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Help and guidance

Our help and guidance content includes step-by-step guides, downloadable templates and interactive tools to help you run your voluntary organisation

Setting up

Learn about the practical steps you need to take to set up your own organisation

  • Setting up

Deciding to set up a new charitable organisation

Access our guidance to help you decide if you should set up a new charity, voluntary organisation or community group

  • Setting up

Choosing your legal structure

What you need to consider when choosing your legal structure and the main characteristics of different legal structures

  • Setting up

Understanding charity status and registration

Find out what charity status is and if you need to register as a charity

  • Setting up

Understanding social enterprise

Find out about social enterprises and their associated legal structures

  • Setting up

A charity's governing document: What it should include

Find out what information should be included in your charity's governing document

  • Setting up

Running a charity

Guidance and tools to help you run your charity or voluntary organisation

  • Employing and managing staff
  • Setting up
  • Closing down

Employing and managing staff

Practical guidance to help you recruit, manage and develop paid members of staff, including a useful introduction to employment law

  • Employing and managing staff

Employing staff essentials

Familiarise yourself with the essential aspects of employing paid members of staff

  • Employing and managing staff

Our equity, diversity and inclusion work: Proceeding at the pace of trust

  • Inside NCVO
  • Equity, diversity and inclusion

Volunteering round-up: February 2023

NCVO’s senior policy and influencing advisor Catherine Goodall shares recent updates and upcoming dates for your diary

  • Involving volunteers

Governance round-up: February 2023

Our round-up for trustees and governance professionals, with useful sector updates, training courses and guidance

  • Governance

Five tips for managing costs with the new Energy Bills Discount Scheme

Advice on what the Energy Bills Discount Scheme means for charities and tips on how to cope with rising costs

  • Responding to crises

Exploring approaches to age friendly inclusive volunteering

Susannah Hodge, training and regional support manager at the Third Age Trust, shares learning and reflections from NCVO's age inclusive volunteering project

  • Involving volunteers

The inside track: February 2023

Our latest update on what’s happening in Westminster. This month sees the creation of new government departments and a big change at the top of Scottish politics

  • Government and politics

Governance round-up: March 2023

With many of us approaching the end of our financial year, senior governance consultant Sally Stephens shares guidance for completing your annual return

  • Governance

Is this what a voluntary sector CEO looks like?

To mark International Women’s Day 2023, our chief executive Sarah Vibert reflects on what changes are needed to encourage more women into leadership positions in the voluntary sector

  • Equity, diversity and inclusion

Charities urge chancellor to provide cost of living support

Organisations have united ahead of next week’s spring budget to call on the chancellor to provide urgent support

  • Responding to crises

Government policy and funding round-up: March 2023

The latest government policy and funding announcements and updates on our influencing work

  • Government and politics
  • Funding and income

Partnerships

Guidance to help you decide whether working in partnership is right for your organisation

  • Collaboration

Campaigning in collaboration

Guidance to help voluntary organisations collaborate on campaigns

  • Collaboration

Structures for consortia delivery of public service delivery

Explore three models of consortia delivery of public services by voluntary and community organisations

  • Collaboration

Working together to achieve your mission

This page looks at how organisations collaborate on the projects that directly contribute to their overall mission

  • Collaboration

Sharing back office services

Advice on how organisations can use collaborative working to share premises and back office services

  • Collaboration

Staffing a collaborative project

Things to consider when staffing a collaborative project

  • Collaboration

National organisations with local groups

How organisations with a national body and local groups can work together

  • Collaboration

Collaborative working to generate income

Guidance on fundraising through the gift economy (public giving, voluntary donations) and the open market (trading)

  • Collaboration

Why be part of a consortium?

Reasons for forming a consortium and examples of voluntary sector consortia

  • Collaboration

Consortium operating models

The different ways that voluntary organisations can work together collectively to bid for and deliver public service contracts

  • Collaboration

Mentoring and coaching skills (0.5 days)

This course provides an introduction to the key differences between mentoring and coaching. You’ll learn how to use both skills effectively to develop and support staff, volunteers and clients

Theory of change for strategic planning and evaluation (1 day)

Learn how to create your own theory of change and narrative. This course will challenge you to think critically about what you're doing and why

Charity finance skills (1 day)

This course will help people with little or no financial background to feel confident in managing day-to-day charity finance

Charity trustee induction and refresher (2 x 0.5 days)

This course will give trustees an overview and understanding of charity governance, regulation and best practice

NCVO/Zurich webinar: Developing and embedding effective risk assessments for volunteers

Join us for an essential webinar on creating and embedding effective risk assessments to protect your volunteers and those they support

Financial governance for trustees (0.5 day)

This course will revisit the core financial duties of a charity trustee and explore what it means to practice good financial governance

Strategic leadership (1 day)

This practical one-day course for aspiring and existing charity leaders will elevate your strategic leadership skills, so you can create lasting impact for your organisations and the communities you serve.

Safeguarding essentials in charities (1 day)

All voluntary organisations have a duty to keep the people they work with safe from harm. This course introduces the basics of safeguarding within a charity context in England and highlights effective safeguarding practice

Tools and methods for measuring outcomes (1 day)

Get an introduction to data collection methods and practical guidance for evaluating your work

Better impact reporting (0.5 day)

This practical session will build your awareness of different types of reporting and support you to tell a compelling story through your reporting