We are frequently contacted by small charities asking for help to develop a framework of organisational policies. The driver is often funder or other stakeholder requirements, rather than a genuine desire for effective governance. As a result, the work can start out (at least) as something of a box ticking exercise; seeking templates that can simply be adopted wholesale.

However, there are good reasons for making sure that even small charities have fit for purpose policies in place, beyond simply satisfying funders.

What is the point of having policies? Primarily it is about risk management. For example:

• A good financial policy protects the charity against fraud, theft or unauthorised private benefit and helps ensure value for money. You might not think these are risks for your charity but you never know and the policy/practice protects Trustees, volunteers and staff from false accusations as much as it protects the charity.

• A safeguarding policy (as well as being a statutory requirement) is all about protecting children and at risk adults from harm. Why would anyone not want to do that properly?

• Similarly, health and safety policies and risk assessments are about keeping people and property safe.

• A good code of conduct really helps ensure things run more smoothly and protects both the charity and Trustees, volunteers and staff in much the same way as a financial policy.

• Effective risk management processes not only protect the charity, they can be important drivers for innovation and improvement.

• Employment policies are essential to ensure employees and the charity are properly protected from a host of risks.

• Data protection is a statutory requirement, but more fundamentally than that, it’s about keeping personal and sensitive information safe and treating people with the respect they would expect.

Need we go on?

Equally, we are passionate advocates for proportionality when it comes to any aspect of governance, including policies and procedures. Small charities, delivering a few low risk services with relatively limited of income and expenditure really don’t need a (virtual) shelf full of lever arch files for a policy framework. The extent of controls and process should always be proportionate to the risks and benefits involved.

There are, of course, many sources of template/example policies out there that provide a good starting point for developing a decent policy framework, including the NCVO and Small Charity Support. Some are better than others and all should only ever be treated as s starting point.

All too often we see such examples adopted unamended, sometimes even without the name of the charity being changed! A question we tend to ask our clients is “does the policy reflect what you actually do?” If the answer is “no”, then either the policy needs to change to reflect practice or the practice needs to change to reflect the policy. Which, depends on what makes most sense and is proportionate in the circumstances.

Our core message, therefore, is that having in place a proportionate and effective policy framework makes sense for every charity and it need not been an onerous job to develop it.

To find out more about the governance support and training we offer, including help to develop policies and procedures, please contact us at julian@almondtreeconsulting.co.uk to arrange free initial telephone discussion.