Understand your duties as a charity trustee

You are a charity trustee if you belong to the body that has ultimate control of the charity, whatever it calls you: trustee, director, board member, committee member or governor. The governing document (constitution, trust deed or articles) shows which body that is. All trustees share equal responsibility for the charity.

The Charity Commission does not expect perfection. Charity law generally protects trustees who act honestly and reasonably, but it holds you to six duties.

Make decisions together

Trustees act collectively: once a decision is made, all of you must comply with it, and you can ask for your disagreement to be minuted. Take advice when the charity or its property could be at risk, for example when buying or selling land, investing, entering a complex or high-value contract or considering legal action.

You can delegate tasks to staff, volunteers or sub-committees, but not your overall responsibility. Set the limits in writing and check that they are followed.

Keep the charity accountable

You must comply with the statutory accounting and reporting rules. Every charity must produce accounts and give a copy of the latest to anyone who asks. Registered charities report to the Charity Commission as follows.

Failing to send accounts to the Commission is a criminal offence. The trustees who sign the annual report and accounts sign on behalf of the whole board, so all trustees are responsible for them, and for the charity's finances generally, not only the treasurer.

Report any serious incident to the Commission promptly: actual or alleged fraud, theft, significant financial loss, criminal breaches, safeguarding issues and terrorism or extremism allegations. Telling the police or another regulator does not replace reporting to the Commission, and failing to report an incident that later comes to light may be treated as mismanagement.

Check that you can be a trustee

A charity claiming tax reliefs such as Gift Aid needs all its managers, trustees included, to be fit and proper persons.

Some people are disqualified automatically under the Charities Act 2011. The same rules cover the chief executive and chief finance officer roles.

The Commission can order you to repay what the charity paid you while you were disqualified. You can apply to the Commission to waive a disqualification. It cannot waive one for a charitable company or CIO where you are barred as a company director and the court has not given you leave to act.

Know when you could be personally liable

If you receive an unauthorised payment or benefit you must repay it, and the Commission cannot relieve you of that duty.

To reduce the risk, keep minutes that record decisions and the reasons for them, manage conflicts, take advice from a suitably qualified person, check that the charity can meet its debts before it takes on a contract or borrowing, and file accounts on time. If an unincorporated charity employs staff or signs contracts, consider incorporating, because its trustees would otherwise sign personally.

Know when trustees can be paid

Paying a trustee for carrying out trustee duties is allowed only in exceptional cases, for a limited time, where it clearly brings the charity a significant advantage over other options. It needs a power in the governing document or authority from the Commission, and the trustees must decide it is in the charity's best interests and manage the conflict.

Employing a trustee is covered by separate Commission guidance. If you follow none of these routes, you may have to repay the charity, and the charity's accounts may have to name the trustee and the amount.