Charity Essentials - March 2024

In this clear and succinct five-minute video, Professional Support Lawyer Sarah Clune outlines the final tranche of provisions from the Charities Act 2022 including: changes to governing documents; selling, leasing or otherwise disposing of charity land; charity mergers; and ex-gratia payments. Watch the full video.

We have seen an increase in queries from charities on accepting or returning donations and the ex-gratia regime and, as the Charity Commission published new guidance on just this topic on 4 March 2024, Hannah Kubie, Partner and Head of the Charity and Social Enterprise Team, and Luke Watson, Partner and Head of the Charity Legacy Team, have compiled some useful FAQs to help charities understand the guidance and what it means for them. Read all the FAQs.

The Charity Commission has concluded research conducted over the course of 10 years into public perception of the charity sector and how trustees view their responsibilities in the running of charities. Broadly speaking, it seems that public trust in charities "has been recovering and stabilising". Read a summary of the findings, written by Sarah Clune.

After several months of dealings with the Charity Commission, Stone King Partner Tom Murdoch has helped online newspaper The Guildford Dragon achieve status as the first charitable ‘public interest’ news provider. Read more about the move that could ensure the future of local journalism, including Tom’s interview with Civil Society and his own blog on the story.

The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 received Royal Assent on 26 October 2023 and contains a range of new requirements for companies. These requirements aim to tackle economic crime and increase transparency by delivering a more reliable companies register. Read this piece by Sarah Clune that sets out the ways in which the Act will affect charitable companies and CICs.

The Charity Commission has published its 2024-2029 strategy. Sarah Clune sets out the strategy’s key themes, quotes and priorities in this helpful summary. 

There has been recent media coverage of alleged poor practice in relation to fundraising, saying that by using questionable fundraising methods charities risk losing public support. It seems likely that there will be further coverage of fundraising practices in the coming weeks.

Charities should have a fundraising policy in place which is fit for purpose and regularly reviewed. Where responsibility for fundraising is delegated to a charity’s in-house or volunteer fundraisers, charities need to make sure they know what is expected of them. If working with a commercial partner to raise funds for the charity, you will need to comply with the legal requirements and any agreement should reflect the charity's values and include mechanisms for oversight on how the agreement is put into practice 'on the ground'. Due diligence on partner organisations is an important step in assurance that any agreement will be effective and compliant with the expectations of the Charity Commission, the Fundraising Regulator, the public and other stakeholders.

The Charity Commission and Fundraising Regulator both have key guidance on fundraising, and if you are interested in attending a webinar on this subject, please contact Sarah Clune. 

Following our article titled 'Proposed legislation may impact membership charities' ability to claim gift aid on subscriptions', it was announced in the recent budget that the government is going to amend existing legislation on gift aid. This will make sure that charities can continue to claim it, while ensuring compliance with the new protections for consumers who take out subscription contracts under the Bill, which is currently at the report stage in the House of Lords.

The aim is for these amendments to the gift aid regime to be in place by the time the relevant provisions of the Bill come into force.

In this webinar, we will look at the immigration routes organisations can use in the charity sector to bring volunteers to the UK. Find out more. 

We have developed our training programme to equip charity trustees and members of senior management teams with the knowledge you need to carry out your roles effectively. Find out more.

This year's theme, 'The climate crisis, sustainable development, and ESG – the Catholic response', explores these complex topics from a range of perspectives relevant to Catholic organisations. Find out more.