Testing times for charities

• COVID-19 brings huge challenges for the charity sector both now and, in the future.
• Charity services are in more demand than ever, but income simply isn’t matching this. To continue operating, charities must adapt to protect both those they exist to benefit and their long-term financial sustainability.
• From a governance perspective trustees must steer their charity through two phases of these testing times, not knowing how long the first will last.

Emergency phase

Despite lockdown, decisions still need to be made and business carried out. The Charity Commission and the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator are putting the emphasis on trustees making the best decisions they can, not the technicalities of how decisions are made. For charitable companies, proposed legislation currently before Parliament may help with the timing of holding AGMs but this still does not address the practicalities of how meetings are to be held.

How?

For both trustee meetings and AGMs or other member meetings, obviously safety comes first. Social