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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

Volunteering in England in 2032

  • Involving volunteers

Mobilising the public response to war in Ukraine through partnership and collaboration

  • Responding to crises
  • Collaboration
  • Involving volunteers

12 things I've learnt about culture change over the last 12 months

  • Governance
  • Equity, diversity and inclusion
  • Inside NCVO

Volunteering round-up: March 2022

  • Involving volunteers

Governance round-up: March 2022

  • Governance
  • Law and regulation

Respond, recover, reset: What the voluntary sector can learn from the past two years

  • Funding and income
  • Impact and evaluation
  • Responding to crises

Sarah Vibert: My vision for NCVO and our membership community

  • Inside NCVO
  • Collaboration
  • Involving volunteers

The inside track: March 2022

  • Law and regulation
  • Government and politics

How charities and civil society can support Ukraine

  • Responding to crises

Volunteering round-up: February 2022

  • Involving volunteers

Budget, insurance and security

Understanding your safeguarding responsibilities when managing budgets, security and staff safety

  • Safeguarding

Data protection and digital technology

How to make sure your organisation is managing data safely and securely

  • Safeguarding

Working with partners

Find out about starting and checking due diligence when working with others

  • Safeguarding

Further help and guidance

Find more safeguarding resources that may be useful in your role

  • Safeguarding

Safeguarding responsibilities for HR managers

How human resources can play a leading role in safeguarding

  • Safeguarding

Safeguarding from interview to exit

Ensuring good safeguarding practice from interview to exit

  • Safeguarding

Introduction to safer recruitment practices

How to conduct recruitment practices safely

  • Safeguarding

Role risk assessment

How to conduct a safeguarding risk assessment when recruiting to a new role

  • Safeguarding

Advertising and applications

Guidance for advertising roles and processing applications

  • Safeguarding

Shortlisting

Safeguarding considerations when shortlisting for roles

  • Safeguarding

Outcomes and impact measurement (1 day)

Learn how to create an evaluation plan to better understand and demonstrate the difference your work makes

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

Authentic leadership (1 day)

This practical one-day course for aspiring and existing charity leaders will strengthen your understanding of authentic leadership, so you can lead with integrity and impact

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

Member forum: The Civil Society Covenant

Learn more about the Civil Society Covenant, and the steps to implement it, in this free event.

Strategic planning: tools for decision making (1 day)

This course will introduce processes and tools to help ensure that decision-making is responsive to your environment and focused on the most important issues affecting your organisation

Managing conflict and ending volunteering well (0.5 day)

This course will help you to manage conflict and problem solve with your volunteers, and navigate the process of ending volunteering well.

Supporting good governance (4 x 0.5 days)

This course will help you implement structures and processes to support trustees, and ensure systems are aligned with your organisation’s purpose and objectives