UK small charity survey. Half of small charities do not understand laws applying to them. A report for the Legal Services Consumer Panel has found that small charities have little understanding of the legal issues they face, and warns that funding cuts and greater pressure on their services could see charities facing a wider variety of legal implications. Commissioned in July and published this week, the study into the provision of legal services to small charities conducted both quantitative and qualitative research to ascertain what knowledge gaps exist and to drive reform in legal services for charities. Half of the representatives from 24 small charities partaking in the detailed research demonstrated limited or no understanding of the laws that apply to them, despite being the person most responsible for legal matters.
A wider survey, completed by 800 small charities, found that they felt overwhelmed by guidance, highlighting a need for greater collaboration in legal service provision. Role of the Charity Commission Funding changes have legal implications. Small charities let down by poor organisation. How to build a good small NGO. New charities rely on peers for support. A Charity Commission survey reveals that charities seeking to register with it use other charities as a source of support almost as much as the sector regulator itself.
In its report released today to mark Trustees' Week, Birth of a charity: Governance of organisations seeking registered charitable status, the Commission comes out on top for ‘sources of support accessed by trustees’, polling 44 per cent. But 41 per cent of the 667 respondents claimed that their trustees went to ‘another charity working in a similar field’ for help in fulfilling their responsibilities for advice. The third ranking option was ‘lawyer/legal expertise’, with 29 per cent. Only 23 per cent said that they go a local infrastructure body such as a council for voluntary services. The online survey ran from August 2011 to August 2012, during which time over 6,000 new register applications were submitted.
Most trustees come from within Younger: ‘Recruit trustees as widely as possible’ NGO Networks.