As AGM time comes round again for many charities – churches included – the Charity Commission for England and Wales has issued a reminder, well worth reading in its own right, about the need for charities and their trustees to think very hard about their operations. The Commission suggests that if they have not already done so they should read Charity trustee meetings: 15 questions you should ask [updated March 2017] – the principles of which are equally apposite to Scotland and Northern Ireland even though they have separate and rather different legislation.

In brief, the questions are as follows:

1. What effect is the current economic climate having on our charity and its activities? What do we see in the future? How can we best reflect this in any scenario or forward planning that we do? Are we focusing on the right things, or have we drifted into activities that are over and above our core charitable aims? If we have, is it justified? Continue reading →