Guidance to help with running your charity during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
Paying charity staff
The Charity will be entitled to make the same claims for help with payments of Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) and furloughed employees as any other employer.
Please refer to our guides on these matters
Third Sector Resilience Fund for Wales
A third sector resilience fund for Wales has been set up to help voluntary organisations stay in business and to provide cash flow support to help organisations through the current crisis. The fund is part of the £24m of support announced by Welsh Government and will involve a blend of 75% grant and 25% interest free (initially) loan. This is available to incorporated voluntary sector organisations and can be used towards the costs of ongoing revenue expenditure, including salaries. Organisations can apply for up to £75,000.
You can find more information by following this link:
https://wcva.cymru/funding/social-investment-cymru/third-sector-resilience-fund-for-wales/
Using reserves and restricted funds to help the charity through the crisis
Reserves can be spent to help cope with unexpected events like those unfolding at present.
In the first instance, trustees should consider what are their short, medium and longer term priorities, and see if they need to amend their financial planning given their current situation.
Trustees should think about whether or not certain projects, spends or activities can be stopped or delayed in order to focus on essential spending if they are facing financial challenges at this time.
Identify which of your funds or assets have limits on their use. If these are internal only – for example your charity has decided to earmark certain funds for a particular purpose – you may be able to re-prioritise these. If they are restricted funds, meaning they cannot be spent at your (trustees) discretion, then they may only be used for a particular and defined purpose. For example, a fundraising appeal may restrict funds to a specific purpose, or if you have a permanent endowment, it may have restrictions on selling it to release funds.
If there are restrictions, in some instances there may be ways to amend these restrictions, but accessing or releasing restricted funds should only be considered if other options such as reserves are not possible.
All decisions on such financial matters should normally be taken collectively, and significant decisions and action points noted in writing. The Charities’ Commission has issued detailed guidance on financial resilience; on charity reserves; and a general tool to help trustees work out what to focus on and we of course are here to help you.
Cancelling or postponing the charity’s AGM or other key meetings
Coronavirus is having a major impact on charity events and the government’s health advice may lead to some charities having no choice but to decide to cancel or postpone their AGMs and other critical meetings.
If as trustees, you decide it is necessary to do so, you should record this decision to demonstrate good governance of your charity. This is particularly important if it is not possible to hold your AGM which may make it difficult for you to finalise your annual reports and accounts.
You may wish to consider Video, teleconferencing and the internet in place of face-to-face meetings and this may be possible if your governing documents allow you to meet virtually or to use telephone facilities. Please check your governing document and if they do not allow this then check to see if you can make amendments yourselves to facilitate changes as to how or when meetings are held.
Where there is no such clause in your governing document and you decide to hold meetings over the phone or using digital solutions, you should record this decision and that you have done this to demonstrate good governance of your charity.
What do I need to report to the Charity Commission?
It is still the responsibility of the charity trustees to continue to report serious incidents using the current guidelines, and as trustees you should use your judgement in deciding whether an incident is significant in the context of their charity and should be reported.
The Government has stated that they will continue to prioritise those incidents that place individuals at risk, or incidents that have had a significant impact on a charity’s operations and therefore serious harm to the charity’s work.
Keeping people safe
Now more than ever it is critical to ensure that charities protect and safeguard their beneficiaries, volunteers and staff.
This is all the more relevant for those directly helping communities or vulnerable members of society who are self-isolating. The Government safeguarding guidance is a source of support on how to keep people safe, and what steps you should take if you identify concerns.
Reporting accounts and finances
The Charity SORP has issued updated guidance about what and how to report.