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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

National volunteering forum: Vision for Volunteering

  • Involving volunteers
  • Collaboration

Charities have a vital role in supporting those arriving from Ukraine

  • Responding to crises
  • Government and politics

The inside track: May 2022

  • Government and politics
  • Law and regulation

Join our powerful journey: Power & integrity launch

  • Equity, diversity and inclusion
  • Safeguarding
  • Governance

Impact round-up: May 2022

  • Impact and evaluation

Queen's speech: What it means for the voluntary sector

  • Government and politics

Why age friendly inclusive volunteering?

  • Involving volunteers

Volunteering round-up: April 2022

  • Involving volunteers

Governance round-up: April 2022

  • Governance
  • Law and regulation

Government policy and funding round-up: April 2022

  • Funding and income
  • Government and politics
  • Governance

Plan your closure communications

Once the decision has been made to close, you’ll need to decide who to inform and how to inform them

Organise your finances for closure

Key financial steps your need to take when closing your organisation

Supporting your staff and volunteers through closure

Your duty of care to staff, volunteers and beneficiaries should be at the top of any closure plans

Supporting your leadership team and trustees through closure

Closing an organisation will require courage and commitment from an organisation’s leadership

You hold data

You have a website and social media presence

You're currently fundraising

Guidance on refusing donations, communicating with donors, and returning donations

You have restricted funding

You have a permanent endowment

You have physical assets

Successful funding applications (0.5 day)

Learn Practical tips to ensure you are successful in your funding bid applications.

Governance Forum

A space for charity governance professionals to come together, learn and network

Recruiting volunteers (0.5 day)

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

Tools and methods for measuring outcomes (1 day)

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

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

Equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in charity governance (2 x 0.5 days)

This course has been created by The Social Justice Collective to help you understand, address and embed equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) into your governance practice

Boost your personal influence and impact (0.5 day)

Learn practical tools and techniques to increase your capability, confidence and impact when seeking to influence others – both within and outside your organisation

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

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

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