Trustees

The main duty of trustees is to advance the purposes of the charity and to always act in the charity’s best interest. Trustees need to ensure that the charity’s assets and resources are only used for the purposes for which the charity was set up. This extends to the charity's fundraising activities.

I want to go straight to the code and read what it says about trustees and fundraising

Read the code

I want to go straight to the code and read what it says about trustees and fundraising

I have a fundraising concern about a particular trustee

Make a complaint

I have a fundraising concern about a particular trustee

For fundraisers

Trustees have many responsibilities directly related to fundraising. These all link to the principle that trustees must always act in the charity’s best interests.

Trustees take ultimate responsibility for the fundraising activities of their charity. This is still the case even when they have delegated these roles. They need to ensure that any risks or conflicts of interest that may arise in fundraising activities are managed by the charity.

Trustees are ultimately responsible for ensuring the charity is compliant with the law in the way it fundraises. This includes the need to ensure agreements with third party fundraisers are in place and that the relevant licenses / permissions are in place for collections. Their role includes considering the impact of any campaigns on the charity’s reputation.

The Code of Fundraising Practice outlines trustee duties in section 2.

For broader information about trustee responsibilities, see the Charity Commission’s guidance on fundraising and trustees. For information on how to select and recruit trustees, see the NCVO’s guidance.

Trustee resources

Webinar

Webinar: Trustee responsibilities

This video is designed to help charities and trustees understand what charity trustee responsibilities are when it comes to fundraising.
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Guidance

The Charities (Protection and Social Investment) Act 2016: Fundraising reporting requirements guidance

Guidance on complying with fundraising reporting requirements for charities which produce an annual report and their trustees.
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Comment

Questions your board should be asking about fundraising

To mark Trustees’ Week, Suzanne McCarthy, Chair of Depaul UK and board member of the Fundraising Regulator, writes about questions your board should be asking about fundraising.
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