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Advertise with us

Discover you can advertise with us and reach voluntary sector professionals.

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

Volunteering during the covid-19 pandemic: What we know

  • Coronavirus
  • Involving volunteers

Governance round-up: July 2022

Read our latest round-up for trustees and governance professionals, with useful sector updates, training courses and written guidance.

  • Governance

Impact round-up: August 2022

In this edition, Sandy Chidley, senior consultant, spotlights opportunities in impact and evaluation and shares useful evaluation resources and training opportunities

  • Impact and evaluation

Time Well Spent: A national survey on the volunteer experience

Our survey of more than 10,000 people provides the most detailed analysis of volunteering for a decade

  • Involving volunteers
  • Digital and technology

Time Well Spent: Employer-supported volunteering

Building on existing work on corporate volunteering, this report looks at employer-supported volunteering through the eyes of the volunteer

  • Involving volunteers
  • Employing and managing staff

Government policy and funding round-up: August 2022

This round-up will help you to stay informed about our influencing work, and any government policy and funding announcements. For news related to what’s happening in parliament, see our regular inside track round-up.

  • Government and politics

Governance round-up: August 2022

Governance consultant Sally Stephens shares updates on the Charities Act and the Charity Governance Code, along with some exciting training opportunities for trustees

  • Governance

Turning abandoned shares into support for communities – and what you can do to help

We explain what dormant assets are, how they could support communities and how you can help make that happen.

  • Law and regulation

Supporting members through the cost of living crisis

  • Responding to crises
  • Government and politics

Government must provide immediate financial support to help communities

Voluntary sector partners joint statement on the cost of living crisis

  • Responding to crises
  • Government and politics

Consequence scanning when you work with technology

How to reduce technology-based risk within your organisations

  • Digital and technology

The digital maturity matrix

The digital maturity matrix is a simple tool to assess your current strengths and weaknesses, and helps you see what you need to do next to improve.

How AI can help small charities

Understanding artificial intelligence (AI) and how small charities can use it to improve their work.

  • Digital and technology

Dealing with unconscious bias

Tackle one of the biggest obstacles we face when creating digital content, software and services

Planning user research

Use this page to learn about how to plan user research. The first step in planning any successful digital project is to explore what people need. Here are some methods to help you do that well.

  • Digital and technology

Asking good user research interview questions

Use this page to ask the right kind of questions when you're planning user research interviews

  • Digital and technology

Best practice and legal compliance for consent and data storage

  • Digital and technology

Note taking and making sense of your research

  • Digital and technology

Before you start a new website project

Use this page to help you work out if your website needs replacing and how to go about doing it

  • Digital and technology

Building your own website or getting a specialist

Use this page for information on building your own website or getting someone to help.

  • Digital and technology

Tools and methods for measuring outcomes (1 day)

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

Leading external engagement ( 1 day)

This training will teach you how to raise your profile and the profile of your charity. You’ll learn how to improve your external engagement through network-building, collaboration, partnership development and effective communication.

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

Recruiting volunteers (0.5 day)

This course will develop your skills and help you use a marketing approach to recruit volunteers

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

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

Safeguarding essentials for trustees (0.5 day)

This introductory course explains the key trustee responsibilities for safeguarding, following guidance from the Charity Commission

Developing a volunteer strategy (1 day)

Get an overview of the key tasks and considerations when creating a volunteer strategy. Learn how to develop a strategy that compliments your business plan and create a framework for building success

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