Putting faith in good governance

The Charity Commission have just published a new Guide to help faith based charities comply with charity law and equip them to work even better, whilst recognising that maintenance of their faith identity, core aims and mission is key.

Aimed at smaller and newer charities and written in brief rather than overly technical style, the Guide draws together existing guidance from various sources but also usefully includes case studies of how faith based charities have applied governance principles in their own charity.

The main sections cover:
Charity Registration: clarification over the legal requirements for Registered Places of Worship, registration of previously excepted churches, use (or otherwise) of denominational governing documents and what to do now if your church wishes to register as a charitable incorporated organisation (CIO);
Governance Roles: including ‘who are our trustees?” and a very useful section on “Private benefit to religious leaders”; and

A Summaries section: useful topics including recruitment of new trustees, the question of trustee liability and a brief summary of the public benefit requirement.

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“Faith in Good Governance” is available by clicking onto
http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/Library/tcc/pdfs/faithgov.pdf