There is a change in the climate when it comes to charity governance. Partly in response to recent issues within prominent charities, the Charity Commission is expecting greater professionalism from trustees and expects to see in all charities a compliance and governance culture, with policies playing an important role in shaping that culture. Good, well-thought-through policies help to meet these heightened expectations whilst also providing a number of benefits for churches. This policy pack offers eleven template policies (including associated guidelines) for churches or charities to adapt to meet their own particular circumstances. The pack has been updated to include most of the policies in the 2023 Charity Commission annual return, with the exceptions of safeguarding, campaigns and political activity, and engaging external speakers for charity events. Two additional policies are included in the pack. The first is an anti-money laundering and terrorist financing policy. This is increasingly relevant as banks have greater emphasis on this area and so good policies help manage the risks. The second is a tax evasion education and prevention policy, which was written in 2026 in response to the Government’s guidance to organisations on the potential offence of failure to prevent fraud.
Policy templates included:
- Risk management
- Investments
- Conflicts of interest
- Complaints handling
- Reserves
- Anti-money laundering, terrorist financing and bribery
- Tax evasion education and prevention policy
- Anti-harassment and bullying
- Serious incident reporting
- Social media usage
- Trustee expenses
Please note that the policies can also be purchased individually:
- Policies for churches/charities – Risk management
- Policies for churches/charities – Investments
- Policies for churches/charities – Conflicts of interest
- Policies for churches/charities – Complaints handling
- Policies for churches/charities – Reserves
- Policies for churches/charities – Anti money laundering & terrorist financing
- Policies for churches/charities – Tax evasion prevention
- Policies for churches/charities – Anti-harassment and bullying
- Policies for churches/charities – Serious incident reporting
- Policies for churches/charities – Social media usage
- Policies for churches/charities – Trustee expenses
Updated August 2023