Is your charity’s virtual meeting leaving you at risk?
“Jumping on a quick Teams/Zoom/Google meeting” is a phrase discussed daily since the COVID-19 pandemic. But by having your trustee meetings online, are you leaving your charity vulnerable, and at worse leaving the decisions you have made open to the risk of invalidation?
Our Founding Director Andy Nash has reviewed the new guidance from the Charity Commission on holding meetings online or in a hybrid format (CC48) released (July 2024), and if you hold any meetings online you NEED to read this.
In a nutshell, your constitution MUST specify that hybrid/virtual meetings can take place, otherwise decisions at meetings could be invalid.
Your constitution should state:
- Whether all can be virtual/hybrid and whether a minimum number must still be face-to-face
- How you give notice
- How you will hold votes
- How you will adjourn such meetings
Furthermore, you should have a separate policy stating how people at virtual and hybrid meetings can ask questions, and join in the conversations, and how you plan on sharing/displaying documents such as actions and resolutions.
This may seem common sense, but have you reviewed your constitution in relation to virtual/hybrid meeting provision?
Sam Jackson, Assistant Director of policy and strategy at the Charity Commission said: “The ways in which people communicate have rapidly evolved since the pandemic, and it is now very common for charities to conduct their meetings online or in a hybrid form. Our revised guidance reflects this development and emphasises the importance of following a charity’s governing document and keeping it up to date to ensure good governance.
“After seeking feedback from trustees, we’ve also made the guidance shorter and easier to understand. Through these improvements, we hope to make it easier for trustees to know what is expected of them, and how they can act in the best interests of their charities.”
Don’t delay; review your governance today
Governance and policy reviews are fundamental to a charity/not-for-profit organisation, and not something to skim over. It’s a thorough process usually conducted by professionals working in this area day-to-day and should be reviewed regularly. At Enaid, we appreciate that many trustee boards are realising that they need as much support as possible; whether as a result of an unfortunate incident, or just as part of a health check, and we can support in reviewing governance structures and making recommendations on how to improve as a board.
What’s included in an Enaid governance review?
Our review consists of:
- A review of policies, procedures, and minutes of trustee meetings
- An evaluation questionnaire sent and completed by all trustees is followed up with a workshop discussing the results
- Individual conversations with trustees where appropriate/required exploring some of the results of the questionnaire and other areas
The four main areas covered are:
- Strategy and planning
- Board performance and functionality
- Trustee skills and diversity
- Trustee responsibilities and compliance
We worked with Age UK, amongst many other charities, for this very purpose, and you can check out their Governance Review work here.
If you need a governance review to ensure you’re adhering to new rules, get in touch with the Enaid team today https://www.enaidaccountancy.co.uk/contact/
The new meeting guidance rules can be read in full on the Charity Commission’s gov.uk page
