As part of our monthly Focus Week, we're concentrating on our Frequently Asked Friday, a space for us to answer your frequently asked questions. This week, Helen Oparinde, NCVS Sector Growth Coordinator, has been looking into organisational structures.
Question:
As part of NCVS’s request for support services, we get asked for support on various topics, from volunteer recruitment to reviewing governance structure and planning. This week Helen was told by a founder of a new group, 'I am focused on having a charity status, as I never want cost to be a barrier to the delivery of this work.'
Answer
At NCVS, when we give advice on the topic of what structure to set up, we ask some initial questions. Do you want to earn an income from the social purpose activities you intend to deliver? Or do you want to volunteer your time for free?
If so, then a social enterprise might be for you. Our recent blog, Relevance of quality standards to effective partnerships with government, gave details of the aspiring social enterprise accreditation, which explains that with the opportunity of a director earning a reasonable salary, there should be a commitment to become sustainable through trading income (i.e., aiming to earn 50% or more of its income from trading within three years).
Most trustees who started their role before the Charities Act 2022 came into force would have answered the question, 'Can a trustee be paid?' with 'Of course not.' But it became a bit more complicated from 31 October 2022. Charities now have a statutory power to pay trustees for providing goods alone to the charity in certain circumstances. Using the new statutory power, trustees can be paid for:
- Services only, for example, estate agency or computer consultancy
- Services and associated goods, for example, plumbing or painting service and any associated materials such as plumbing parts or paint
- Goods only, for example, supplying stationery to the charity
Next steps:
If you are unsure whether the structure you have in place is right for your organisation, why not get in touch using our request for support service?
Or if you want to know more about the role of a trustee. We have two courses: Being a trustee: what does it mean? and Trustee refresher: Being better. It’s the 150th anniversary, so our gift to you is to attend those courses for free.
Finally aspiring social entrepreneurs in Nottingham can find out more about our Social Enterprise Accelerator programme on our Social Enterprise page.