic building you have a legal duty of care to ensure that any asbestos is properly managed. If the property is over 20 years old, you should assume it contains asbestos. I've posted a briefing onto the AFVS website, outlining the steps you need to take. Let me know if you need any specific help on this.

3. FATCA Regulations
I put a briefing up onto the website some months ago. It all seemed a bit surreal and I doubt many people found the time to read it. It's aimed at preventing tax evasion by US residents using foreign accounts. It introduces reporting requirements for FFIs with respect to accounts held by US residents, irrespective of national privacy laws. Institutions which do not collect and report this information can be subject to a 30% 'withholding tax' on US source income and sales proceeds. In the UK, an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) between the UK and US will allow UK-based financial institutions to meet their FATCA obligations by reporting information to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). Checkout the following link for more detail: http://www.out-law.com/en/articles/2012/september/uk-signs-fatca-international-tax-compliance-agreement-with-us/

4. Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Checks
A couple in Brighton wanted to host a student from Czechoslovakia. The agency they went through put them through the usual criminal record checks. The student duly arrived and settled into the family which included 2 young boys. He spent a lot of time in his room on his computer. One day the police popped by and arrested him, and now he's locked up for offences against children. He'd carried on doing here what he'd been doing back there. Apparently agencies are not required to carry out any checks on the students they place. Perhaps they should. If you have foreign students in your home, or anyone at all for that matter you might consider whether you should have appropriate checks carried out. I mention all this as it's the sort of thing thousands of charities get involved in every year.

5. Claim for Unfair Dismissal
An employment tribunal has upheld a claim for unfair dismissal by a former employee of a charity that should have known better. I won't go into the juicy details, but this was a charity that included in its services, advice on stress in the workplace. Relations between a staff member and her manager had deteriorated so badly that a claim for constructive dismissal was lodged. Apparently the employee had asked for written details of issues the manager had with her but he refused to provide one; the tribunal described this is 'Kafkaesque' where she knew 'she must behave better without being clear what she had done wrong in the past'. In the last meeting they had the manager lost his temper and stormed out with the tribunal describing his behaviour as unprofessional and his management style as autocratic and old fashioned. So now you know, 'autocratic is old fashioned, and in a bad way', so why is there so much of it still around? It gets worse; an internal complaints investigation took 5 months to make a decision (in favour of the manager!). The tribunal ruled the delay excessive which increases the penalties by 25%. The employee said that, "A very large number of employees have left or been forced to leave, some of them in circumstances similar to the situation I found myself in," she said in a letter. "This reflects very badly on the how the charity is managed. Many have received a pay-off and/or have had to sign confidentiality clauses." Two issues come to my mind. Where were the trustees whilst all this was going on, and secondly, did they take HR advice?

6. Confidentiality Clauses
'At least six senior staff at a scandal-hit animal charity signed gagging orders and received pay-offs totalling some £180,000 while their controversial former boss was in charge.' Involved in this issue is a love triangle, a suicide, and generally too many people losing focus. Confidentiality, clauses tend to be used when there's something the trustees want to cover up. Would you want to send your hard earned cash to support a charity caring for sick animals, but uses your money to hide stuff they are ashamed of? Isn't this something the Charity Commission ought to be looking into? Trustees are legally required to use funds entrusted to them on the purposes for which they have been given.

7. National Insurance Contributions (NICs) - Some Good News
From the 6 April 2014 you can get the Employment Allowance which could reduce your employer's Class 1 NICs by up to £2,000 every year. Who is eligible? Almost every employer who is a business or charity (including a Community Amateur Sports Club) that pays employer Class 1 NICs on their employee's or director's earnings will be eligible. How do I apply? If you're eligible all you need to do is claim it using your 14-15 payroll software. This will depend on your package, but will most likely be a box you have to tick. If you're not sure about this then please contact us.

8. Pension Deficits
The Charity Commission has been getting concerned at the increasing deficits in charity pension funds, possibly totalling anything up to £6bn. Their report just out is not encouraging, particularly as some charities don't seem to have woken up yet to the urgency of the problem. Some charities have deficits that exceed the value of their general funds and in excess of 20% of their annual income. My AFVS briefing provides more detail.

9. Are You Licensed?
It's easy to think about licensing only in relation to alcohol or entertainment, but licences or statutory registration may also be necessary for many other activities, such as providing certain types of advice, selling goods or services on credit, fundraising collections or selling goods in a public place, providing adventure activities — or running a passenger boat. A charity which operates a barge as a floating classroom for children and young people, pleaded guilty in January 2014 to operating a passenger vessel in London without a valid passenger certificate. In summing up, the district judge said, "The fact you are a charity does not exempt you from your obligations." The charity was fined £300 and ordered to pay £3,000 prosecution costs and a £30 victim surcharge. For £30 it's clear that nothing serious went amiss, but that isn't the point of course. Check whether you have all the licenses you should have.

10. Charity Trading
I thought we all knew that trading is not in itself an actual charitable activity, and charity shops were kept at arm's length in trading subsidiaries. A Fairtrade shop recently lost an appeal against a CC decision not to register them. They haven't given up the fight though and are considering whether to make a fresh application. I'll keep you posted. When you think about it, there can be a case made for all sorts of charity shops to be charities (helping clothe the poor, social regeneration so forth). Some interesting possibilities here.

11. AFVS Briefings
When an item gets a bit long for this bulletin I tend to put it onto the AFVS site as a briefing. (No 5 above worries me lengthwise). Recently I've prepared briefings on A Leader's Code of Behaviour, a nice one on Personal Mission Statements, a few for trustees including The Accidental Chair and Collective Responsibility. If you're an AFVS member, you could print some of these off and take them on your holidays.

12. Training Days
Our next local (Barnham) training day is planned for Saturday 26th July. We're also looking to running a training day in Essex (Romford area) Friday 12th September, repeated the following day for people who aren't free weekdays. We cover an extensive amount of material including trustee responsibilities and staying safe. How to manage risk without tying yourself up in knots. I shall also talk about current issues being picked up by HMRC and the Charity Commission, and what to do if you get a call from them. There's always space to look at any specific issues that concern you. (Becky is always interested to hear from you if you want to register interest in a training session in your locality)

13. And Finally... a couple stories to make you smile!

A courtroom exchange between a defence attorney and a farmer with a bodily injury claim. It came from a Houston, Texas insurance agent.

Attorney: "At the scene of the accident, did you tell the constable you had never felt better in your life?"

Farmer: "That's right."

Attorney: "Well, then, how is it that you are now claiming you were seriously injured when my client's auto hit your wagon?"

Farmer: "When the constable arrived, he went over to my horse, who had a broken leg, and shot him. Then he went over to Rover, my dog, who was all banged up, and shot him. When he asked me how I felt, I just thought under the circumstances, it was a wise choice of words to say."

Paddy McCoy, an elderly Irish farmer, received a letter from the Department for Work & Pensions stating that they suspected he was not paying his employees the statutory minimum wage and they would send an inspector to interview them.

On the appointed day, the inspector turned up. "Tell me about your staff," he asked Paddy.

"Well," said Paddy, "there's the farm hand, I pay him £240 a week, and he has a free cottage. Then there's the housekeeper. She gets £190 a week, along with free board and lodging. There's also the half-wit. He works a 16 hour day, does 90% of the work, earns about £25 a week along with a bottle of whisky and, as a special treat, occasionally gets to sleep with my wife."

"That's disgraceful" said the inspector, "I need to interview the half-wit." "That'll be me then," said Paddy.

Go well into warmer and dryer summer weather, rich with opportunities and mayhem. (E-mail me if you need cheering up; I have just the thing for you)

Daryl Martin

BULLETIN No. 132: April 2014

This is 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 bulletins that come through to me, plus whatever I've gleaned from charities I'm currently working with. Increasingly readers send me their own thoughts and I'm always glad to get your responses, either correcting or adding to something I've written.

This month the usual cautionary tales, plus some proposed gift aid changes, and a few other matters. I've prepared a few briefings this month which might be of interest.

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What's on offer this month?

1. MOT 4 Charities
2. Charity Commission Workshop
3. Benefits Received by Charity Donors
4. School Tricked out of £1.1m
5. New Gift Aid Declarations
6. Community Amateur Sports Clubs
7. Sports Injuries
8. Do CEOs Matter?
9. Fundraising
10. AFVS Briefings
11. Training Days
12. Some Statistics to Give you Pause for Thought.
13. And Finally...

1. MOT 4 Charities
This is our new service designed to keep charities out of trouble keeping you safe as far and as simply as we can, leaving you free to pursue your own particular vision of making the country and the world a better place. Check out the link. MOT for Charities Completed paperwork is beginning to trickle through to me; my next job after I finish this briefing. The first level is free to all AFVS members.

2. Charity Commission Workshop
If your charity has close links to Syria or other high risk countries you might be interested in a workshop that's being run in Leeds on May 21st. It covers the duties and responsibilities of trustees, and how to carry out fundraising safely. Also advises how to account for funds sent through partner agencies. Sign up on this link: use our online booking system. E-mail me If you need guidance on funds sent overseas and audit trails.

3. Benefits received by charity donors
The government is to conduct a review of the benefits allowed to donors – any item or service a donor receives in connection with a donation, such as entry to an event or magazine subscription – "with a view to simplifying existing rules" High time; this is an area where there's a good deal of confusion, and complexity. Check out: HMRC rules on donor benefits and HMRC guidance on donor benefits.

4. School tricked out of £1.1m
An e-mail purporting to come from the charity's bank asked for codes to access the school's account. A trusting member of staff duly obliged, whereupon the lucky tricksters helped themselves to over a million pounds; money set aside for a building fund. A local resident said this might help explain why the school has one of England's worst GCSE results. The police think it might be linked to fraud originating in Eastern Europe. I can't complain; someone rather closer to home gave out the details of one of my debit cards. We've lost a couple of hundred pounds. (Our scam originated from the USA, so it's not just Eastern Europe.) Do brief your staff on the need to be vigilant (also your family). Some of these people are very persuasive, and if an offer comes up on your screen that's too good to be true, that's exactly what it is.

5. New Gift Aid declarations
Having managed to get us using the new declaration, well most of us, they've decided to change it again. The changes will be trialled "in a live environment" this summer as part of the government's drive to encourage more donors to sign up to the tax rebate. The new declarations will require donors to give "informed consent". The treasury proudly advises us that 40 per cent of adult Britons are no longer paying income tax so "any changes made to the Gift Aid declaration should be careful to increase donors' understanding that they must have paid tax in order to use Gift Aid". They will also hopefully make it easier for intermediaries such as on-line giving or text-to-donate services to operate.

6. Community Amateur Sports Clubs
As announced in the Autumn Statement, the government will legislate to allow tax relief on gifts of cash from companies to Community Amateur Sports Clubs.

7. Sports Injuries
Schools and other organisations have a clear duty of care to young people who undertake sporting activities under their auspices. A breach of such duty may arise where there has been a failure to provide adequate instruction. In the case of Gannon v Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council, a claim succeeded where a schoolboy broke his neck when diving from a starting block at the shallow end of a swimming pool on the basis that his PE teacher had not shown him how to correctly effect such a dive. In that case the schoolboy's claim also succeeded against the Amateur Swimming Federation for failing to issue appropriate warnings of relevant dangers to instructors.

8. Do CEOs Matter?
Few of us agree with these multi million pound plus packages for executives. Not all sour grapes; more a keen desire for just a little more public spiritedness, and a desire to serve the general good. Nevertheless it does appear that the 'CEO Effect' is becoming increasingly more important than other success predictors that held good, perhaps 20 years ago. The interesting thing is that though having the right CEO seems to matter a great deal, no-one really knows why. I wonder if the sheer unpredictability of the world today gives a better edge if the right person is steering the ship. Watch what happens to the Co-op over the next few months. A mediocre leader took it to the edge of bankruptcy. A good leader took over on a vastly inflated package but resigned because it's basically ungovernable. It may be too late of course but if the right person doesn't climb on board quickly it's sadly goodbye Co-op Bank.

9. Fundraising
Came across an interesting blog entitled, 'Micro vs Macro'. There were some good points in it but I had a few thoughts of my own so I turned it into an AFVS Briefing of the same name; this link will take you to it. If you're a small charity with big ideas (or even an inferiority complex!), this will encourage you.

10. AFVS Briefings
Recent briefings include the one mentioned above, also some thoughts on Reserves, one on Preventing Theft, and one I particularly enjoyed entitled Successful Failures. I'm always looking for good material that will help a wider audience and make life easier for them. If you have anything, do send it to me.

11. Training Days
Our next trustee training day is at our Barnham venue on Tuesday May 6th. This is coming up fast, so e-mail Becky if you would like to attend. We also have Saturday 26th July planned for Barnham, aimed at those of you who aren't free weekdays. We cover an extensive amount of material including trustee responsibilities and staying safe. How to manage risk without tying yourself up in knots. I shall also talk about current issues being picked up by HMRC and the Charity Commission, and what to do if you get a call from them. There's always time to look at any specific issues that concern you. (Becky is always interested to hear from you if you want to register interest in a training session in your locality.)

12. Some Statistics to Give You Pause for Thought
In 2011/12 Charity income from central and local government contracts was down £1.3bn. Giving from individuals increased from £16.9 to £17.4bn. Reserves were down globally by £2.2bn to £48.8bn. The lesson is clear; people respond with their cheque books when times are tough. Don't rely on government to do the same though.

13. And Finally...

Recent 'And Finallys' have rather lowered the tone so here are some timely reminders and warnings:

'Obstacles are necessary for success because in selling, as in all careers of importance, victory only comes after many struggles and countless defeats.' (Og Mandino)

'A real decision is measured by the fact that you've taken a new action. If there's no action, you haven't truly decided.' (Tony Robbins)

'If you can't control your anger, you are as helpless as a city without walls, waiting to be attacked.' (The Book of Proverbs)

'Take care of your body; it's the only place you have to live.' (Jim Rohn)

'What will you do with your one precious wild life?' (Mary Oliver) This one inspired me to write an article which I just put out on FB and LinkedIn encouraging readers to have a shot at preparing their own Personal Mission Statement.

Go well into warm sunny weather, rich with opportunities and mayhem. (E-mail me if you need cheering up; I have just the thing for you)

Daryl Martin

BULLETIN No. 131: March 2014

This is 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 bulletins that come through to me, plus whatever I've gleaned from charities I'm currently working with. Increasingly readers send me their own thoughts and I'm always glad to get your responses, either correcting or adding to something I've written.

What do we have this month? A continuing litany of dark warnings and cautionary tales interspersed with the occasional nugget of helpfulness.

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What's on offer this month?

1. Organising Street Parties & Other Events
2. MOT 4 Charities
3. Charity Commission Investigation
4. Your Skills May Soon be Worthless
5. Public Liability Insurance
6. Windows XP No Longer Supported
7. 3000 Church Charities Excepted From Registration
8. Charity Loses Gift Aid Claim of £18,600
9. Fundraising
10. Church Being Investigated by CC & HMRC
11. AFVS Briefings
12. Training Days
13. And Finally...

1. Organising Street Parties & Other Events
New guidance from the Cabinet Office on organising and running community events and street parties, and top tips on running events from Community Matters. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/can-do-guide-for-organisers-of-voluntary-events/the-can-do-guide-to-organising-and-running-voluntary-and-community-events. Thanks to eagle eyed Sandy Adirondack for providing this link.

2. MOT 4 Charities
This new service is designed to keep charities out of trouble with the aim to keep you safe as far as we can and as simply as we can, leaving you free to pursue your own particular vision of making the country and the world a better place. Check out the AFVS website. We are still fine-tuning it, and have just improved the direct download option. The Bronze level is free to all AFVS members.

3. Charity Commission Investigation
We recently received a set of accounts from a small charity to carry out the independent examination. On a number of counts Kay wasn't happy and declined to sign them off. The CC picked up on this and sent in an investigator at very short notice. I wouldn't have said this even 6 months ago, but they are taking a much harder line when they pick up on a concern. If you've not had accounts properly prepared and signed off they may well become very interested in you regardless of your size. They know what questions to ask. They've told a few charities lately to stop their activities. If you're struggling to get things done administratively and need help or advice, we're here for you. On the other hand if something shady is going on please look elsewhere.

4. Your Skills May Soon be Worthless
A recent survey From Harvard Business Review showed that while a lot of companies are growing they aren't necessarily creating jobs. Technological innovation and productivity gains means fewer people doing more work. The trend, unfortunately, isn't going to go away; in fact, it's going to get much worse. That's why it's imperative that we revamp our ideas about skill building. As technology grows, and as more and more jobs become extinct, the pace at which our skills become stale and outdated is only going to pick up speed. So each of us needs to be committed to life-long learning — even more so than past generations — and charities need to continually focus on retraining. Charles Handy picked this up years ago when he began to share his ideas that jobs for life would be a thing of the past, and part time jobs would become the norm with people developing different streams of income during their lifetimes.

5. Public Liability Insurance
If you run a village hall you've probably got all these issues under control, but if you've started letting out parts of your premises for local community use don't forget to tell your insurance company. The local scouts, guides or Zumba group must carry their own insurance at the level required by your insurance company. If they don't and there's an accident the trustees of your charity could be in the firing line. You need a simple system to check that groups do carry up to date insurance.

6. Windows XP & Office 2003 No Longer Supported
Microsoft will be ending support for both XP SP3 and Office 2003 in April 2014. So what exactly are the implications? Primarily, Microsoft will no longer be issuing security patches, software updates or bug fixes. This will potentially leave your PC/ Laptop open to malicious attacks. The good news is that many anti-virus companies are planning to keep on updating their products for at least a year, so you will have some protection against malware. However, you will find that many independent software vendors are likely to phase out support, so new updates or patches they issue may not work on with these products.
Bottom line; unfortunately, if you are using XP/ Office 2003 the time has come to update!

7. 3000 Church Charities Excepted From Registration
These charities were excepted from registration until the end of March this year, because their income was below £100,000. The deadline for registration is now going to be put forward to 2021. The Charity Commission has told Parliament in no uncertain terms that it will need a lot more people and a lot more money to undertake a task of this magnitude. This continued exception won't include some 300 smaller church organisations which should now register if their income is over £5,000. If this includes you let us know if we can help.

8. Charity Loses Gift Aid Claim of £18,600
Most of us know that a claim has to be submitted within 4 years. A charity recently lost £18,000 after a claim was put in. The Gift Aid secretary chased it regularly and was given various reasons for the delay in payment being made. Unfortunately it was only after the deadline passed that he was advised that HMRC had no record of the claim ever being made. This shouldn't happen now with on line claims, but do take care if you're getting near a deadline. (Daily Telegraph report 25/1/2014, Jessica Gorst-Williams). If you have difficulties making claims we can arrange help to make sure this doesn't happen to you.

9. Fundraising
As Dickens said; best of times, worst of times. Never been harder to raise funds, but also it's never been easier. Just been watching Alex on the One Show climbing a mountain in Utah. Text 'Alex' at the number given and her charity gets £5 off you. My wife did it without getting off the sofa. Immediate acknowledgement and an request to Gift Aid it came through. Couldn't be simpler. She's raised over £200k so far. OK so your request for funds isn't beaming into tens of millions of households but you do have your own network and you have times when people are gathered. This is increasingly how people give today, especially young people. (Though we oldies can be retrained.)

10. Church Being Investigated by CC & HMRC
HMRC is withholding £2m in gift aid from Christ Embassy, a charity already under statutory inquiry with the Charity Commission, while it investigates the charity's grants to overseas organisations. Their accounts for the year ending December 2012 reveal that HMRC has not paid gift aid claims totalling £2,775,142 since 2008 "while they conduct an enquiry into whether all of the charity's income has been applied to solely charitable purposes".

The church believes that grants made to overseas bodies do qualify as charitable and are in the process of preparing evidence for the Revenue. A couple of years ago HMRC laid an expectation on trustees that they are responsible for ensuring that the end use of funds they send overseas qualifies as charitable. This can be tricky in different parts of the world. It's important that trustees have good systems in place and again, take advice where appropriate.

11. AFVS Briefings
One of the reasons I don't put out so many blogs these days is that my energy tends to go into briefings. March's offerings include a briefing on the ACAS Conciliation Scheme which is mandatory from 6th May. Also an interesting one on the implications to churches generally of the CC decision to register the Preston Downs Brethren Assembly. (If you aren't an AFVS member, e-mail me for any copies that interest you, and I'll get them sent on.)

12. Training Days
After a pause to get Christmas out of the way we've managed to agree the next trustee training day, which is Tuesday May 6th. It will be held at our Barnham venue, easily accessible by rail link for anyone that wishes to commute. E-mail Becky or go to the AFVS website for more information. We cover an extensive amount of ground on these days including trustee responsibilities and staying safe. How to manage risk without tying yourself up in knots. I shall also talk about current issues being picked up by HMRC and the Charity Commission, and what to do if you get a call from them. There's always space to look at any specific issues that concern you. I can also book up to come to you if there's a reasonable size of group.

13. And Finally...

I liked the mention of Eeyore in February so much that I looked for other wise sayings of his, and some of Milne's other wonderful characters.

On the busyness of life: "I might have known" said Eeyore "After all, one can't complain. I have my friends. Somebody spoke to me only yesterday. And was it last week or the week before that Rabbit bumped into me and said, 'Bother!'. The social round. Always something going on."

On how to treat people: "Weeds are flowers too. Once you get to know them."

An encouragement to me (and others, you know who you are!): "One of the advantages of being disorganised is that ne is always having surprising discoveries."

The importance of friends: "I don't feel very much like Pooh today", said Pooh. "There there," said Piglet. "I'll bring you tea and honey until you do."

A basic building block of my training sessions is simplicity: "Well," said Owl, "the customary procedure in such cases is as follows." "What does Crustimoney Proseedcake mean?" said Pooh. "For I am a bear of very little brain, and long words bother me."

And in the absence of yet more unseemly 'blond' jokes I dedicate this to my dear wife Anita, who often needs to be able to simply hunker down in a blanket. "She also considered very seriously what she would look like in a little cottage in the middle of the forest, dressed in a melancholy grey and holding communion with the birds and trees; a life of retirement away from the vain world; a life into which no man came. It had its attractions, but she decided that grey did not suit her." (Once on a Time)

Go well into warm spring weather, rich with opportunities and mayhem. (E-mail me if you need cheering up; I have just the thing for you)

Daryl Martin

BULLETIN No. 130: February 2014

Much of this briefing relates to Charity Commission activity. It's currently going through a busy time trying to prove to the government that they're still fit for purpose, despite all the cutbacks and the criticism. I offer a small selection of cautionary cases to you to remind you to take care and stay safe. The Commission has extensive powers and stands ready to use them when they think it necessary.

Daryl Martin
d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What's on offer this month?

1. MOT 4 Charities
2. Church Under Investigation for Second Time
3. Church Being Investigated by HMRC
4. Charity Commission 'Toughs Up'
5. Restricted Funds Being Used Unlawfully
6. Governance Code
7. Governance Workshop in London: Invitation
8. Statutory Enquiry Secrecy
9. Fraud
10. Best of Times, Worst of Times
11. CICs Being Abused
12. Vicarious Criminal Liability
13. And Finally...

1. 1. Mot 4 Charities
Launched in January we are already getting a steady take up. Designed to keep charities out of trouble the aim is to keep you safe as far as we can and as simply as we can, leaving you free to pursue your own particular visions of making the country and the world a better place. Check out the AFVS website for more info. We are still fine-tuning it so let me know if you have suggestions or comments or difficulties completing it.

2. Church Under Investigation for Second Time
One of the biggest UK churches is in trouble with the Charity Commission yet again. For the second time an interim manager has been appointed to run The Kingsway International Christian Centre. The regulator has been investigating the charity since 2011, in connection with concerns about its governance and internal financial controls in relation to investments the charity made. They appear to have lost a few million pounds through high risk investments made without taking professional advice. One of the questions the interim manager will consider is whether the board of trustees at the time should face personal liability. This really isn't rocket science. Take advice. If trustees don't know when they should take advice, they can take advice on that. (Various relevant briefings on the AFVS members website)

3. Church Being Investigated by HMRC
HMRC is withholding £2m in gift aid from the Christ Embassy, a charity already under statutory inquiry with the Charity Commission, while it investigates the charity's grants to overseas organisations.

Their accounts for the year ending December 2012 reveal that HMRC has not paid gift aid claims totalling £2,775,142 since 2008 "while they conduct an enquiry into whether all of the charity's income has been applied to solely charitable purposes".

The church believes that grants made to overseas bodies do qualify as charitable and are in the process of preparing evidence for the Revenue. A couple of years ago HMRC laid an expectation on trustees that they are responsible for ensuring that the end use of funds they send overseas qualifies as charitable. This can be tricky in different parts of the world. It's important that trustees have good systems in place and again, take advice where appropriate.

4. Charity Commission 'Toughs Up'
Sir William Shawcross recently admitted that the Charity Commission's past approach tackling problems has been too cautious; "we also have to ensure that the few cases of serious mismanagement and abuse do not undermine public trust and confidence in charities more widely".

They are getting more robust in their approach, having opened 48 statutory inquiries since April 2013 compared to 15 the previous year. They have used legal enforcement powers 657 times in statutory inquiries and operational compliance cases since April 2013 compared to 216 for the previous year. There are more statistics but you get the picture.

Currently one in eleven charities is late with their accounts, and over 5,000 charities with income over £25,000 are listed as defaulters. Their attitude to defaulters is hardening.

Contact me straightaway if this is you.

5. Restricted Fund Being Used Unlawfully
The Charity Commission despite massive cutbacks is working hard to untangle some complex situations. A big London charity getting big government grants appear to have used £180,000 of a restricted grant to reduce a deficit run up by its trading subsidiary without obtaining the necessary authority to do so. The CEO says they did have permission but the funder says not so. It's getting increasingly precarious being a trustee where decisions aren't made taking appropriate advice, and being properly documented.

6. Governance Code
Sheila Doyle of ICSA sent me details of a new Governance Code produced by a steering group of voluntary umbrella bodies. I had a look at it, and it is well worth downloading. There are two codes, one designed for smaller charities. I recommend them to you.

Check out: www.governancecode.org. Thank you Sheila.

7. Governance Workshop in London: Invitation
A plug from Andy Burns: AFVS associate and CEO at East to West.

'Great governance is vital to the success of your organisation! However, with our natural passion focused on frontline delivery we can often neglect the framework that holds it all together. Excellence in finances, strategy and risk management will help dictate whether your vision becomes a reality. Do you feel out of your depth when it comes to understanding governance; how we comply with charity law (what is charity law), what makes an effective board and how do I interact with them, and what is the difference between a CIC and a CIO?

This will be an excellent and relevant session on what's not always seen as the exciting part of charity life. As leaders we need to know more about the legal framework that holds our organisations together in order to create the stability that our people need.

Date: 13th March 2014
Times: 10:00 - 15:30
Venue: Oasis Hub Coffee House, Waterloo London
Guest: Daryl Martin, Founder of Alliance for the Voluntary Sector
To Book: e-mail andy@easttowest.org.uk

8. Statutory Enquiry Secrecy:
In the last year around 50 charities have been subject to a Charity Commission enquiry. The names of two thirds of these charities have been announced by the Commission. The other names remain confidential. The Commission has a difficult job knowing whether to release names but they really should in my view if they are to protect the public. They rarely if ever investigate a charity unless they have good grounds to, so they may as well make it known. Failure to do this has cost some hundreds of good causes and individuals dearly.

9. Fraud
Recent research showed that only 3% of fraud is detected and possibly 6% of charity income is lost to fraud each year. Low value fraud costs the most but high value fraud can cause serious reputational damage. There's a Fraud resilience measure and charities come out badly, averaging 26 (public bodies average 30 and the private sector 34). Interestingly, I took the resilience test to check it out, and the organisation I tested scored exactly 26. The test though was horribly complex and better suited to large organisations (even then it's overly complex). The thing to remember about deterring fraud is that a fraudster will take their own risk assessment before embarking on their life of crime. Simple deterrents can reduce the risk considerably.

10. Best of Times Worst of Times
Emma Moresby sent me an excellent article for the website drawing together her thoughts on how things have got better or worse this last year for charities. Some particularly helpful insights for fundraisers! You can read the article here: www.afvs.org.uk/public_resources/Best_of_Times_Worst_of_Times-EmmaCrosby.pdf

11. CICs Being Abused
There's a bit of a row brewing over whether the CIC regulator's job is being done properly. Apparently complaints about whether the 'asset lock' is being abused when a CIC is shut down are not being investigated. The regulator has wide powers but is being criticised for not exercising them, something which they absolutely deny (well they would wouldn't they?) "There are certainly people who feel the CIC regulator is too light-touch," said a spokesman. "But no more than people feel about regulators in other fields." Indeed. But the CC is hardening up or hadn't they noticed?

12. Vicarious Criminal Liability
There are still too many serious accidents caused by driver's texting or calling or taking a call. If this happens whilst someone is driving on charity business, there's the possibility of vicarious liability. It's important that charities have cell phone policies to spell out the importance of not using them whilst driving. This went a stage further in a startling ruling on a case in New Jersey USA (What they do today we pick up on tomorrow). The court ruled that a person sending a text may be legally responsible for injuries caused by the recipient's distracted driving, if the sender knew the recipient was driving at the time. When you write your policy you might include a warning not to send when the other person is driving. (I posted a briefing on Corporate Manslaughter onto the AFVS website in October 2013)

13. And Finally...

The C of E has got itself into yet another lather. Following the furore about women bishops, this time it's same sex marriage. Having (possibly temporarily) found myself on a PCC I feel a little like Eeyore: 'The old grey donkey Eeyore stood by himself in a thistly corner of the forest, his front feet well apart, his head on one side, and thought about things. Sometimes he thought sadly to himself, 'Why?' and sometimes he thought, 'Wherefore?', and sometimes he thought, 'Inasmuch as which?' and sometimes he didn't quite know what he was thinking about.'

The FBI had an opening for an assassin. (Another sexist one to really lower the tone. This is why men are often prone to worrying.)

After all the background checks, interviews and testing were done, there were 3 finalists; two men and one woman. For the final test, the FBI agents took one of the men to a large metal door and handed him a gun.

'We must know that you will follow your instructions no matter what the circumstances.

Inside the room you will find your wife sitting in a chair .... Kill her!!' The man said, 'You can't be serious. I could never shoot my wife.' The agent said, 'Then you're not the right man for this job. Take your wife and go home.'

The second man was given the same instructions. He took the gun and went into the room. All was quiet for about 5 minutes. He came out with tears in his eyes, 'I tried, but I can't kill my wife.' The agent said, 'You don't have what it takes. Take your wife and go home.'

Finally, it was the woman's turn. She was given the same instructions, to kill her husband. She took the gun and went into the room. Shots were heard, one after another. They heard screaming, crashing, banging on the walls.

After a few minutes, all was quiet. The door opened slowly and there stood the woman, wiping the sweat from her brow. 'This gun is loaded with blanks' she said. 'I had to kill him with the chair'

Go well into warmer and dryer spring weather, rich with opportunities and mayhem. (E-mail me if you need cheering up; I have just the thing for you)
Daryl Martin

BULLETIN No. 129: January 2014

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What's on offer this month?

1. MOT 4 Charities
2. Charitable Incorporated Organisations (CIOs)
3. Gas Alert
4. Procrastination
5. Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme (GASDS)
6. Overzealous Criminal Record Checks
7. The Equality Act 2010
8. ACAS Imitators
9. Dove Trust
10. Right to work in the UK
11. Mileage Tax Relief for Passengers
12. Chancel Repair Liability
13. And Finally...

1. MOT 4 Charities
At last it's launched. We dreamed a dream back in May last year and it has taken all this time to deliver something we believe will be a significant help to the charities we are in touch with. The bronze accreditation level is free, and will help you to quickly highlight any areas which might need attention; it also links you to helpful and relevant resources. It is currently only available to members of AFVS, so if you haven't yet signed up, it's worth it for this alone. There are other systems out there in the voluntary sector designed to help highlight weaknesses and strengthen systems and processes; however, they are often complex, time consuming and expensive. The beauty of our system is its simplicity. We'd appreciate your feedback.

2. Charitable Incorporated Organisations (CIOs)
About a year ago I posted a briefing which was rather negative. Probably too negative, but it did have some points in it that needed to be borne in mind by anyone wanting to convert. Having said that, it can be an ideal structure for a small charity where there is a degree of risk. Give it some thought if you haven't yet got round to incorporation. We have a free pack which gives a lot of detail; contact me if you are interested.

3. Gas Alert
The Gas Safe Register (GSR) says that 1 in 6 of the homes they inspect had unsafe appliances. They advise us to have an audible carbon monoxide alarm and get our appliances checked annually. I guess if we're 1 in 6, charities may not be far behind. If you're a gas user check out the website: www.gassaferegister.co.uk. I have to say that when our boiler broke down mid-January, a gas fitter was with us in less than 3 hours. He went off and fetched a part and we were back in business before the place got cold.

4. Procrastination
I hope you read my January blog on this important subject. What prompted it was a very dear friend finding a lump where it shouldn't be. Instead of doing as most men would and getting Christmas out of the way, he got it looked at immediately. It wasn't good news but they operated within three weeks and he's recovering well with a good prognosis.

5. Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme (GASDS)
Last month I offered a briefing on this but there were a couple of points I completely overlooked. I should have mentioned that wall safe or similar donations are not accepted by HMRC as they fall foul of the requirement that at least 10 people are present when the donations are collected. (Seems petty to me, but there we are.) Also, to make matters worse, at least for PCCs, HMRC sees them as under the control of the Diocesan Bishop (if only!), and therefore they cannot claim under the ordinary GASDS but only under the 'Community Buildings' Regulations. Essentially this means that the donations must have been collected within the church or church hall (so even a collection in the porch is invalid). And no, I'm not making this up.

6. Overzealous Criminal Record Checks
The pendulum seems possibly to have swung to an extreme position in the C of E where some 58,000 checks were carried out in the last year alone. Now this is fine with adults working in Sunday school or creches, but we hear of bell ringers, tour guides, choir members all being vetted. One does wonder whether the process has spiralled out of control. Blanket checks may provide a false sense of security and make long term volunteers feel they aren't welcome. The problem seems to be that the C of E, because of past complacency has gone overboard and being at times heavy handed. The law requires that only those in sensitive positions with intensive contact with children or vulnerable adults need to be checked. In my view a trustee or a PCC member is a sensitive post. Possibly not a flower arranger though. Let's have some common sense please.

7. The Equality Act 2010
If this is something that interests you, The University of Liverpool has produced a detailed report on The Impact of the Equality Act 2010 on charities. The section on religious charities is particularly worth reading. (Report dated August 2013 by Debra Morris, Anne Morris and Jennifer Sigafoos. (www.liv.ac.uk/media/livacuk/law/cplu/Equality,Act,Charities.pdf#page=109)

8. ACAS Imitators
There's an increasing requirement that ACAS be involved in disputes before they get to court. ACAS is getting concerned about imitators getting involved, giving initially free advice, then locking organisations into expensive long term contracts. Here is a website to put you on your guard: www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=3681 (By the way we have access to good experienced mediators at reasonable rates, but we don't lock you into any long term contract (it's a thought though!)

9. Dove Trust
If you're waiting for a pay-out from the interim management appointed to run this charity, there is about half a million that can be paid to charities. The puzzle is working out the most equitable way of making the payments. It seems simple enough, until you think about it. If they get it wrong it could be legally challenged, so they are wisely going to the High Court for a ruling. Interestingly the Charity Commission is looking at paying for the costs of doing this.

10. Right to work in the UK
This is something that gets ever more complex. This is a useful website to help you work out where you stand with a potential employee: www.gov.uk/legal-right-work-uk. Get it wrong and you could pay a heavy price.

11. Mileage Tax Relief for Passengers
Don't forget that as well as claiming the usual 45p a mile you can also claim 5p a mile for a passenger. Providing a record of the journeys with dates is always recommended. If you have not claimed for passenger mileage tax relief a claim can still be made retrospectively for the last four tax years.

12. Chancel Repair Liability
Some months ago I posted a briefing by Paul Hajek, an authority on this vexed issue. Since then PCCs have sent out over 12,000 liability notices. As he rightly says that's over 12,000 too many, bearing in mind lives that are needlessly being damaged and destroyed by a church that should be ashamed of itself (and yes I'm a fully paid up member of the Anglican community, and I wouldn't have stood for our PCC carrying on like this). Misinformation, ignorance of the law, wrong discrimination and sheer bloody-mindedness has all played their part. The Land Registry is trying to regulate the situation but lacks the resources and probably the understanding needed. If you are involved whether as a perpetrator or a victim please check out this briefing: www.cluttoncox.co.uk/site/library/blog/blogpost/victims_of_chancel_repair_liability_.html (Rant over; I'm going to sit quietly for a bit)

13. And Finally...

I must confess the activities of the UK governments for the past couple of years have been watched with frank admiration and amazement by Lord Vetinari. Outright theft as a policy had never occurred to him. -- Terry Pratchett

The Ventriloquist (I'm allowed to tell this as my wonderful wife is blond and can take a joke, usually): A young ventriloquist is touring the clubs and stops to entertain at a club in a small town. He's going through his usual run of stupid blond jokes, when a big blond woman in the fourth row stands on her chair and says: "I've heard just about enough of your denigrating blond jokes!

What makes you think you can stereotype women that way? What does a person's physical attributes have to do with their worth as a human being?

It's guys like you who keep women like me from being respected at work and in my community, of reaching my full potential as a person ... because you and your kind continue to perpetuate discrimination against not only blondes but women at large ... all in the name of humour."

Flustered, the ventriloquist begins to apologize, but the blond stops him. "You stay out of this mister; I'm talking to that little jerk on your knee!"

God does not die on the day when we cease to believe in a personal deity, but we die on the day when our lives cease to be illuminated by the steady radiance, renewed daily, of a wonder, the source of which is beyond all reason. Dag Hammarskjöld

Go well into another year rich with opportunities and mayhem. (E-mail me if you need cheering up; I have just the thing for you)

Daryl Martin

BULLETIN No. 128: December 2013

This is 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 bulletins that come through to me, plus whatever I've gleaned from charities I'm currently working with. Increasingly readers send me their own thoughts and I'm always glad to get your responses, either correcting or adding to something I've written.

Where charities are concerned this is often a busy time of year, so I can’t wish you a restful break. Whatever you’re doing go well into the new year.

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What's on offer this month?

1. CIOs
2. Asbestos Danger
3. Paul Flowers
4. Charity Commission
5. Premium Rate Fraud
6. The Equality Act 2010
7. The Equality Act 2010 (2)
8. Misspent Charity Funds
9. Disposing of Charity Land
10. Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme
11. Payroll or Self Employed?
12. AFVS
13. And Finally...

1. CIOs
About a year ago I posted a briefing which was rather negative. Probably too negative, but it did have some points in it that needed to be borne in mind by anyone wanting to convert. Having said that it can be an ideal structure for a small charity where there is a degree of risk. Give it some thought if you haven’t yet got round to incorporation. We have a free pack which gives a lot of detail. All unincorporated charities with a turnover of over £5,000 can now apply. Any under £5,000 can apply from January.

2. Asbestos Danger
Has your building been checked for asbestos? A 63 year old Hampshire teacher died after breathing in deadly asbestos released when she pinned work up on her classroom walls. She had noticed it being released when she pinned up work or if walls were damaged by pupils, her inquest in Southampton was told.

3. Paul Flowers
Yet another bad egg has been brought into the light of day and, surprise, surprise, loads of people knew bits of what was going on for a long time. And no-one does anything about it. The usual mixture of threats, bullying tactics and muddled thinking saw to that. When a new trustee is being considered, at the very least, get some character checks made. I make the point strongly in my trustee training sessions that I much prefer character over gift (I haven’t yet seen anything in print to list Paul Flower’s competencies; I’m sure he must have had some). Skills can be bought in; get someone on board who has a character flaws and you’ll pay a heavy price. HMRC have made a start with their ‘Fit and Proper Person Test’, but there’s a way to go. There needs to be an equivalent for company directors and charity trustees.

4. Charity Commission
Next year the Commission plans to review charities with pension deficits. They will also be looking closely at charities with high governance costs. They plan to toughen their approach, ie, become more policeman than advice giver and mediator. The vast majority of its work in the last year was concerned with fraud, financial abuse and mismanagement.

5. Premium Rate Fraud
A farming charity just lost £4,700 after hackers got into their telephone system. They also lost their phones for a couple of days including their helpline. (Thanks to Jenny Pudelek, Third Sector for this). The hackers cracked voicemail codes (probably by guessing!) and dialled their own premium rate numbers. The telephone provider picked up the unusual pattern of calls but by then the damage was done. This kind of fraud costs UK businesses at least £16m a year, a figure which is climbing. If you call 0800 800 150 and ask for premium rate barring (UK and International) this should help keep you safe.

6. The Equality Act 2010
Research shows most charities are not aware of how the Equality Act charity exemption and exceptions could affect their service delivery or charitable objects. I just began to prepare a briefing but it quickly became very complex so I am putting in a link to Sandy Adirondack’s briefing. You will know whether you might have an equality issue. If you do, you might need some further help on this issue. Contact me if I can help. www.sandy-a.co.uk/equality.htm#equality-charityresearch. It tends to be the faith charities, and higher education trusts that fall foul of equality law.

7. The Equality Act 2010 (2)
The third party harassment provisions contained in the act were repealed on the 1 October 2013. No room for complacency though; employers should continue to take a robust approach to identified and suspected instances of third party harassment bearing in mind the duty of care owed to employees and the alternative legal routes that employees can take if they feel that they have been subjected to repeated harassment by a third party. (There is a briefing on the AFVS site if you want refreshing)

8. Misspent Charity Funds
I do faithfully remind readers from time to time to keep some sort of track of the petty cash. Third Sector reported today that the trustees of a charity which I won’t name are about to sue their former Chief Exec for £626,000 which he spent in rather unusual ways. I won’t go into the gory detail; suffice to say that this charity wouldn’t pass the MOT that we plan to put before you as soon as we hit the new year. (Actually he was an ‘Interim CE’, and is defending the claim)

9. Disposing of Charity Land
One thing the Charity Commission does well is their excellent library of publications. CC28 deals with Sales, leases, transfers and mortgages. It will tell you what needs to be done when disposing of land and when their authority is needed. Generally it isn’t needed except where there’s a conflict of interest. Let me know if you need specific help on an issue of this nature.

10. Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme
This scheme was launched in a blaze of publicity to show how much the government loves and appreciates the voluntary sector (which it should, I can’t imagine how many untold millions are saved by charities and their army of volunteers). Since then of course HMRC is doing all it can to complicate the scheme. This briefing mainly relates to C of E but it does have wider relevance to all those who claim on this scheme.

11. Payroll or Self Employed?
This question comes up every month without fail. The reality is that HMRC is currently clamping down on payments that are made in the voluntary sector, even those classified as honoraria, expenses and other similar payments. They take a tough line: where payments are made to people of 16 years of age or more, who have another job or a pension, the PAYE regulations state that they should be on a PAYE scheme operated by their employer. Professional musicians who double as organists have challenged this stipulation but they have not yet succeeded in convincing HMRC that they can add that income to their self-employed accounts. Take care.

12. AFVS
Our mission at AFVS is to do our best to help you stay safe. For some months now we have been working on a Charity MOT. It’s now ready to roll out. As soon as we get into the new year, we’ll be sending you details. It’ll help you to identify any weak areas with helpful guidance on how to strengthen your operation.

13. And Finally...

What Causes Arthritis?
A drunk sat down on a bus next to a priest. His tie was stained, his face plastered with red lipstick, and a half-empty bottle of gin was sticking out of his torn coat pocket. He opened his newspaper and began reading.
After a few minutes the man turned to the priest and asked, "Say Father, what causes arthritis?"

The priest replies, "My Son, it's caused by loose living, being with cheap, wicked women, too much alcohol, contempt for your fellow man, sleeping around with prostitutes and lack of a bath."

The drunk muttered in response, "Well, I'll be damned," Then returned to his paper.

The priest, thinking about what he had said, nudged the man and apologised. "I'm very sorry didn't mean to come on so strong. How long have you had arthritis?"

The drunk answered, "I don't have it, Father. I was just reading here that the Pope does.

" MORAL: Make sure you understand the question before offering the answer.

Nelson Mandela
The former president of South Africa and Nobel Peace Prize winner has died and the world bids farewell to a giant. These are some of the things he said:

1) “Difficulties break some men but make others. No axe is sharp enough to cut the soul of a sinner who keeps on trying, armed with the hope that he will rise even in the end.”

2) “It always seems impossible until it’s done.”

3) “Real leaders must be ready to sacrifice all for the freedom of their people.”

4) “A fundamental concern for others in our individual and community lives would go a long way in making the world the better place we so passionately dreamt of.”

5) “Everyone can rise above their circumstances and achieve success if they are dedicated to and passionate about what they do.”

6) “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”

7) “For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”

And a couple of quotes that I want to carry into next year:

“In times of turmoil, learners inherit the world, whereas the learned are beautifully equipped to occupy a world that no longer exists.” (Eric Hopper)

“In the realm of ideas, everything depends on enthusiasm; in the real world, all rests on perseverance.” (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)

Go well into another year rich with opportunities and mayhem.

Daryl Martin

BULLETIN No. 127: November 2013

This is 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 bulletins that come through to me, plus whatever I've gleaned from charities I'm currently working with. Increasingly readers send me their own thoughts and I'm always glad to get your responses, either correcting or adding to something I've written.

If like me, you have a low attention span, read through the list of contents to see what catches your eye before turning to the ..And Finally, which is there to make you smile or cry, or both.

Go well, good and gentle readers in these turbulent times.

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What's on offer this month?

1. Charity Commission Gets Tough
2. MOT for Charities
3. Trustee Training
4. AFVS
5. Charities Late Filing Their Accounts
6. Staff Contracts
7. Volunteer Agreements
8. Fundraising
9. Gift Aid
10. Fraud
11. HMRC Targeting 200 Intern Employers
12. And Finally...

1. Charity Commission Gets Tough
Their increasingly tough policies will further strengthen when they begin to post up the fact if a charity has had its year end accounts qualified. This will be a warning to take care if you support that particular charity. It's time that they started to look more carefully at offending charities. Only this week we learn that the Methodist Minister who knew less about banking than I do was put in charge of the Co-op bank after he'd been suspended from chairing a charity board due to allegedly lodging £150,000 worth of false claims. The Charity Commission had been told about this, but failed to take any action like, telling him firmly to give the money back. I really don't like to criticise the Charity Commission but sometimes I do wonder. The danger now of course is that will start looking for some soft targets to give a good kicking to.

2. MOT for Charities
The late delivery of this bulletin is due to the fact that this project has been taking up a lot of our time. Tony was keen that as many questions as possible are linked to a relevant briefing. This meant I had to write around 20 briefings in short order. I'm rather excited about this project (and anyone who knows me will know that I don't do excitement). The proof of the pudding will be the responses that come in from the pilot planned in the next couple of weeks. I want the whole thing rolled out as soon as possible, but it's probably sensible to get Christmas out of the way first, and also to get it tested.

3. Trustee Training
We had 2 successful training days in the last month, both well received. I'm planning to get a venue in London early next year. Let us know if this might interest you (North London close to tube).

Alternatively, if you wish to run your own on-premise exclusive Training Development Day for your charity then please contact Becky for further details or to discuss making a booking please e-mail bbenford_blows@afvs.org.uk.

4. AFVS
As mentioned above a score or more new briefings are in the process of being posted. It's worth browsing to see what might interest you. I'm going to try and put together some sort of index to help you find what you might be looking for. This is a job for what might be (but probably won't be) a quiet December.

5. Charities Late Filing Their Accounts
The Commission is gradually closing in on charities that haven't been sending in their accounts. They even removed one charity from the register which provoked great cries of pain (anger more like: how dare they!). Interestingly the latest charities being selected for review are mostly faith charities. I can't imagine they feel that they serve a higher authority and don't need to render unto Caesar what is Caesar's. If your accounts are overdue we can provide fast help to get you back on track.

6. Staff Contracts
One of our AFVS members sent me a contract of employment to review. I thought it looked quite good but I put it on one side to look at detail. When I did, it was a surprise to me how many things in it I didn't like. Some of it was too strong. Other bits needed strengthening and clarifying. Have you had yours looked at lately?

7. Volunteer Agreements
Last year a volunteer felt she was being discriminated against and brought a case against the charity. The judge ruled that employment law did not apply to volunteers and the case failed at the outset. Charities breathed a sigh of relief. Once volunteers have similar rights to employees there's no knowing where it might end. The volunteer in question had signed a Volunteer Agreement. Had she not had such an agreement it's possible that there might have been sufficient uncertainty over her status for the case to go the other way. If you don't have Volunteer Agreements in place there's a template on the AFVS website. (Let me know if you are not a member and I'll e-mail it to you.)

8. Fundraising
Becky has put together a fundraising resource paper. It's worth downloading a copy if you're new to the job or perhaps you've been landed with the task of raising money for a particular project. Lot of useful links (again, let me know if you are not a member and I'll e-mail it to you).

9. Gift Aid
A recent survey discovered that over 40% of charities surveyed didn't make Gift Aid claims. A man and his wife made a foolhardy attempt to remedy this deficiency by making unlawful claims of almost a million pounds through a charity set up in Wales to help disadvantaged youngsters. He got 4 years, his wife 18 months suspended for helping him launder the money he received. The 40% figure seems a bit low to me. It's never been simpler to claim. If you need help on this, let me know. I'm still finding charities using invalid Gift Aid declarations. HMRC is finding it increasingly easier to monitoring the quality of claims. They believe that at least 10% of claims are in error or fraudulent, although it could be much more. They're investigating 1,800 avoidance cases, including a charity that spent most of its income on fundraising events that involved entertaining the trustees' friends and family, and another that lent more than £70m to companies connected to a trustee with no commitment for the companies to repay the charity.

10. Fraud
The chief executive of a small south Wales music charity is one of four people who have just been charged with conspiracy to commit fraud at the organisation. When this sort of thing happens it damages trust and confidence. The problem is that we who work in the voluntary sector, trust people, probably too much, but you can't change human nature. The good news is that it's not difficult to put simple but effective controls in place that will deter all but the most desperate fraudster. You can't eliminate risk but you can minimise it by some simple steps. It's worth running through my briefing on Fraud on the AFVS website. It could save you money, time, and heartache.

11. HMRC Targeting 200 Intern Employers
This is part of a campaign to ensure they're paying them the national minimum wage (NMW). Wouldn't surprise me if there are more than a few charities amongst the list they've put together, especially after Unite Union specifically asked HMRC to look at charities that have interns (or whatever else they're called). If the companies aren't complying with the law, it's likely they will face prosecution and a 'naming and shaming'. Last year they issued penalties to almost 500 employers who weren't compliant with NMW. There's a lot of debate right now about whether it's right or wrong to have unpaid interns, and whether staff should be on zero hours contracts. Surely there are times when it's good and times when it's wrong. Make sure you are doing the right thing. Get advice, follow the debate. Another union, Unison, claims that one in four charity workers in housing, children, disability and advice services are paid less than the living wage and 9% are on zero hours contracts.

12. And Finally: SILLY & SERIOUS

SILLY: I was driving to the office and I saw an AA van parked up. The driver was crying uncontrollably. I thought to myself, that guy's heading for a breakdown.

SERIOUS: Many of life's failures are people who did not realise how close they were to success when they gave up." ― Thomas A. Edison

SILLY: A wife says to her husband, 'you're always pushing me around and talking behind my back'. He said, 'What do you expect? You're in a wheelchair.

SERIOUS: You can't expect to draw people into your life who are kind, confident, and generous if you're thinking and acting in cruel, weak, and selfish ways. You must be what it is that you're seeking -- that is, you need to put forth what you want to attract.

SILLY: A friend of mine admitted to being addicted to brake fluid. When I quizzed him about it he reckoned he could stop anytime.

SERIOUS: Make a pact with yourself today to not be defined by your past. Sometimes the greatest thing to come out of all your hard work isn't what you get for it, but what you become for it. Shake things up today! Be You...Be Free...Share. ~ Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free

SILLY: My daughter asked me for a pet spider for her birthday. I went to our local pet shop and they were £50. I thought blow this, I can get one cheaper off the web.

SERIOUS: What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing. It also depends on what sort of person you are. ~ C.S. Lewis

(The serious bits courtesy of Lightning Fast Foundation)

Go well
Daryl Martin

BULLETIN No. 126: October 2013

This is 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 bulletins that come through to me, plus whatever I've gleaned from charities I'm currently working with. Increasingly readers send me their own thoughts and I'm always glad to get your responses, either correcting or adding to something I've written.

If like me, you have a low attention span, read through the list of contents to see what catches your eye before turning to the ..And Finally, which is there to make you smile or cry, or both.

Go well, good and gentle readers in these turbulent times.

Daryl Martin
d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What's on offer this month?

1. Corporate Manslaughter
2. Charity Commission Review by Law Commission
3. National Minimum Wage
4. Charity Commission gets tough on late filers
5. Trustee Training Dates
6. AFVS
7. Fundraising
8. Key Personnel Loss
9. Overpaid Executives
10. Data Allowance on Mobile Phones
11. Late Filing of Accounts
12. Health & Safety
13. And Finally...

1. Corporate Manslaughter
A recent judgement in a Californian court means that an employer could be held liable after an employee got drunk at a company party and killed someone on the drive home. The employer said it shouldn't be held liable because the employee's employment ended when he arrived home and anyway it had no ability to control his personal conduct outside the office. The court rejected both defences, adding that the employer created the danger through providing alcohol for consumption, and that there were no grounds for ending application of the law just because the employee had left. Interestingly, the court said it could have lowered the risk of negative behaviour from the party by banning smuggled alcohol from being taken in, serving food or withholding alcohol altogether. This just shows how important it is for employers to show they have taken reasonable steps. (I know this isn't UK law, but it's still relevant)

2. Charity Commission Review by Law Commission
The Law Commission's review will run until March 2014 and is expected to cover some interesting areas including ex-gratia payments, disposal of land and other areas where trustees can be given more autonomy in some key areas. It's way ahead in the future and I'll keep you posted.

3. National Minimum Wage
Employers who fail to pay their workers the national minimum wage (NMW) will be publicly named and shamed under new plans announced by the government. All part of their drive to clamp down on rogue businesses, it comes into effect in October. Until now the bigger offenders were likely to be named but now everyone is affected. Last year there were over 700 offenders identified with many more escaping.

National minimum wage rates from the 1 October 2013:
the adult rate (21 years plus) will increase by 12p to £6.31 an hour< br /> the 18-20 year old rate will increase by 5p to £5.03 an hour
the 16-17 year old rate will increase by 4p to £3.72 an hour
the apprentice rate will increase by 3p to £2.68 an hour.

4. Charity Commission gets tough on late filers
The CC is beginning to take action on charities that are late sending in their accounts and annual returns. They started with 12 charities that have 'double defaulted', accounts 2 years overdue, which they have named. They announced that they were starting with charities above the audit threshold, though when I checked one of the named charities was a small church with a turnover under £20,000. They make the point that failure to submit accounts on time is a criminal offence. They are also asking for a general power to disqualify trustees when appropriate. Essential that trustees are aware of their responsibilities, which are joint and several, ie, you can't blame the chair or the treasurer.

5. Trustee Training Dates
AFVS is currently building up a Trustee Training Development Programme and has now run a number of successful, and well attended training days at our new Training venue in Barnham, West Sussex (just a short walk from the main railway station in Barnham for those that may wish/need to commute). Our next Training dates are TBC, but we hope to run the next one in late November/early December and are hoping to hear from any charities and individuals that may wish to attend, with the option of a Friday and/or a Saturday; tell us what suits you. Alternatively, if you wish to run your own on-premise exclusive Training Development Day for your charity then please contact Becky for further details or to discuss making a booking please e-mail bbenford_blows@afvs.org.uk. "Looking forward to hearing from some of you soon, Becky"

6. AFVS
A number of new briefings have been posted. There's a Health & Safety briefing to remind trustees of their obligations. I posted a challenging article by Fundraising expert Ken Burnett which might be useful for anyone involved in street collections. (If nothing else it's a reminder to all of us of the importance of spending time at the sharp end now and again). I also did an obscure briefing on what to watch out for if you have remote, or regional centres, area committees etc. Let me know if you don't find what you are looking for, (these or any other topics)

7. Fundraising
If your job is fund raising and you want to know what good looks like, take a look at what the Brooke Hospital for Animals is up to. They look after donkeys in different parts of the world. They drew me on board a few years back when they tried out a novel way of raising large numbers of small donations which I wrote about in 'Fundraise Without Fuss'. Their latest appeal on recycled paper is a model of its kind. Look at their accounts to see how successful they are, nicely growing each year. (Last 5 years income: £11.1m to £12.2m to £13.5m to £15.1 then £17.2 last year. Nothing frothy or fancy. And their CEO is well paid but not overpaid. I looked at a similar charity not so active but a third smaller with income declining where the CEO gets twice as much!

8. Key Personnel Loss
Apparently four in five UK businesses would be seriously affected even ceasing trading if they lost a key member of staff to illness or death. Only a third of these businesses have contingency plans in place and around 20% have key person insurance in place. Worth giving some thought to succession planning if you haven't already. Key Person cover could be between £10 and £20 a month.

9. Overpaid Executives
Following on from the above there's been a lot written about this. The main argument seems to be that you have to pay the rate for the job to get the right people. This is nonsense and has led to the gravytrain mentality with greed ruling. It started in the USA (in 1951 a McKinsey consultant persuaded General Motors to pay their executives a lot more money, according to a recent Times report) and unfortunately was imported over here and has lodged itself in parts of the voluntary sector. Having said that, charity CEOs aren't generally overpaid, and we shouldn't overreact. If it's perceived that a particular charity is over generous to its top staff, their donation income is likely to take a hit.

10. Data Allowance on Mobile Phones
I think we've mostly understood that if we forget to switch off data roaming whilst abroad we can get hit for a thousand pounds on our bill when we get back. If you stream music or videos onto your phone unless you're on an unlimited package you could be hit with some big charges. A sales director in Gloucester got hit with a bill for £1,400 when he downloaded a heap of BBC business podcasts. Orange wouldn't reduce the bill as it was the second time it had happened; one of his colleagues had done the same a few months back. If your charity pays mobile phone bills, just run a check to make sure this hasn't happened and won't happen to you.

11. Late Filing of Accounts
A report from the Directory of Social Change says more than half of grant- making trusts check the filing history of applicants with the Charity Commission. Charities that file their accounts late endanger their chances of securing funding from grant-makers, says new research by the DSC says that 53% of the 268 grant-making trusts surveyed check the filing history of applicants. 17% will immediately refuse an application for funding if a charity's accounts are late. The others will contact the applicant for an explanation, which had better be good. One grant-maker said, "It is prima facie evidence of poor management, which may indicate that the organisation will not manage the grants we make effectively."

12. Health & Safety
It's so easy for busy trustees to lose sight of things. This is a reminder that the board should regularly give thought to Health & Safety. If 5 or more are employed a written policy is needed. There's a briefing on the AFVS website to give you a steer. Contact me if you need help.

13. And Finally: A thoughtful story and another to make you groan.

Paying the right price; a tale from Paulo Coelho's blog

Nixivan had invited his friends to supper and was cooking a succulent piece of meat for them. Suddenly, he realised that he had run out of salt. So Nixivan called to his son.

'Go to the village and buy some salt, but pay a fair price for it: neither too much nor too little.' His son was surprised.

'I can understand why I shouldn't pay too much for it, Father, but if I can bargain them down, why not save a bit of money?'

'That would be the sensible thing to do in a big city, but it could destroy a small village like ours.'

When Nixivan's guests, who had overheard their conversation, wanted to know why they should not buy salt more cheaply if they could, Nixivan replied:

'The only reason a man would sell salt more cheaply than usual would be because he was desperate for money. And anyone who took advantage of that situation would be showing a lack of respect for the sweat and struggle of the man who laboured to produce it.' 'But such a small thing couldn't possibly destroy a village.'

'In the beginning, there was only a small amount of injustice abroad in the world, but everyone who came afterwards added their portion, always thinking that it was only very small and unimportant, and look where we have ended up today.'

Now for the groan (possibly scraping the bottom of the barrel for this one):

So there was this female business executive who was late for a meeting.

She is going 65 on a street where the speed limit is 40.

A cop pulls her over and says "ma'am, can I please see your license?"

She says "I'm sorry, officer, but I got it revoked two years ago for drunk driving."

His brow furrows and he straightens up. "Well, can I please see the registration of your car?"

She says "I stole the car and I killed the driver; he's in the trunk."

"Ma'am, DON'T MOVE, I'm calling for backup."

He mutters furiously into his walkie-talkie…

Five minutes later, half the squad pulls up, the Chief of Police walks over to the woman's window.

"Ma'am, can I see your license?" he asks sternly.

"Of course, officer," she smiles demurely and pulls out a license from her purse.

He squints warily at it. "This looks legitimate," he mumbles.

"Can I see the registration to this car?"

She pulls it out of the glove compartment and hands it to him.

"Ma'am, stand back!"

He bangs open the trunk of the car and flinches: but it was completely empty…

The woman brandishes a finger at the first cop and says accusingly, "And I'll bet that liar told you I was speeding too!!"

Go well
Daryl Martin

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BULLETIN No. 125: September 2013

This is 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 bulletins that come through to me, plus whatever I've gleaned from charities I'm currently working with. Increasingly readers send me their own thoughts and I'm always glad to get your responses, either correcting or adding to something I've written.

If like me, you have a low attention span, read through the list of contents to see what catches your eye before turning to the ..And Finally, which is there to make you smile or cry or think, or all three.

Go well, good and gentle readers in these turbulent times.

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What's on offer this month?

1. Threat to Gay Marriage Opt Out
2. Fracking
3. Penalties for Late Submissions
4. Training Dates
5. Contracts of Employment
6. AFVS
7. Legacy Income
8. Music Licenses
9. Charities Set Up for Tax Avoidance
10. Muslims Give the Most
11. Tips on Surviving the Downturn
12. And Finally...

1. Threat to Gay Marriage Opt Out
It didn't take long. Wealthy gay dad, Barrie Drewitt-Barlow, says he and his civil partner Tony will go to court to force churches to host gay weddings. The Government Bill legalising gay marriage passed Parliament recently but it included measures to protect churches from being forced to perform same-sex weddings. Mr Drewitt-Barlow said: "The only way forward for us now is to make a challenge in the courts against the church. "It is a shame that we are forced to take Christians into a court to get them to recognise us."

Last year the Church of England warned that the Government's plans to redefine marriage could trigger legal problems and end the 500-year link between church and state. The Prime Minister was sent a copy of the legal opinion by Lord Carey, a former Archbishop of Canterbury. In June 2012 Crispin Blunt MP, who was then a Justice Minister, admitted that the Government's plans could lead to legal issues. He said the Government is "seeking to protect, indeed, proscribe religious organisations from offering gay marriage", but he continued: "That may be problematic legally".

2. Fracking
You might be relieved to hear that I'm not competent to have a view on this current hot issue, although that doesn't seem to stop a lot of other people taking a view without much in the way of hard fact to go on. I suspect that many of the problems that have been picked up are down to human greed or incompetence and there's plenty of scope for that when the stakes are high. Meantime, the bishops are coming down heavily against it for 'the range of environmental problems it causes' (suddenly they are experts!), but quietly the C of E, is registering its rights to the earth under their properties. As Cromwell is reputed to have said, 'Trust God and keep your powder dry'.

3. Penalties for Late Submissions
There are heavy Companies House penalties if charities don't get their accounts in on time, but as yet the Charity Commission doesn't charge penalties (matter of time perhaps). I'm currently working with a charity that needed a mortgage. They were rewarded by a quarter percentage point off the interest rate because their accounts were delivered on time. Virtue is rewarded; every little helps.

4. Training Dates
Autumn is going to be a busy time for me, (give me a break Becky, I'm not so young anymore!).

* Saturday 28th September, Barnham, West Sussex (now fully booked).
* Friday 18th October, South Wales, Newport area. (possible evening session for folk who can't manage the daytime)
* Saturday 2nd November, Chichester, West Sussex.
* Saturday 30th November, Wood Green, London.

Contact Becky if you want to book or get more information. I'm able to get out and about regularly so if you are interested in training in a particular locality let us know, we might be able to arrange something. I even got to Glasgow in August.

5. Contracts of Employment
Recently we've had requests from a couple of charities which hadn't any employment contracts in place. Do you have up to date contracts in place and a staff handbook covering important staffing issues, disciplinary & grievance procedures, internet policy etc etc in place? Let me know if you need help on this.

6. AFVS
I counted more than 60 briefings on the site on a whole range of subjects. Will make great holiday reading I'm sure. Let me know if what you are looking for isn't there. One of the most recent is a guide to writing fundraising letters. Much needed in some quarters judging from the stuff that pops through my letterbox. We're working hard (means we're locked in arguments about the final design), to deliver a tool that will allow us to take the pulse of small and medium charities to benchmark their systems in key areas. It's got to be simple enough not to put off busy trustees and executives, but detailed enough to be meaningful - hence the robust discussion. Early trials are positive. If you'd like to be involved in the next trial send me an e-mail. Having been involved with half a dozen charities this year that have been under Charity Commission scrutiny I think some kind of simple but effective validation process for the smaller charities is much needed. There are some good tools out there, but to my mind they don't measure up to the 'simple but effective' test.

7. Legacy Income
There are two certain things in this life: taxes and death. I assume you are doing all you can to maximise your Gift Aid income, so that's the taxes side sorted. But do you have an effective policy in place to maximise legacy opportunities? Legacies are worth a billion pounds a year to UK charities and this market is growing after being in the doldrums for a while. There's a briefing paper on legacies on the AFVS site; v if you need help. And by the way, if you haven't yet got round to making a will (70% of us haven't!), put it onto your list of things to do Now!

8. Music Licenses
There have been changes to music licenses for village halls from the start of 2012. My notes got rather complex what with PPL, PRS, even CVLI, and in the end I promoted it to a briefing which has been sent through for posting on the AFVS website. Let me know if you want a copy. Thanks to Martin Slatter for his helpful guidance on a complicated subject.

9. Charities set up for tax avoidance
Chris Hawker sent me a note regarding a story he had spotted in the Independent. The Public Accounts Committee thinks that up to 300 registered charities could be there simply for tax avoidance. (remember Cup Trust, which lodged a gift aid claim for £46m despite only £55,000 going to charitable causes). The PAC isn't going to let this one go, and we can expect the CC to start to tighten up its procedures and work more closely with HMRC. They'll be watching out for red flags. Make sure you keep everything above board, and don't give them any reason why they should put your charity under the spotlight. I'll be glad to come along and talk to your board to help keep you safe. We can also expect additional scrutiny on new charities being set up. They'll need to do more than tick the boxes.

10. Muslims Give the Most
ICM carried out a survey to find out which religious group is the most generous in the UK. Muslims gave an average of £371 per head in 2012. Jewish donors came next at £270, then Protestants on £202, Catholics on £178 and Hindus £171. Atheists who made up 25% of the 4036 polled, came out at £116. (Research based on data from JustGiving). Oh, and 65% of people gave to charity in 2012.

11. Tips on Surviving the Downturn
Some more stats to take note of. The over 65 age group currently gives 72% more than the average. That's £143 in a year against an average of £83. There's more; this group is planning to give almost 4% more next year against an average decline forecast of 0.4%. And this is at a time of record low interest rates and declining annuity rates. Follow the money. Don't write off the Oldies. And don't forget legacies.

12. And Finally...

Some quotes to inspire, taken from recent issues of 'The Week'.

The art of being wise is knowing what to overlook. (William James)

We do not much deal in facts when we are contemplating ourselves (Mark Twain)

As soon as men decide all means are permitted to fight an evil, then their good becomes indistinguishable from the evil they set out to destroy (Christopher Dawson)

What I regret most in my life are failures of kindness (Novelist George Sanders)

When you have exhausted all the possibilities, remember this - you haven't. (Thomas A Edison)

And a groan joke from the Times: There are 10 types of people in the world: people who understand binary and people who don't.

And a smile from Peter Kay: My dad used to say, 'always fight fire with fire, which is probably why he got thrown out of the fire brigade.'

Go well
Daryl Martin

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BULLETIN No. 124: August 2013

This is 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 bulletins that come through to me, plus whatever I've gleaned from charities I'm currently working with. Increasingly readers send me their own thoughts and I'm always glad to get your responses, either correcting or adding to something I've written.

If like me, you have a low attention span, read through the list of contents to see what catches your eye before turning to the ..And Finally, which is there to make you smile or cry, or both.

Go well, good and gentle readers in these turbulent times.

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What's on offer this month?

1. Charity Commission Review
2. Drivers on Charity Business
3. Corporate Giving Falls
4. AFVS
5. Academy Trusts (Rant alert)
6. CharityGiving Website Suspended
7. More Pain for the Charity Commission
8. Operational Guidance Checklist
9. Money Laundering Scam
10. Trustee Training
11. Decision Making by Trustees
12. Tips on Surviving the Downturn
13. And Finally...

1. Charity Commission Review
The Law Commission's review will run until March 2014 and is expected to cover some interesting areas including ex-gratia payments, disposal of land and other areas where trustees can be given more autonomy in some key areas. It's way ahead in the future and I'll keep you posted.

2. Drivers on Charity Business
If you have volunteers or workers driving on charity business you might keep an eye out for any medical conditions that might impair their ability to drive. A 41 year old man who was diabetic had a problem with his blood sugar level and crashed his car leaving a pedestrian seriously injured. His failure to declare his condition to the DVLA resulted in him being given a 6 month jail sentence. There are almost three million people with diabetes including half a million who don't yet know they've got it.

3. Corporate Giving Falls
A report on corporate giving prepared by Catherine Walker for the DSC makes for 'pretty dismal' reading. One of the most popular areas of giving apparently was for underprivileged young people, but this only amounted to £15 per head, the cost of a takeaway pizza she said; 'tokenistic, and not well targeted'. There were some bright spots: Richer Sounds gives away 19% of its pre-tax profits for example. As usual the Pareto principle applies. Where we can, let's support generous businesses that are 'community friendly'.

4. AFVS
Tony has cleared a big backlog of briefings waiting to be posted on the AFVS website. Recent additions include a guide to rate reliefs for charities and a template for risk assessment. If you check the list of briefings and don't find what you want, let me know. Many of the briefings arise out of enquiries made to me. I figure that if someone needs guidance on an issue, plenty of others might find it helpful. Better still, if you have any briefings on charity issues that might help members, please send me them. Let's spread the load.

5. Academy Trusts (Rant alert)
Having made such a promising start, there are some scandalous examples emerging of trustees taking advantage of their privileged position. If Michael Gove doesn't get a handle on this quickly, one of his cherished projects will sink in a storm of greed and corruption.
A detailed briefing is on the AFVS website (taken largely from the Observer newspaper's recent report). The regulators are there to regulate, not be politically expedient.

6. CharityGiving Website Suspended
As soon as this story became public I sent out an AFVS briefing to alert readers. It'll be some time before the position clarifies. Charities should get a decent proportion of their money back, but the sting will be in the fees charged by the administrators. This is a complex situation and the fees won't be light. (Can their fees be taken out of restricted funds?) There are many lessons to be learned by all of us: donors, boards of trustees, MDs, consultants, auditors and even the Charity Commission. All could have done better. Some sensible comments have been made in the media; other comment is wide of the mark.

7. More Pain for the Charity Commission
Their budget will be cut by £1m in 2015/16, down to £20.4m, that's down by around 6%. There'd been threats of 10%, so they've got off relatively lightly. In 2010/11 they received £29.3m. About 20 jobs could be at risk. They are taking a hard look at whether they can start to charge for some of their services. Why not?

8. Operational Guidance Checklist
I've just dug this out and updated it. Well it hardly needed updating, but I've re-issued it and put it onto the AFVS website. If you'd like us to take a quick overview of your charity, fill it in and send it to me and we'll give you a review. It won't cost you anything and might save you some heartache later on if you ever get involved in any sort of stewards enquiry. You never know where they might lead to.

9. Money Laundering Scam
The CC is warning charities to take care when accepting donations from new or unknown sources either by money transfer, cheque, or even credit cards. A large donation is given on condition that half the money is remitted on to a 'charity' in another country. Take care when conditions are attached to a loan or a donation. (Sometimes the conditions don't materialise until later.) These things always end in tears. Contact me if you're not sure.

10. Trustee Training
Becky has found us a new training venue in Barnham. It's everything we could have wanted to put events on and we're making the most of it. We are running another training day on Saturday 28 September; let Becky know if you are interested, and she will send you details. I'm also looking at running other Saturday sessions in different localities. I have a few free dates left in October onwards.
We are looking to hold a training day in South Wales on Friday 18th October. Again let Becky know if this might interest you. There is also the possibility of an evening session for those who can't make it in the daytime.

11. Decision Making by Trustees
Most of the big decisions made by trustee boards are sound and well considered. But there is a significantly large number of decisions where the issues haven't been thought through properly and the whole decision making process has been ineffective for some reason. This concerns the Charity Commission to the extent that they have come up with a new publication entitled 'It's Your Decision - Charity Trustees and Decision making'. It's a long read. I've prepared a summary for the AFVS website. Even that's too long, but I do recommend that trustees acquaint themselves with it. Responsibility for making decisions lies with the trustees and it's so important that they have carried out the necessary research, taken advice where appropriate, and generally carried out effective processes at all stages. This will give them a lot of protection if things go wrong later on, or a decision is challenged. Get it wrong and you could be looking at personal liability, and we're seeing some of that in the news right now. Best practise is 95% common sense.

12. Tips on Surviving the Downturn
The importance of having a small number of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) can't be overstated. If it can be measured, it can be managed. Measuring is a key in itself to continued improvement. Many of us rely upon instinct to tell us how well we are doing, but in a tight cash flow situation for example a simple monthly Financial Summary is essential, and helps us focus on the real issues. Recently I asked a client why no management reports were available for the previous 6 months. I asked another client for a copy of his business model (I couldn't see how he could be profitable); both clients ended up shutting down, possibly the absence of reports was denial of some sort. Always remember there will be winners and there will be losers. Which will you be?

13. And Finally...

Taken from army appraisal reports. (US army I think, but they'll work over here)

His men would follow him anywhere, but only out of curiosity.

I would not breed from this Officer.

This Officer is really not so much of a has-been, but more of a definitely won't-be.

When she opens her mouth, it seems that this is only to change whichever foot was previously in there.

He has carried out each and every one of his duties to his entire satisfaction.

He would be out of his depth in a car park puddle.

Technically sound, but socially impossible.

This Officer reminds me very much of a gyroscope - always spinning around at a frantic pace, but not really going anywhere.

This young lady has delusions of adequacy.

When he joined my ship, this Officer was something of a granny; since then he has aged considerably.

This Medical Officer has used my ship to carry his genitals from port to port, and my officers to carry him from bar to bar.

Since my last report he has reached rock bottom, and has started to dig.

She sets low personal standards and then consistently fails to achieve them.

He has the wisdom of youth, and the energy of old age.

This Officer should go far - and the sooner he starts the better.

In my opinion this pilot should not be authorized to fly below 250 feet.

This man is depriving a village somewhere of an idiot.

The only ship I would recommend this man for is citizenship.

Works well when under constant supervision and cornered like a rat in a trap.

Go well
Daryl Martin

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BULLETIN No. 123: June/ July 2013

This is 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 bulletins that come through to me, plus whatever I've gleaned from charities I'm currently working with. Increasingly readers send me their own thoughts and I'm always glad to get your responses, either correcting or adding to something I've written.

If like me, you have a low attention span, read through the list of contents to see what catches your eye before turning to the ..And Finally, which is there to make you smile or cry, or both.

Go well, good and gentle readers in these turbulent times.

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What's on offer this month?

1. CIOs
2. Trustee Liability
3. Charity Commission
4. Business Rates Relief
5. Mergers
6. Pension Deficits
7. CT Returns
8. Criminal Records Checks
9. Trustee Training
10. Staff on Minimum Wage Volunteering to do Unpaid Work
11. National Minimum Wage
12. Staying Safe Online
13. Fraud
14. AFVS: Keeping You Safe
15. And Finally...

1. CIOs
One of the first existing charities to convert to a Charitable Incorporated Organisation has already decided to dissolve its CIO status and revert to being a simple unincorporated charity again, after realising that it would have to change all its communications materials to incorporate its new CIO registration number. A second charity that has now been a CIO for almost three months has said that the requirement to transfer assets from the old organisation to the new has thrown up a few problems, particularly with regard to multi-year grants and proving a credible track record to new funders.

If you are thinking of converting to a CIO, get in touch with us. We look at each charity on its own merits. CIOs are great for some, but not for others. There are a few companies touting for business offering to convert charities for a low fee. Take care. Make sure you understand what it'll cost to change your letterhead and other printed material.

Seventy six CIOs have now registered, these include: conversion of ten unincorporated charities with income of more than £250,000, and a further two hundred and sixteen charities that are currently being processed.

2. Trustee Liability
It's very rare for a trustee to be made liable for losses sustained by a charity and the Charity Commission is very keen to protect trustees who have acted in good faith. Nevertheless, there are an increasing number of situations I'm getting involved in where there's a real danger of personal liability occurring, to the extent that the CC is warning specifically that this might happen. The Regulator has put out a briefing setting out its approach to the recovery of property lost to charity through breach of trust. I've read it through. It's a fair statement of intent. The CC is anxious to protect trustees who give their time and expertise willingly to benefit charities across the UK, but they have to balance this with the duty of care that trustees are legally required to exercise towards the charity and its property. Where deliberate and reckless behaviour is involved, the CC will expect an appropriate response from the trustees when considering recovery of funds lost or miss-spent. They have power to require restitution when appropriate. You can find detailed guidance on the CC website, or contact me if you need advice or help, or if you have concerns.

3. Charity Commission
Smarting from the criticism that continues to be heaped on them following their failure to rein in the Cup Trust when it was clear to everyone that something really dodgy was going on, they are wondering whether to name and shame charities that are late filing their accounts. They do already to some extent but they may decide to do it rather more purposefully. If this particular part of your house isn't in order, now is the time to get on with things. We can provide urgent help if needed. The CC knows from experience that if accounts are late there are often other issues.

4. Business Rates Relief
I've been asked a couple of times to help a charity prepare a rationale to enable them to take a lease on business premises that they will only be using to a limited extent. I didn't take them on because it looked like a device for a business to avoid paying rates. The Charity Commission is taking a hard look at a number of specific cases, and has opened at least one statutory enquiry. Take great care if you are thinking of going down this road. Get advice, and make sure everything is completely above board. Get it wrong and you could be tied into a long lease and having to pay full business rates. The 80% rate relief for charities is an important concession. If we abuse it we could lose it. There's discussion about reducing this relief to 50%, but that's for another day; any changes will be some years away.

5. Mergers
I've been asked to advise on a couple of mergers recently. Don't forget that the CC should be formally notified and asked to make an entry onto their Register of Mergers. This will ensure that any gifts made through wills and legacies will transfer automatically to the successor charity. It will also cover incorporations. It removes the need to retain a 'shell' charity. You can arrange for registration retrospectively so don't worry if you didn't do it at the time. Particularly important if you've incorporated and there's been a change of name.

6. Pension Deficits
This is a vexing topic that keeps popping back to the top of the pile. The latest news is that Huddersfield YMCA is in dispute with the trustees of its pension scheme over their share of the fund's deficiency. The overall deficiency stands at £32m, an increase of £10m in the last 4 years. Huddersfield have been asked to pay more than £40,000 a year, which is about half of their total salary bill. The interesting thing about this is that nothing appears on their accounts to alert the reader to a significant contingent liability. The YMCA is willing to pay but says that the demand far exceeds the correct figure. The Pensions Ombudsman has given them some tight deadlines to reach an agreement. If you are part of a multi-employer pension scheme, I suggest you get some advice (start by e-mailing me). There's a briefing on Pension deficits on the AFVS website, which accountants especially will find helpful. (The reason this is important is that the deficit on the pension scheme which covers around 1700 charities increased by 20% last year and 20% the year before, and now stands at around £300m)

7. CT Returns
I asked Kay to remind me of the penalties for overdue Charity Corporation Tax returns: £100 for not filing on time. After 3 months it's £10 per day for 90 days, then it just keeps going up. Don't think that because you're a charity you can ignore it. If you have a return to complete or a penalty notice and need help, get Kay involved.

8. Criminal Records Checks
From June 17th the DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) will provide portable criminal records certificates. This is a great step forward. It's a complex area and you might want to bookmark the website which provides detailed guidelines: https://www.gov.uk/dbs-check-requests-guidance-for-employers. Don't forget that appropriate checks should be made for employees and volunteers from overseas. (Thanks to Sandy Adirondack for this: I hope you've all been wise enough to sign up to her briefings. Sandy has the most amazing grasp of detail which leaves me standing)

9. Trustee Training
Another workshop this Friday! I'll have quite a lot to say about the Charity Commission and how well it's doing in specific investigations and enquiries. One way or another I'm involved in 5 right now. What I share will help these trustees to understand how they can stay safe. CC enquiries can be time consuming, costly, a general distraction and best avoided. If you are interested in attending future workshops, give Becky an email: bbenford_blows@afvs.org.uk

10. Staff on National Minimum Wage (NMW) Volunteering to do Unpaid Work
One of our readers commented on how they handled the situation as follows: 'To be fair, we have no-one on NMW - we have had an intern for whom we've had funding from her Uni, but when the rest of us got a 3% pay rise we gave her one too! However, if you add someone's volunteering hours to their paid hours, it might take them below NMW.

What we try to do is draw a line between the two roles: for example our intern is being paid for some fundraising work, but her volunteering is on our outreach van. It's clear which is which, and when relevant we write into appointment letters that the paid hours are X, and any volunteer hours are by their own choice and do not form part of their employment.

I can see it would get a whole lot more difficult if the volunteer role was very similar to the paid role! And the lines do sometimes get fuzzy.' Thank you so much Sue Hazelden, this is very helpful. Good common sense.

This is particularly important right now. A charity was fined £9,000 in April for failing to pay minimum wage to a cleaner. The CC opened a file on the charity to see what else they were getting wrong.

11. National Minimum Wage
A reminder that from October 1st it goes up from £6.19 to £6.31 (up from £4.98 to £5.03 for 18s to 20s)

12. Staying Safe Online
Charities are as vulnerable as individuals to having their identities stolen, according to guidance from the Charity Commission and an online security website. The guidance, which can be found online here: https://www.getsafeonline.org/articles/charitycommission/ has been produced by the Commission. "It is not uncommon for fraudsters to obtain money by setting up a hoax fundraising appeal in the name of an authentic charity," the guidance says. It advises trustees about how to avoid becoming the victim of online fraud. Charities should also ensure that they have banking controls in place and check their accounts regularly to ensure that all transactions are legitimate. The Commission also recommends that charities use a dual-authorisation system for online payments.

13. Fraud
Sadly fraud is a fact of life, but is always more shocking when the employee works for a charity. It is essential to ensure proper double entry book keeping, if your staff team is too small for proper division of labour, hire a professional by the hour to scrutinise your control accounts. E-mail me if we can help. It costs, but it costs more if it goes wrong. I'm working with a charity right now where £80,000 has gone missing and no one seems to know where. No double entry book-keeping there, unless someone has been exceptionally clever with their journal entries.

14. AFVS: Keeping You Safe
I've recently come across a number of situations where the charity is not abiding by its governing document, usually unauthorised payments to trustees or a conflict of interest that isn't being properly managed. The CC (or OSCR for that matter) aren't best pleased if it comes to their attention. I'm surprised that the auditor or independent examiner doesn't sort it. If it's been a few years since your charity governance was reviewed, send me an e-mail and we'll work something out that won't cost you an arm and a leg. Please think about signing up for membership if you haven't already.

15. And Finally...

I'm trying to reconcile the fact that I'm getting pretty old, but I don't feel old. A lot of us possibly feel much the same.

The time to begin most things is ten years ago.
-- Mignon McLaughlin

The great secret that all old people share is that you really haven't changed in 70 or 80 years. Your body changes, but you don't change at all.
-- Doris Lessing

Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art.
-- Eleanor Roosevelt

Inside every older person is a younger person wondering what happened.
-- Jennifer Yane

Old age is no place for sissies.
-- Bette Davis

Don't be afraid your life will end; be afraid that it will never begin.
-- Grace Hansen

If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun.
-- Katharine Hepburn

Look at everything as though you were seeing it either for the first or last time. Then your time on earth will be filled with glory.
-- Betty Smith

Mistakes are part of the dues that one pays for a full life.
-- Sophia Loren

The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any.
-- Alice Walker

To love what you do and feel that it matters—how could anything be more fun?
-- Katherine Graham

Being old isn't something to deny, hush up or apologise for. It's something to celebrate.
-- Virginia Ironside

Growing old is a journey best undertaken with a sense of humour and curiosity.
-- Irma Kurtz

"Old" is not a dirty word. Old age is not an illness. It took a long time and a lot of hard work to get here and I see no reason to apologise for my arrival.
-- Irma Kurtz

Go well
Daryl Martin

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BULLETIN No. 122: May 2013

This is 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 bulletins that come through to me, plus whatever I've gleaned from charities I'm currently working with. Increasingly readers send me their own thoughts and I'm always glad to get your responses, either correcting or adding to something I've written.

If like me, you have a low attention span, read through the list of contents to see what catches your eye before turning to the ..And Finally, which is there to make you smile or cry, or both.

Go well, good and gentle readers in these turbulent times.

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What's on offer this month?

1. Marriage Registers
2. Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs)
3. Recreational Facilities
4. New USA Tax Law
5. Criminal Records Common Sense
6. Doing Your Duty for the Economy
7. AFVS: Keeping You Safe
8. Charity Giving Survey (Fundraising Tip Series)
9. Fraud
10. Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme
11. Staff on Minimum Wage Volunteering to do Unpaid Work
12. Insurances Review
13. Training Day
14. And Finally......

1. MARRIAGE REGISTERS
Apparently there's a vicar or two who forgot, or were never told, to write their certificates in indelible ink. Someone was even spotted writing with a ball point. Apparently it's not taught in ordination training. There are a few skills they seem to miss out in ordination training but there we are. If you are writing legal documents remember to use indelible ink (sometimes called Registrar's ink) which won't fade. And try not to get it on the carpet. Someone suggested using a soft pencil and keeping an eraser handy, but that's cruel. Anyway the stats tell us that the number of marriages is on the rise and marriages are lasting longer.

2. COMMUNITY AMATEUR SPORTS CLUBS (CASCs)
Out of over 90,000 eligible clubs, only around 6,300 have registered as CASCs since they appeared in 2002. This might be due to the complex registration process, or perhaps clubs think they are better staying as they are. Of course since 2006, sports clubs have been able to register as charities. I've prepared a short briefing paper on CASCs versus Charities which is on my AFVS website. The main benefits are financial (Gift Aid, CT relief, and rates relief); the disadvantages are of course regulatory which is different for each regime. Contact me if you would like to explore the options for your club. (I don't know how many sports clubs are registered as charities, but probably not that many.)

3. RECREATIONAL FACILITIES
If you have a building, maximising your use of the space is a great tool for reaching into the local community, and it can also be a useful source of much needed funds. If you are involved in this way, make sure you are minimising the potential for an accident. There are some simple steps to keep you safe: Regular inspection and maintenance is important. Important emergency contact numbers should be listed by the telephone, and there should be a complete first aid kit handy. I visited a village hall recently to find that one of the access doors wasn't properly secured, with a consequent risk to children who were there daily. You can't eliminate risk but you can minimise it without being overly bureaucratic.

4. NEW USA TAX LAW AFFECTS UK CHARITIES
I hadn't planned to write on this, as I'd hoped HMRC would be able to fight it off. They weren't, but have managed to get it amended so that it won't be too tricky. I've put a briefing note onto the AFVS website; full of delightful acronyms. You will be kept advised of developments.

5. CRIMINAL RECORDS COMMON SENSE
For all our grumbling on some of the wilder nonsenses of Human Rights, occasionally the Convention does come up trumps. In January the Court of Appeal ruled that DBS checks for old minor convictions were disproportionate and incompatible with Article of the Convention. They gave the Home Office an opportunity to put things right and the DBS has just announced that a set of filtering rules to remove old and minor convictions and cautions from its certificate. It'll take a while for these changes to work through the system but it's indicative of an outbreak of governmental common sense. (Thanks to Anthony Collins for reporting this.)

6. DOING YOUR DUTY FOR THE ECONOMY
The London School of Economics and Nuffield Health reckon the UK could save £7bn if people did an extra 12 minutes exercise a day. Their research has calculated the savings that could be made in the NHS, welfare payments and loss of earnings if we all did the recommended 150 minutes exercise a week - which 70% of adults currently do not. How on earth do they work these things out?

7. AFVS: KEEPING YOU SAFE
It's getting a bit like the magic porridge pot, with blogs threatening to submerge us. We're keen to get good material and information out to our supporters but we're going to lose people if we continue to deluge them. Tony is working hard to solve this issue. If you have your own thoughts and ideas please let us know. We're planning to move towards putting out a weekly summary, so that you can sift out what doesn't concern you. Please think about signing up for membership if you haven't already.

8. CHARITY GIVING SURVEY (FUNDRAISING TIP SERIES)
Browsing through a survey on giving to charity I found that 60% of us give less than £50 a year. Lots of other stats but some things did stand out. 62% would donate if they believed it would really make a difference. One in two would give if asked by a peer to do so, and one in five said a well worded thank you would encourage them to give more. Forget the standard letter of thanks then; treat every donor as though they've just given you a million pounds. Also, take care to paint the picture of how their money is being spent, and what you plan to do with future gifts. (Source of data: New Philanthropy Capital)

9. FRAUD
I've been clipping out articles on treasurers who've been caught with their hands in the tills of different charities. Often the guilty party lands in jail with a life in ruins. The money lost is rarely recovered, though one enterprising judge gave someone convicted of theft from a charity a few years to pay what he'd taken. He had a valuable stamp collection and realised several thousands of pounds more by spreading the sale over a period.

Take a moment to review your systems and make sure you aren't putting temptation in people's way. It's not rocket science. Usually a few simple systems will give all the protection you might need. The time to put good controls in place is when trust levels are high. When they aren't it's usually too late. A regular look at the bank statements will tell you a lot. Contact me if you need help on this.

10. GIFT AID SMALL DONATIONS SCHEME
If you are able to take advantage of this scheme I imagine you'll be already up and running. Take care before you scrap any envelope scheme you might be running. If you do, make sure you won't be running up against the £5,000 annual limit. Do the sums. Contact us if you need any guidance. But if you do scrap the envelope scheme, as I know some are planning to do, make sure you don't have any higher rate taxpayers putting £20 a week into an envelope. There could also be other reasons why people want their money gift aided rather than put into the GASDS (Thanks to Denise Boyd for this reminder.)

11. STAFF ON MINIMUM WAGE VOLUNTEERING FOR UNPAID WORK
I need your help on this. If you are paying staff minimum wage and they want to volunteer for other work, how do you deal with this? Drop me a line please with your thoughts as to how this situation is best handled. Also where you have volunteers who aren't paid, and you want to pay them for other work they want to carry out.

12. INSURANCES REVIEW
I came across a good article on charity insurance but it got too long for this bulletin, so I've turned it into an AFVS Briefing. This link will take you there. We reduced our insurance costs by over 50% without losing any quality. Let me know if you need help on this.

13. TRAINING DAY
We had a full house for our last training day. Having said that we do keep the numbers down, as we like to focus on the issues that are specifically relevant and important to those who join us. Everyone thought it was worthwhile. How about this for an accolade:

"The day was stimulating and helpful. The information given alerted me to several issues, especially concerning interactions with the Charity Commission, where our charity needs to make some changes to reflect current requirements as things have changed considerably since our charity was established 12 years ago. And the written information we took away will be a valuable resource in the future." David Powlson (New Life Home Trust; supporting work in Kenya to care for abandoned babies and arrange adoption into loving homes).

There were some comments about the chairs not being that comfortable and the room was a little cramped. It was certainly full to capacity. We are planning another day on Friday July 5th (sorry, not June 7th as previously advertised), but this time we are using a hall in Barnham. It's brand new, five minutes from the station, with plenty of parking and good facilities. Book in soon. Contact Becky or check out the website for further details.

14. AND FINALLY.....

Some gems dug out from the Lightning Fast Foundation FB page, which I strongly recommend to my readers; it's the best inspirational site I know.

Integrity: There's no better test of a person's integrity than their behaviour when they are wrong. (Marvin William)

Forgiveness: Anger makes you smaller, while forgiveness forces you to grow beyond what you were. (Cherie Carter-Scott)

Destiny: Don't confuse poor decision-making with destiny. Own your mistakes. It's ok; we all make them. Learn from them and move on. (Steve Maraboli)

and The Tale of the Two Dogs: 'A fight is going on inside me', said the old man to his grandson. 'It is a terrible fight between two wolves. One wolf is evil. He represents anger, envy, greed arrogance, self-pity, resentment, lies, false pride, superiority, ego, and everything that's bad. The other wolf is good: He is joy, peace, serenity, love, hope, humility, kindness, generosity, truth, compassion and faith, everything that is good'.

'The same fight is going on inside you'.

The boy thought about it for a few minutes and asked, 'Which wolf will win?'

The old man replied simply, 'The one you feed'.

Go well
Daryl Martin

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BULLETIN No. 121: March/ April 2013

This is 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 bulletins that come through to me, plus whatever I've gleaned from charities I'm currently working with. Increasingly readers send me their own thoughts and I'm always glad to get your responses, either correcting or adding to something I've written.

This is my attempt to keep you safe. If it resonates, get me in to give a more detailed briefing session (see item 12 below), where I tell you a whole lot more.

If like me, you have a low attention span, read through the list of contents to see what catches your eye before turning to the '..And finally' section, which is there to make you smile or cry or wince!

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What's on offer this month?

1. Charity Commission Concerns
2. Financial Services Compensation Scheme
3. CIOs
4. Downsizing or Even Shutting Down
5. Pension Liabilities
6. Trustees Being Remunerated
7. Gift Aid Fraud
8. Charity Commission Downsized
9. Data Protection Fines
10. Vat on New Building
11. Volunteer Numbers Increasing
12. Trustee Training
13. And Finally......

1. Charity Commission Concerns
The CC is quite rightly coming down on charities that have been slipping up on meeting their regulatory requirements. A record number of members need help right now, which is taking an increasing amount of my time. My only grumble with the CC is that they are often peremptory in requiring responses from busy trustees and their advisers. They can take weeks to respond; but they expect us to provide detailed responses in days. If your charity is late with your accounts, or if they are badly prepared, and I've seen some shocking examples lately when even auditors haven't been up to the job, don't be surprised if the CC comes knocking. A cheap IE or audit can cost you a lot in time and money if it's picked up. If this is you, let me know; we have people on hand who know their job.

2. Financial Services Compensation Scheme
A number of charities foolishly put their spare cash into Icelandic banks and paid a price. I doubt many charities invested in a Cyprus bank, but this might be a good time to remind ourselves that charities are generally covered under the FSCS up to £85,000. But there are some exceptions and anomalies. A corporate body is not covered if any 2 of the following apply: more than £6.5m turnover, More than £2.36m on the balance sheet, and more than 50 employees. The anomaly is that an unincorporated body with assets of more than £1.4m are not covered. If you have spread your savings make sure that each bank or building society is covered under a separate authorisation; for example Halifax and Saga operate under the same authorisation. Off shore deposits are not covered. If in doubt, get advice. (This will minimise the danger of a trustee incurring personal liability if it goes wrong.)

3. CIOs
The Scottish regulator proudly announced that it had set up more than 500 CIOs. The CC, started later, but has already passed the 60 mark. This new charity structure has a place but at this stage we aren't recommending it across the board (as some are; sending circular letters out to get business!). Drop me a line if you want advice on your specific situation. My colleague Rachel just attended a CIO training day, so she now knows more than I do. I'm trying to get her to write a blog on the subject, but she's a busy lady.

4. Downsizing or Even Shutting Down
Every week I get a call to tell me that a project has closed or a charity is shutting its doors, an inevitable consequence of the global financial difficulties we are trying to weather. When I look at some of these situations I wonder whether the trustees were sufficiently proactive at an early stage. The CC, which does some things really well, issued a paper in December: 'Big Board Talk - 15 questions trustees need to ask'. This is really what trustees are there for - to look ahead, see the storm clouds gathering, and plot a safe course. This paper would form the basis of a good Away Day; it looks at Strategy, Financial Health, Governance, and Making best use of Resources, all in a well-structured way. Contact me if help is needed.

5. Pension Liabilities
A close friend was invited to become a trustee of a charity last month. He liked their work, but when he checked their latest accounts it was clear that the pension fund the charity contributed to was in deficit, and the charity wasn't incorporated. It wasn't clear that the trustees understood that they were at some degree of personal risk. Naturally my friend decided not to stand. Two lessons here: if you receive an invitation of this sort, do your homework before committing, and if you are a trustee carrying a contingent liability of some nature, don't ignore it, it won't go away, especially not in today's climate. It's sometimes better to withdraw from a pension scheme in deficit now if you have the funds to do so rather than hang around. (Every time an employer in the scheme goes bust their liability is spread amongst those left behind) Get advice.

6. Trustees Being Remunerated
The CC is investigating a number of situations where trustees have been remunerated for non-trustee services. There's been a lot said and written recently about trustees being paid. I don't have a problem with trustees being paid when it's appropriate, neither does the CC. It goes wrong where due process isn't followed. It's not rocket science. Make sure there is power in your governing document. Make sure a robust conflict of interest policy is followed. Make sure everything is open and transparent. Keep good records. Let me know if you need help on this. The CC is very helpful, but rightly expects things to be done properly.

7. Gift Aid Fraud
Civil Society Governance ran an article recently about a couple who were given a 2 year sentence for Gift Aid fraud. HMRC are on the track of a number of others who have carried out similar frauds or are attempting to evade tax (Cup Trust?) The lesson is that it's silly to try to defraud the tax authorities who are very experienced in picking up fraud. If you've made genuine mistakes they will want the money back but they won't throw the book at you. Own up, get help, and put it right. Oh, and there's a Tax Evasion Hotline to call if you suspect fraud.

8. Charity Commission Downsized
Couple of weekends ago they moved from Millbank to Pimlico, more than halving their rent. Hot-desking now with 4 desks for every 5 employees (now down to around 80 full time equivalent in London). After having their budget cut by a third there's talk about a further 5 or 10% being cut. Ouch. I noticed it being floated that they might have to start to charge for some of their services, and this must be under consideration. The CC is currently getting criticised, particularly for the way they handled the Cup Trust investigation, and I'd been gearing up to lob a brick or two in their direction. Let's not forget that their resources are limited and there's a limit as to what they can do. It may be that they have decided that HMRC is better placed to deal with some charities that need looking into.

9. Data Protection Fines
Staff are increasingly bringing their own computing devices – such as smartphones, laptops and PDAs into the workplace, particularly with the increase in hot-desking and home-working. However, we frequently hear of these devices being lost or stolen and sensitive information getting into wrong hands. This can result in penalties from the Information Commissioner (ICO); two charities were fined a total of £220,000 last year. The ICO have issued guidance so it's worth having a browse on their website, and make certain your staff are also given guidance. Are your laptops and other devices protected, and are any cloud based and public back up services you use safe? Email Tony if you need further assistance.

10. Vat on New Building
A Buckinghamshire charity won the first round of a battle with HMRC over whether their new building should be zero rated. HMRC disputed it on the grounds that they charged for their activities. VAT is always a tricky area; it pays to get advice from specialists in charity VAT. We have specialists on hand to steer you through and keep you safe.

11. Volunteer Numbers Increasing
An interesting spin off from the downturn is that the number of voluntary sector workers grew by almost 10% last year. An umbrella body for more than 900 community organisations has just made all its paid staff redundant, moving to a new operating model relying on volunteers and trustees to manage its day to day operation. It'll be interesting to see how this works out.

12. Trustee Training
The training date in April is now filled up. We're planning another day on Friday June 7th. E-mail Becky for details. Alternatively, I can come to you if a small group can be put together. I've a few dates left in May when I'm allowed out, and then I'm into June.

13. AND FINALLY.....

This bit was meant for my slot on Fundraising, but it was so inspirational it fits well here. Thanks to Natalie Bailey of NTT Fundraising for this:

One of the key elements of achieving fundraising success is effective communication and it's always worth looking at who else is doing it well; not just in the charity sector but across different industries too. Some of you may have seen a video online about a blind man collecting change on the streets. His sign simply reads 'I am blind' and it encouraged the general public to make a few small sympathetic donations. The video goes on to show a young lady changing the sign and as a result it brings on a surge of donations for the blind man. She doesn't change the meaning of the sign but changes the words used to communicate his situation. If you can spare 90 seconds, and to see what she writes, I would highly recommend a watch.

Now if you still need something to make you wince here are a few of Tim Vine's more forgettable offerings:

'I was at an ATM yesterday, when a poor little old lady asked if I could check her balance, so I pushed her over'.

'How did I know she was poor? Well when I got home I found only £1.20 in her purse.'

'My neighbour knocked on my door at midnight; can you believe that, midnight? Luckily for him I was still up, playing my bagpipes'.

BULLETIN No. 120: February 2013

This is 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 bulletins that come through to me, plus whatever I've gleaned from charities I'm currently working with. Increasingly readers send me their own thoughts and I'm always glad to get your responses, either correcting or adding to something I've written.

If like me, you have a low attention span, read through the list of contents to see what catches your eye before turning to the ..And Finally section, which is there to make you smile or cry, or both.

Go well, good and gentle readers into a year of challenge and promise.

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What's on offer this month?

1. Charity 'misinformed' about decision to close
2. Tip to Survive the Downturn (Tip No. 2)
3. Academies
4. Charity Commission (New Annual Return)
5. Gift Aid
6. Gift Aid (2) - sigh
7. Gift Aid (3) - sigh again, quite enough gift aid
8. Volunteer Drivers
9. Charity Payoff is Misconduct
10. HMRC Penalty Notices
11. RTI New HMRC Payroll Scheme
12. Training
13. AFVS
14. And Finally......

1. CHARITY 'MISINFORMED' ABOUT DECISION TO CLOSE (Headline in a recent charity journal)
Whilst not making any judgement on this case, far too often I come across charities that have not been well advised, often at great expense. This particular charity was told that it was trading insolvently and should shut down immediately. A while ago I was working with a charity that was insolvent. I agonised over what advice I should give, knowing full well the implications of trading insolvently, but there was a good case for carrying on a while longer (its demise would have had a serious knock on effect). Within a very short period of getting involved we were able to save it (I don't take any credit apart from strengthening them when they needed it). Today it's in good health, doing good work. We have access to insolvency specialists and don't rush to make hasty calls (or at least we try not to).

2. TIP TO SURVIVE THE DOWNTURN
Zoe Amar blogs on fundraising issues; recently she came across a great example of fundraising, by being absolutely open about what's being done with the money. She contrasts it with a poor example where the 'ask' is simply a box which said 'Donate' and a specified amount. She makes a good case for being open about where the money goes. Take a moment to read her blog: zoeamar.wordpress.com/2013/01/18/how-transparent-is-your-fundraising.

3. ACADEMIES
If you have any interest in Academies you might check out the blog Chris Seaton, a fellow associate of AFVS, put up recently. Love or hate them, they are an increasing part of the landscape. http://www.afvs.org.uk/blogs/big-happenings-in-education

4. CHARITY COMMISSION
They have now published the new Annual Return requirements. A couple of small changes: they want to know whether you're registered for Gift Aid, whether you own or lease buildings or land, and previously voluntary questions on overseas activities, and numbers of volunteers, must now be answered. Let us know if you need any help with your return. Don't forget that if your accounts and return aren't in on time the penalty is a big red label on your page which marks you out as an offender to be treated with care. Talk to me if you are red flagged.

5. GIFT AID
I'm still picking up charities that have overlooked updating their declarations to reflect the new wording. Don't say I didn't warn you. If you need a template to help you stay safe, it's on the AFVS home page. What you need to remember is that if HMRC pick it up, they'll wonder if there's anything else you might have got wrong.

6. GIFT AID (2)
A charity in South Wales over claimed nearly £400,000 on overseas projects. It was down to a mixture of inadequate paperwork and simply claiming on things they shouldn't. 'There wasn't an awful lot of guidance out there'. You must take care particularly where overseas work is involved. Take advice if you aren't sure. That's why we are here. So far they've repaid £80,000.

7. GIFT AID (3) (More changes announced by HMRC)
If you haven't read it already, this link takes you to Ian Clark's blog on these changes: www.afvs.org.uk/blogs/charities-online-february-2013-update

8. VOLUNTEER DRIVERS
One of my ever vigilant readers gently scolded me for getting this slightly wrong. He's quite right of course a day can make a difference. Driving licences expire the day before your 70th birthday. And of course if you still have the old style licence, they don't expire in the same way the photo licences do. Thanks Roger. Stay vigilant.

9. CHARITY PAYOFF IS MISCONDUCT
The Scottish Regulator ruled that a Scottish charity should not have made a discretionary redundancy payment of £232,000 to the Chief Exec who was probably overpaid to start with. When you dig into it, the trustees were also local councillors, who don't always seem to have the same sort of housekeeping instincts as normal people who have to live within their means.

10. HMRC PENALTY NOTICES
Some hundreds, possibly thousands even, of charities are getting a £100 penalty notice through their letterbox for not delivering a CT return. But, they cry, we're a charity, we're exempt. You may be exempt, but you still have to complete a return if you're asked to. It's been a while since I reminded readers of this. If you've received a penalty, you still have to send in a return, or the penalties will increase. Your accountant will help you. Better still send it to Kay; she'll know what to do. (k.thrift@iel.org.uk)

Some charities are also receiving Trust and Estate Returns, which again, must be completed or there's another penalty.

11. RTI: HMRC NEW PAYROLL SYSTEM
HMRC has done a lot of work in making their site user friendly. Nevertheless, tax has got so complicated in recent years that increasing numbers of us need professional help, me included. We're told that annually they receive 80 million telephone calls for help. Their target is to answer 80% of calls within 5 minutes; this means that 16 million calls will take longer than 5 minutes to be answered. (If your call to us isn't answered within 20 seconds something's seriously amiss, but then we're in a competitive environment.) Oh, don't forget that HMRC helpline is premium rate, so someone's making a lot of money, about £130m a year I'm told. It won't get any easier when RTI comes into force in April; the potential for chaos is considerable. (Again, a call to Kay might take the pressure off you!)

12. TRAINING
This is a link to details of our current training package. We are taking bookings for a one day session on April 19th. If you've a small group of trustees I can come out to you for an evening if you aren't too far away. Contact me if this might interest you. Trustees get an up to the minute briefing on current issues with HMRC and the Charity Commission, and a good overview of their responsibilities and accountabilities, and lots of questions answered.

13. AFVS
Membership continues to pick up as we develop our vision to help make the voluntary sector a safe place for charities. Last month we made more of a difference to a charity in a couple of weeks than a high powered London organisation delivered in 6 months, charging many, many times more than we do. We will only work where we know we can make a difference. If you are not a member, please consider joining, and help us to make it a place of safety.

14. AND FINALLY.....

A warning on the dangers of texting, and a tough challenge laid down by my good friend Derek Brown on his FB page. (If I'm ever to turn into a lustrous pearl it will be due to the amazing people around me who regularly introduce uncomfortable grit into my hard shell)

Husband goes to work early and notices his wife's car is frosted over.
Later his wife texts him, 'Windows frozen; won't open'.
He responds, 'Gently pour some lukewarm water over it'.
Five minutes later wife texts, 'Computer is really screwed up now'.

What would happen if...
I wonder what would happen if I treated everyone like I was in love with them, whether I like them or not, and whether they respond or not, and no matter what they say or do to me, and even if I see things in them which are ugly twisted petty cruel vain deceitful indifferent, just accept all that and turn my attention to some small weak tender hidden part and keep my eyes on that until it shines like a beam of light, like a bonfire I can warm my hands by and trust it to burn away all the waste which is not, never was my business to meddle with.

(Derek Tasker)

BULLETIN No. 119: January 2013

Welcome to my first post of the New Year. I began writing this mid-December; hopefully it won't be too dated by the time it reaches you. We keep being told it's going to be tough for charities; income down 20% and 1 in 6 might shut down. Some charities will have reached the end of their life span as we all will one day, but we don't want to lose charities prematurely. Keep close watch on your cash and look ahead. Don't wait Mickawber like, hoping something will turn up. Each briefing will carry a tip to help you survive and even strengthen, so please at least look at the contents before scrolling down to the ...And Finally ...

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What's on offer this time?

1. Volunteers' Rights
2. Tip to Survive the Downturn
3. Gift Aid
4. Volunteer Drivers
5. Resignation of Board
6. Nepotism
7. Equality Act 2010
8. Training
9. Missing Christmas Club Funds
10. Proper Use of Charity Funds
11. RTI New HMRC Payroll Scheme
12. AFVS
13. CIOs
14. And Finally......

1. VOLUNTEERS' RIGHTS
The Supreme Court has ruled that volunteer workers will not enjoy the same rights and protections that normal workers do, unless they're undergoing vocational training. A wise decision! Had it gone the other way the courts would soon have been overrun. The argument is that if volunteers are being treated badly, they can vote with their feet and walk away, and organisations that keep losing volunteers will soon have to mend their ways. It's not as straightforward as that in real life. Volunteers are the life blood of charities; treat them well. Interesting statistic: for the first time there are more volunteers than paid staff working in our libraries.

2. TIP TO SURVIVE THE DOWNTURN
I've been into 3 charities recently where they seem to me to be overstaffed on the admin side. It may be sometime since a proper review was carried out. We're not looking for redundancies but for people to be properly deployed enhancing the organisation. Too many managers and admin staff and things get choked up with too much time spent talking to each other instead of getting on with the job. Watch out for complexity; aim for structural simplicity.

3. GIFT AID
This has been well covered by Ian Clark in his excellent blogs on the AFVS site. (Sign up if you haven't received it.) The only point I need to add is a warning to charities that want to continue with a paper based system that it might take longer (much longer) for HMRC to process your claim. They will be deploying staff away from this side of their operation and I would expect queues to build up. The new Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme is expected to raise almost £150m a year. Within 4 years according to HMRC (Third Sector) The Directory of Social change reckons that about £750m a year gift aid is unclaimed. Another bit of good news: Ian Clark, whose support on Gift Aid matters is so valuable, sent me a note to tell me that HMRC has streamlined Gift Aid for charity shops. http://hmrc.presscentre.com/Press-Releases/Streamlined-Gift-Aid-for-charity-shops-68541.aspx Well done HMRC.

Late News: Ian has just updated his blog and added a link to additional HMRC material that has a few more details of the new Charities Online service: www.afvs.org.uk/blogs/charities-online-new-update-jan-2013

4. VOLUNTEER DRIVERS
Increasing numbers of drivers are getting to the age of 70 with plenty of years still ahead of therm. Don't forget that Class D1 entitlement is automatically lost on a driver's 70th birthday if they don't submit a special form. A charity in Cornwall lost 2 volunteer drivers who overlooked this in the excitement of birthday preparations. Once you've lost it a medical is needed to get it back. A diary note will avoid all this. Something else to remember: are you one of the 40,000 plus drivers in the UK who forgot that driving licenses have to be renewed every 10 years. Go and check it now, and put the expiry date in your diary, if it hasn't already expired!

5. RESIGNATION OF ENTIRE BOARD
The governors of a school in Tunbridge Wells resigned following criticism of their decision to spend £6,000 on the head teacher's leaving do. Quite apart from the fact that the school was in special measures, it's not a good signal to send in the middle of the most serious downturn in living memory. It's a little surprising that no one challenged the decision. The governors had been preparing a bid to become an academy so the new board will be its trustees. I recommend that they get some training in trustee accountabilities (I'm available: I'm only down the road.)

6. NEPOTISM
A charity found itself in the news recently, accused of nepotism in awarding contracts to related parties. Nepotism is defined as a favour granted to relatives regardless of merit. Now, it's not at all unusual for family members to be involved with the same charity. Whether it's a church or a railway museum, any son or daughter who turns up week by week, taken by Dad or Mum who happens to run the charity, might well end up being highly involved, even to the extent of taking the work on one day. It's to be expected and not a bad thing; unless of course there is nepotism, when it is a bad thing. The answer is of course a robust conflict of interest policy. Let me know if this is an issue with your charity; I'll do my best to help.

7. EQUALITY ACT 2010
Less favourable treatment on the grounds of pregnancy is discrimination. But hey, I thought we all knew that by now. An independent school in North Wales didn't apparently and had to pay nearly £34,000 in compensation. 'The supreme irony', someone said, 'beggars belief'. I can't believe any of my readers would be so unwise; if you do get any tricky HR issues contact me straightaway.

8. TRAINING
I'm planning a couple of Trustee training days in April at our offices in Walberton: 19th and 20th, both days covering the same material. Let me know if you're interested and I'll send information. I'm also trying to organise a half days training in the Leicester area in the spring. E-mail me for details. These sessions are ideal for trustees who have questions regarding their accountabilities and responsibilities and want to know about operating best practise whilst keeping things simple.

9. MISSING CHRISTMAS CLUB FUND
You'll have read about the pub landlord who set up a Christmas fund for his regulars. More than 60 families were paying into it, but when the time came, the landlord was unable to admit that the cash totalling £30,000 had vanished, and he committed suicide. If money is changing hands there must be at least 2 people involved, not spouses or partners. It simply isn't fair, particularly at a time of economic hardship, to trust someone with cash in this way. Trustees: make sure you aren't putting temptation into people's way. People have gone to prison for lesser sums and destroyed their lives. Don't just blame them; blame the sloppy systems that allowed it to happen. End of rant.

10. PROPER USE OF CHARITY FUNDS?
The RSPCA spent £365,000 of your donations on bringing a private prosecution of the Heythrop Hunt. The defence costs amounted to £35,000 and the hunt was fined £6,800. But then with more than £100m a year coming in, it doesn't need to worry about its costs.

In contrast: Jody took Rosie, his Jack Russell to his local RSPCA to rehome because his new landlord wouldn't allow dogs. When the landlord relented after 2 weeks a delighted Jody phoned the RSPCA only to be told (eventually) that Jodie had been put down. He should have taken Rosie to the Dogs Trust which is committed to never putting a dog down for non-medical reasons.

The Charity Commission has summoned the RSPCA to a meeting. I hope it's robust. I hope they remember to ask about Jody's dog.

11. RTI: HMRC NEW PAYROLL SYSTEM
Pride of place last month went to my briefing on the significant change to payroll systems called RTI coming in next year. An eagle eyed reader spotted an error. There appear to be some ambiguities and I'm seeing comments on accountancy websites. I've added to my briefing rather than re-write it as it rather looks as though HMRC is still fine-tuning the new system. You'll find it on the homepage of www.afvs.org.uk as a free download. It's now clear that there are penalties likely from the beginning if you get it wrong. If it's time to subcontract it out, e-mail my colleague Kay who is up to speed on it.

12. AFVS
Tony has been busily putting lots of new material onto the site and has added a free section on the home page which includes some useful topical briefings, and a template for the new gift aid declaration wording (which fully half of you haven't yet got round to using yet) Check it out: www.afvs.org.uk

Membership is already well into three figures; five new members this week already, but we need more charities to come on board to make it viable. It's simple to sign up and not expensive (for small charities it's free). Contact us for more details. Please give some thought to signing up; the more members, the stronger we shall be.

13. CIOs
A lot of boards want to incorporate but have been holding out for the CIO. The mist is clearing but there are still areas of concern. I've just completed a detailed briefing for the AFVS website. Meantime if you are wondering if it's for you, send me an e-mail. (Since I finished what turned out to be a fairly negative briefing I've already recommended it to 2 clients)

14. AND FINALLY.....

I couldn't resist this story which I'm sure isn't true; dedicated to my friend Rich Cooper who takes amazing pictures in flight (He's also good at weddings)

'The magazine assigned a photographer to take pictures of a forest fire, and told him a small plane would be waiting at the airport to fly him over the fire. He arrived at the airstrip an hour before sunset where a small Cessna stood waiting. He jumped in with his equipment and shouted 'let's go' to the tense looking pilot already seated. They took off and were quickly away. The photographer put the erratic flying down to wind turbulence.

'Fly over the north side of the fire and make several low level passes' he requested. 'Why?' asked the pilot nervously. 'Because I'm going to take pictures. I'm a photographer and photographers take pictures'.

'You mean you're not the flight instructor?'

Another gem this time from Charles Moore's column in the Spectator.

His autistic nephew has a young friend with learning difficulties, but high intelligence. Recently she was asked who Narcissus was. 'He fell in love with himself,' she answered. 'Yes, and then what happened?' 'The relationship didn't work out'.

BULLETIN No. 118: December 2012

I had a long list of items for this briefing; but I'm being firmly told that my readers will all be far too busy right now to find time even to read the ...And Finallys... at the end. So I'll keep it short, and pick out just a few headlines, with more to come in January when everyone's concentration will hopefully be back to normal.

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What's on offer

1. HMRC: New Payroll System
2. Gift Aid
3. Manse Scheme
4. What to get me for Christmas?
5. AFVS
6. CIOs
7. And Finally......

1. HMRC: New Payroll System
Pride of place last month went to my briefing on the significant change to payroll systems called RTI coming in next year. An eagle eyed reader spotted an error. There appear to be some ambiguities and I'm seeing comments on accountancy websites. More on this in January when hopefully things will be clearer!

2. Gift Aid
Next year will see more changes; software may need to be updated. I'll cover this in detail in January and add some thoughts.

3. Manse Scheme
We checked out a charity that operated a manse scheme and it clearly wasn't being operated properly. I suspect this is the tip of a dangerous iceberg. If you're operating a scheme which doesn't meet the regulations you could be either missing out on valuable benefits or be open to back tax and penalties if it's picked up. Make sure your accountant understands the scheme and applies it.

4. What to get me for Christmas?
I've been sending this bulletin out now for more than 10 years. Every month readers write in to tell me how helpful they find it. I've saved more than a few of my reader's money and given them peace of mind along the way. This is the first time I've asked for you to give me something back. What can you give me you ask? This bulletin goes out to around 7,000 readers, but there is a steady attrition rate as people change addresses, or move and don't register a new address (I've lost count of the people I meet who say, 'I always used to get your bulletin ..'). Please help me get the numbers back up to that 10,000 level by recommending me to friends, contacts, colleagues, anyone who might be helped by getting my monthly threats, warnings, suggestions etc. Please do it now. (Also sign up for my blog at www.afvs.org.uk, as a further present)

5. AFVS
When the Charity Commission had their budget slashed by a third, they suggested that charities sign up to umbrella bodies to get the advice and support they could no longer deliver. Check out my new website: www.afvs.org.uk. It's being strengthened all the time, plus you get access to help and support, much of it free (we do start to charge if we are doing work for you). Members have access to a growing panel of specialists. Membership is already well into three figures, but we need more charities to come on board to make it viable. It's simple to sign up and not expensive (for small charities it's free). Contact us for more details. Please give some thought to signing up; the more members, the stronger we shall be.

6. CIOs
We're into the final lap. My colleague Rachel is looking at the detail; she still has some questions that need to be answered. It may not be right for everyone. Problems around registering mortgages and winding up issues. We are taking a considered view and aim to put out a fresh briefing early next year with a timetable. Meantime if you are wondering if it's for you, send us an e-mail. I don't recommend anyone jumping in until they've had a considered view.

7. AND FINALLY.....

The Duke of Wellington is reputed to have written this report: 'I can either capture the whole of the Iberian Peninsula or comply with your requests for despatches and reports. I cannot however do both. Please advise.' We know the feeling well.

Four lessons to live by in 2013:

1. Surround yourself with people smarter than you and move out of their way.
2. The only constant in life is change; get comfortable with it.
3. Fail often, but fail fast.
4. You only get one shot; make it count.

There were 6, but I remembered my opening comments (Thanks to Ari Emanuel)

Thankyou for the hundreds of kind and thoughtful messages you sent me during the year. Have a wonderful Advent, and Christmas season and go well in 2013.

BULLETIN No. 117: November 2012

There's a lot going on in the world of charities right now and this briefing is longer than normal. I've kept back several items that can wait a month. This time there's an emphasis on trustees, and how things can go so badly wrong, and how you can get it right and stay safe. I'm currently working with three clients who have to respond to Charity Commission enquiries. It's hard work; they know what questions to ask. With better advice and better systems all could have been avoided.

Tip: if like me you have a low attention span or this came to you by mistake, scroll down to the …And Finally.

Daryl Martin
d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What's on offer

1. HMRC: Important Changes
2. Code of Conduct for Trustees
3. John Truscott
4. Do You Sublet?
5. Flawed Appointment of Trustees
6. Illegal Appointment of a Trustee
7. Holding Trustees: Don't Forget Them
8. AFVS: A Safe Place for Charities
9. Cash is King
10. Jimmy Savile
11. Changes to Restricted Funds
12. Office Space Available
13. And Finally......

1. HMRC: Important Changes
Billed as the biggest shakeup in payroll since it was introduced in 1944, a completely new system will be in place from April 2013 for smaller employers, and October for larger employers. For new employers the change takes place immediately. It's called Real Time Information (RTI). This link will take you to an AFVS briefing, which outlines the new system. If you're likely to need help on this e-mail us. It's not optional; we all have to do it. There are consequences where mistakes are made.

2. Code of Conduct for Trustees
Before the Companies Act 2006, directors' duty to avoid conflicts of interest was based on common law as it had evolved over the years. The 2006 act codified the law and strengthened it. Get it wrong now and you can be landed with a heavy fine, and even a criminal record. If you want to know how this could work out look at Philip Towers v Premier Waste Management Ltd. A client of the company loaned a director some equipment. When it came back damaged the issue of who would pay for it arose. By then the director and the company had fallen out. There's another case, this one pending, in which it's alleged that a charity CEO gave big contracts to a company that involved a family member. This is sub judice so I can't comment. There's a Trustees' Code of Conduct on the AFVS website. It is available for non-members to download from here. Contact me if you need specific guidance. Just seen another report of a trustee failing to manage a conflict of interest; there's too much of it; don't join the list.

3. John Truscott
I've never met John but we correspond from time to time and his website is remarkable for the high quality (and quantity) of the material he's prepared to give away. John's speciality is 'creative organisation' in the church sphere. He covers leadership, management, governance, planning, communication and administration. The resource material on his website is extensive; much of it of interest to charities generally. www.john-truscott.co.uk.

4. Do You Sublet?
We're all looking creatively at ways of generating revenue, and subletting might be an option, bit like taking in a lodger at home. If you do, make sure your paperwork is in good order. If you don't own your property, do you have the necessary powers in your own lease agreement? Are you granting a lease or a license? A license is easily terminated, but terminating a lease can be complicated. Don't forget that any non-charity occupation might have implications for the rates you pay, and also some utilities.

5. Flawed Appointment of Trustee
I'm currently trying to untangle a difficult situation. I'm dealing with an ex member of staff who contends that some of the trustees were incorrectly appointed and therefore cannot act on behalf of the charity. This is not uncommon; trustees are often brought on board without going through the procedures laid down in the governing document. If your charity might be guilty of this, the answer is to get your procedures regularised as quickly as possible, and the specific appointments validated appropriately. If you need specific help let me know. Meantime, this situation is not likely to impact any decisions you make and actions you take; a court (and the Charity Commission) is likely to decide that the trustees are acting in good faith on behalf of the charity. (This is sweeping advice; if you're likely to act on it, better let me know so I can comment on your specific situation)

6. Illegal Appointment of a Trustee
I'm just back from running some trustee training in Scotland. A high flying political figure up there had been recently appointed as a trustee of a Glasgow charity. Just one problem; he'd just been released from a 3 year prison sentence. The trust chair couldn't quite recall the appointment process but admitted, 'we probably should have taken advice'. It's not rocket science. If they'd only had read my Code of Conduct briefing!

7. Holding Trustees: Don't Forget Them
One thought on trustees leads to another. I've been involved in 2 situations recently where property transactions were being considered. For one reason or another, the holding trustees were well out of date. Remember that if your charity is not incorporated, the holding trustees and the general trustees often aren't the same, and over the years, holding trustees can be lost sight of. If this might be an issue, look at it now, not when you want to sell or mortgage. Contact your solicitor, failing that, me.

8. A Safe Place for Charities
The Charity Commission, having had its budget cut by a third is encouraging charities to join umbrella bodies for the advice and support they are no longer able to provide. My response to this is to draw together a growing panel of charity specialists all at the top of their game, ready to spring into action where help is needed. Check it out at www.afvs.org.uk. It's simple to sign up and not expensive (for small charities membership is free). Contact us for more details.

9. Cash is King
Normally the finance director has a detailed understanding of how much free cash there is in the bank. Recently a charity entered into a challenging time when an incoming FD did not appreciate the extent to which cash was tied up in restricted funds. Cash flow is essentially all about free funds. Another charity drew on restricted funds to iron out a temporary shortfall in the general fund. It can take trustees unused to looking at columns of figures a while to pick this up. While I'm on the subject of cash flow, are you making sure your bank statements are reconciled each month without fail, budgets updated accordingly and trustees advised of any significant shortfalls or downward trends? The same applies if there's trading subsidiary. Don't assume its directors are always up to date in their reporting. It doesn't take a moment to check these things. Why do I mention this; every day I'm working with charities run by volunteers who often have demanding day jobs, families, domestic issues, all the usual stresses; it's easy to lose track of things. Let's watch each other's backs.

10. Jimmy Savile
Third Sector took a poll on whether the charities were right to close rather than change their names. One in four thought a name change would do the trick. Some hopes. Have they ever tried to redeem a charity which has been totally contaminated?

11. Changes to Restricted Funds
The Scottish Charity Regulator has made it simpler to change the purpose of restricted funds in appropriate situations. It's a sensible move and I imagine that, as seems often to be the pattern nowadays, the regulator for England and Wales will follow in their footsteps. There are of course proper safeguards against abuse, and it seems to be a sensible move to make.

12. Office Space Available
Home working is becoming far more common now days, and it works well; however, it does mean you often don't have the same space requirements. We were planning to relocate Independent Examiners next year, but the landlord kindly offered a 20% rent reduction; so we decided to stay. We now have office space available to anyone in the area (Walberton, West Sussex) looking for a room, or even just use of a desk; contact Kay for further details.

13. AND FINALLY.....

James Bond: 'In my business you prepare for the unexpected.'
'And what is your business?'
'I help people with problems.'
'A problem solver?'
'More of a problem eliminator.'

My wife and I had an argument a couple of days ago. I went straight out and bought an 'I'm Sorry' card, but she refuses to write it. (Thanks to a Facebook friend)

I'm getting quite overwhelmed at times with responses from this bulletin and other enquiries that come into me from AFVS members. Please keep writing, it's what I'm here for. However if you don't get a reply within say 4 days, please chase as it might have got buried and overlooked.

CHARITY BULLETIN No. 116: OCTOBER 2012

This is a monthly bulletin going out to around 10,000 clients, contacts, friends, friends of friends so forth, to keep them in touch with what's going on in the world of charities. Tip: if like me you have a low attention span or this came to you by mistake, scroll down to the And Finally.

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What's on offer

1. CIOs
2. The most valuable advice I will ever give you
3. Charity fined £70k for Data Protection breach
4. NMW & Payment for permitted work
5. Remember Rich Dad, Poor Dad?
6. Employed or Self Employed?
7. When must you get advice?
8. HMRC & 189 Fraudulent Charities
9. ....And Finally

1. CIOs
After years of delays, and once again with Scotland having to lead the way, it looks as though registrations of CIOs could begin in January; that's for new charities. A staggered approach will be taken; existing unincorporated charities that have an income of more than £250k will be able to convert from March, with later dates in 2013 for the smaller charities. No timescale yet for incorporated charities. These dates have yet to be confirmed; we'll keep you posted. Around 20% of new charities in Scotland are choosing to be CIOs.

2. TREASURER OF A CHRISTIAN CHARITY JAILED, OR THE MOST VALUABLE ADVICE I WILL EVER GIVE YOU
The accountant of a christian centre got 5 years for making false gift aid claims of £500,000, much of which he transferred to his private bank account. £117,000 of this was taken from a christian charity which supports orphanages in the Philippines. His initial defence was that it was down to software errors. Now, I'm going to give you a piece of advice which many hundreds, even thousands of my readers will ignore: "Never, never, never sign blank cheques". If you ignore this advice, which many of you will, here's some more advice that you realy must take; if you don't you could pay a heavy price. Make sure, very sure, that you have effective controls in place to make certain that your system is never abused. The need of confidentiality means I can't illustrate this, but it's clear from the above example that the treasurer involved was a trusted pillar of society for many years. Trust that was abused.

3. CHARITY FINED £70,000 FOR DATA PROTECTION BREACH
A social worker working for a charity left sensitive documents outside a house when an attempt to deliver them was made. The charity reported the loss to the ICO, who investigated and discovered that the social worker had not been trained in data protection. Excuse me, I don't think I would need a training course to tell me it's not wise to leave papers containing significant confidential information outside someone's house, when the occupants weren't in and I wanted to get home for my dinner. Nevertheless the warning's clear: train your staff and volunteers and make sure they have a basic common sense approach to sensitive documents. The charity gets a 20% discount if it pays up before November 12th.

4. NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE & PAYMENT FOR PERMITTED WORK
Couple of nuggets from Sandy Adirondack: National Minimum Wage increased from £6.08 to £6.19 from October 1st, and the maximum permitted payment for people on benefits increases from £97.50 to £99.50 per week. Sandy provides a regular legal update which is incredibly detailed. (www.sandy-a.co.uk)

5. REMEMBER RICH DAD, POOR DAD?
The purple cover of this book is a common sight in bookshops across the world; the best selling personal finance book of all time. Robert Kyosaki the author, has just filed for bankruptcy for his main company Rich Global LLC. Take care over who you allow to teach you.

6. EMPLOYED OR SELF EMPLOYED?
If I get a couple or more of requests for help on the same topic it's usually time for another briefing. This is a subject that could cost you dearly if you get it wrong. HMRC's website has a lot of helpful information, but I felt a briefing might simplify the issues even further. It's useful reading if you have gap year workers, or anyone who is paid gross, or paid an honorarium. Whatever it's called, if it should be taxed and it isn't, HMRC can come after the charity or the worker. It's on my website (www.afvs.org.uk). If you don't have access to the members area, e-mail me for a copy.

7. WHEN MUST YOU GET ADVICE?
There are occasions when trustees should get some outside advice. When they are embarking on a major project, about to spend a large sum of money, or doing anything which might be judged to be outside their normal competence, trustees should consider taking outside professional advice. If they are selling land they must take appropriate professional advice. If they are planning to take a mortgage they are also required to take professional advice. If they don't and it goes wrong, they could end up personally liable. E-mail me if I can help in this.

8. HMRC & 189 FRAUDULENT CHARITIES
HMRC is under the cosh right now for making the Small Donations Gift Aid Scheme too complex to be of much use to a lot of the small charities it was set up to help. They are trying to make out that the complexity is to avoid the massive frauds that charities are carrying on. Apparently £10m of fraudulent claims were prevented last year with one fraudster trying to set up 189 fake charities. "People set up hundreds of fake charities and flood us with applications', MPs were told by the committee. I find it hard to believe in these days of unparalleled access to information there aren't simple but effective ways to weed out the sheep from the goats.

9. AND FINALLY....

No vision and you perish; no ideal and you're lost;
Your heart must ever cherish some faith at any cost.
Some hope, some dream to cling to, some rainbow in the sky.
Some melody to sign to, some service that is high.
Harriet du Autermont (Thanks Derek Brown for this one)

Teach a man to fish and he'll feed his family. Teach a man to use the internet and he won't bother you for months, even years (thanks Craig Lock)

'My therapist says I have a preoccupation with vengeance. We'll see about that'. (Stewart Francis)

As they carry me to my death-bed I shall be heard crying, 'Lord, PLEASE just give me one more hour to finish this blog/ bulletin/ briefing

CHARITY BULLETIN No. 115: SEPTEMBER 2012

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

What's on offer

1. Employment Law
2. Internet Policy
3. Founder of Charity Removed by the Board
4. Gift Aid: Claim Disallowed
5. VAT: Claim Disallowed
6. Fundraising
7. Seeing Communities Transformed
8. ....And Finally...

1. Employment Law
Expect substantial changes as government (belatedly) gets to grips with the need to give small businesses more confidence to expand in these testing times. The Enterprise and Reform Bill making its way through Parliament will allow employers to hold 'without prejudice' conversations with employees about their performance. Next year fees for users of the employment tribunal will be introduced to encourage mediation and common sense. The important thing to remember is that your approach to employment and dismissal should be considered and informed. Take advice if difficulties occur, or better still before they occur. We have access to HR professionals who charge reasonable rates to take care of you. A big Welsh charity shut down earlier this year. Before they did, the way they sacked their finance director was a 'textbook example of how not to dismiss somebody', (said the judge). Probably the tip of the iceberg for this particular charity; don't let it ever happen to you. Contact us if you need HR help.

2. Internet Policy
A young lady was arrested a little while ago for 'poking' a fellow Facebook user. Mostly it's ok to poke someone, but not if they have a restraining order against you. Charities are increasingly using Facebook and other media to raise their profiles. If your charity is doing this you should have appropriate policies in place to make sure that it's not abused. A carefully built up reputation can be lost overnight by a moments carelessness. I recently put together a suggested internet policy. Let me know if a copy will help you. (If I've offered this before I do so again because I've strengthened it with new material)

3. Founder of Charity Removed by the Board
Tom Henderson, founder of ShelterBox has been removed as CEO by the board. He was offered the role of President, which he refused. It's not uncommon to try to push someone upstairs, where they have a position with no power. Someone asked for my help this month; the chair of the board, who was also the founder, had been ill for some months and out of action. When she returned she'd been deposed without any due process, and was offered the position of President. I'm not making any judgement on what was done, but how it was done concerns me very much as it brings the charity into disrepute. When she made a fuss they spoke darkly of expenses being claimed that she wasn't entitled to. I saw the figures involved. If changes are needed to your board, and sometimes there has to be change, do it well, and give honour where it's due. And let the Presidency be a place of honour and accolade, not a convenient dumping ground. (I'm quietly hoping they'll make me president of IEL)

4. Gift Aid claim disallowed
A claim for over £12,000 was rejected because a sample of declarations was reviewed and too many errors found. Over 50% of the claim, said HMRC, involved donors who hadn't paid sufficient tax or couldn't be traced from the details given. Seems high to me! They have asked for a full review to be carried out, and the charity must ensure that every donor fully understands that they must have paid sufficient tax to cover the reclaims. Check my last afvs.org.uk blog for a link to take you to the latest guidance on the new wording. E-mail if you need help on this.

5. VAT Claim Disallowed
Had several queries on this recently. HMRC is looking carefully at whether donations are contracts rather than pure grants. The charity Hope in the Community, just had a claim for £43k disallowed, which has hit them hard (they appealed but still lost). You can't afford to get it wrong. I'm so glad that 2 of my AFVS colleagues are charity VAT specialists, who are good at what they do, so I don't have to worry about VAT. E-mail if you need help or guidance.

6. Fundraising
Charities all over the country are seeing their grants being reduced, they are having to reduce their operations lay off staff and even shut down. Wherever possible, it's better to have a range of income streams, and I wonder if too many charities got complacent in the fat years. I popped into a local charity recently to see how they are coping with the downturn and a £25k loss of funding. They weren't wringing their hands in despair and blaming the wicked coalition, but working hard to find other ways to raise money. I re-read my booklet on the subject, and have to say I was impressed. If you're involved in fundraising you might find it helpful. It's on the AFVS website, but if you don't yet have access to it e-mail me and I'll send you a copy.

7. Seeing Communities Transformed
I almost missed this one (thanks Brenda). The Kings Centre in Aldershot will, on Saturday October 6th, be hosting Tim Curry as he comes to talk about his practical vision for transforming Communities. The last time I heard him I was so challenged I posted his notes onto the afvs. org.uk website. He knows what he's talking about and has the ear of government both here and abroad. Get there, or send someone if you can. 9.30 to 1.00pm. e-mail administration@kc21.net for more info.

8. AND FINALLY....

A delicate interaction between dentist and patient that appeared on my Facebook page recently:

Dentist: 'Naomi, do you eat chocolate and sweets?'
Naomi: 'Ummm yes', (gulp) 'I eat chocolate'.
Dentist: 'How often would you say that is?'
Naomi: (quietly) 'every day'.
Dentist: 'And is this with meals or in between?'
Naomi: (thinking quickly ... can't think which best to say. Which should I say?), 'well both - but probably more as a snack between meals'.
Dentist: 'Hmm, yes, it's best for your teeth to eat it with meals rather than in isolation'.
Naomi: 'Oh, does it count if it IS my meal?'

Some gems from George Elliot:

'It is never too late to be who you might have been'.

'Blessed is the man who, having nothing to say, abstains from giving wordy evidence of the fact'.

'Nothing is so good as it seems beforehand'.

'The scornful nostril and the high head gather not the odours that lie on the track of truth'.

If you write in with questions or requests for briefings, and I'm always glad to hear from you anytime, there might be a short delay as I'm spending a few weeks , 'in the steps of St Paul'. Corinth, Ephesus, Malta, etc.

CHARITY BULLETIN No. 114: AUGUST 2012

Daryl Martin

d.martin@afvs.org.uk

CORRECTION
I'm so grateful to the army of eagle eyed readers who gently take me to task when I get something wrong. In my anxiety to tell the world that I know a little about academy trustees I confused 'exempted' with 'excepted'. There's a world of difference, which we don't need to go into just now. I apologise. Thank you to Greyham Dawes for pointing this out.

VOLUNTEERS
Someone sent in a volunteer agreement they had prepared for me to look over. I used the opportunity to update and improve my template (email me if you want a copy d.martin@afvs.org.uk ). When I got to the clause on funds raised by the volunteer it reminded me of a client recently. This charity gave generous gifts of support to an overseas worker who came to the UK a few times a year to fundraise. When another issue came up and his activities were looked into it was found that he was somehow persuading people to give him personal support to the tune of many thousands of pounds that the charity never knew about. Some people are persuasive, but we do need to take care.

WHO'S BEEN STEALING FROM CHARITIES?
Whole spate of thefts recently which I'd better tell you about if only to keep you on your toes. A trustee stole £120,000 from the Fund for the Blind and Partially Sighted. There was only one other trustee at the time. Not the only time he has taken money that wasn't his. Another charity was relieved of £25,000 by the treasurer, a man 'who had been a trusted member of the team for 15 years'. Several others. Let me know if you need help with your control systems. One thing you can do is to get duplicate bank statements sent to someone other than the treasurer. A regular visual check of bank statements can tell you a lot. (It would certainly have picked up the second case.)

LORD HODGSON'S REVIEW OF THE CHARITIES ACT
Apparently they only printed 100 copies and they are pretty much sold out. If you have a burning desire to read the report, the simplest way is to Google the document. I downloaded a pdf to my Kindle.

SAD NEWS BUT GOOD IN A WAY
Gertie Painter from Crawley was about to abseil at Crawley Hospital to help fundraise for a charity for the blind and partially sighted, one which we are supporting, when she had a suspected heart attack and died. She'd abseiled 9 times before and wanted to do a 10th before she reached 100. She was 96. She said abseiling was a bit scary but she had 2 good men friends to help her, Percy Verance and Will Power. I want to be like Gertie when I'm 96. I bet she'll be much missed.

CHANCEL REPAIR LIABILITIES
This is a serious issue for a lot of people right now. The Anglican authorities are currently writing to the parochial church councils responsible for the 12,000 listed Anglican parish churches around the country. PCCs are being encouraged to register 'chancel repair liabilities'. It's a long story, but if the church in your parish once belonged to a monastery, under a 500 year old law, responsibility for chancel and related repairs can fall upon not just the worshippers but also the parishioners. It's estimated that around 5,000 parishes could be covered by these ancient covenants. PCCs have until October 2013 to find out whether such liabilities exist and if they do exist, to register them with the Land Registry. If they don't register them the rights to recover will be lost. This is in response to a case where a couple had to sell their farm to pay a £100,000 share of a repair bill. One vicar is writing to the Charity Commission asking for a 'section 10' exemption to provide protection to both the PCC and the parishioners. Best advice for any PCC that has a church site, that had a church building on it prior to 1840, is to contact their Diocesan Registrar. (The Commutation of the Tithe Act 1840 is relevant.) Enough on this: if you want to know more let me know.

DATA PROTECTION
When the big boys get it wrong they do so spectacularly. London Marathon organisers exposed home addresses and personal email details of some 38,000 runners on its websites; it was only picked up when a member of the public stumbled across the problem. Nevertheless, we must all make sure our data protection is appropriate and effective. This link tells you about an advisory visit the Information Commissioner's officials are offering small and medium organisations: (Thanks Ian Clark for this one) http://www.ico.gov.uk/news/latest_news/2012/charities-urged-to-sign-up-for-ico-data-protection-check-up-top-five-tips-08082012.aspx

LEGACIES
I prepared some material to promote legacy giving on a client's website. Let me know if you'd like a copy. Speaking of which, if you do have the good fortune to get a legacy, make sure as best you can that the solicitor is up to the job. Holy Trinity Church is a common enough name and a solicitor sent an anonymous legacy of £67,000 to the wrong church, one 1.4 miles down the road. 9 months went by before the mistake was discovered, during which time some of the money had been spent leaving the church well out of pocket. The local Archdeacon has intervened and is trying to resolve the situation.

TRUSTEE TRAINING
Charities of all sizes are increasingly putting something into their budgets to enable trustees to keep up to date with their responsibilities. Our current training has plenty for trustees whether new or longstanding. We address the whole range of issues including governing without managing, information needed to govern well, and we look in detail at the two classic models of governance. Email me for a summary sheet, and likely costs.

AFVS
Been a busy month, mainly strengthening the website. There's an increasing range of briefings on different subjects. The briefing on the new Gift Aid Small Donations might be helpful to you. Email me for a copy. If you prefer face to face training one of our giving specialist associates, Barry Gower is holding a couple of training sessions in London (Hosted by UK Fundraising): Sept 18th Introduction to Gift Aid and Oct 8th Small Donations Scheme. An email will get you details (or check their website.) If you can't make those dates email us to keep you posted with other dates as they arise. Check out the website www.afvs.org.uk: perhaps you might consider becoming a member. At the least please sign up for the blog: http://www.afvs.org.uk/blogs; this will keep a supply of helpful information coming your way.

GIFT AID
I had a big take up of my offer of a template for the new wording. After I'd responded to over 40 enquiries I found I was being asked for envelopes. So I added that to the template. Email me if this will be helpful to you. I popped into a Cathedral yesterday and found they put stickers with the new wording onto their envelopes. Not sure what the point is. We are still in the period of grace. When it ends I'm not sure HMRC will be impressed by stickers.

VAT
Bigger charities need to take care; it's getting to be a bit of a minefield. There's talk of bigger charities paying trustees. I read a report recently where a charity proudly announced they had taken on their first paid employee. The problem that might crop up is that many charities have exempt status for admission fees on the basis that they are only manned by volunteers. It's a complex area. I don't get involved but we do have access to vat specialists who know where the traps are and how to deal with them.

AND FINALLY...

We always enjoy watching the highly watchable Alex Polizzi, the hotel inspector, taking failing hotels apart and (mostly) putting them together again. She calls everyone 'darling', often as a precursor to taking them apart. Alex, you can call me darling as often as you like, I can't get enough of it, but do take care next time you're on a BA flight. Call the wrong person darling and you could get a cup of coffee in your lap. Recently a BA steward took his employers to a tribunal for religious discrimination on the grounds that another steward called him darling, offending his religious beliefs. Fortunately the judge threw it out before the hearing.

Thomas Jefferson: on bankers: 'I sincerely believe that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies, and that the principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale'.

On governments: 'My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government'.

(Those who fail to learn the lessons of the past are doomed to repeat them)