Memorandum from Ian Clark (DCH 53)
I have nearly 30 years' experience as a voluntary
Trustee of several different medium-sized national charities,
including terms of office as Chair and Treasurer. I have also
acted a Secretary of several small local charities in different
parts of the country. During my professional life as a management
consultant I advised (for fees) the Boards of quite a few more
charities and not-for-profit organisations, as well as scores
of commercial companies. I currently work as a fundraising adviser
for an umbrella body for local charities.
I agree with thrust of most of the draft proposals,
although I would have preferred to have seen clauses included
to permit moderate trading.
I would however argue strongly against allowing
payments to certain trustees for services rendered. The proposed
conditions under which this might happen are fairly loose, and
could have been applied to most of the charities that I have had
contact with. My worry is that these would be the "thin end
of the wedge", and that an increasing number of Trustees
would find reasons for being paid for particular services. Once
one Trustee on a Board is paid, it would be difficult to prevent
others applying, and could lead to a "two-tier" Board
mentality.
One of the reasons that the public broadly trust
charities in the UK is that they are overseen by independent Trustees
who have no financial interest in the output of the charity. Once
a growing proportion of Trustees are paid, even if the amounts
are reasonable and small in relation to the charity's income,
this public trust will gradually erode. The general public will
not be able to distinguish between charities which pay their Trustees
and those that don't, but all will suffer a loss of confidence
from the actions of a few.
It is far simpler and safer to draw the line
at any payments for Trustees' time. There are many potential Trustees
of relevant experience and expertise who are prepared to act pro
bono, so this should not cause recruitment problems. If a
charity wants to pay for professional expertise, it should seek
out non-Trustees to provide this. Very few Trustees have absolutely
unique expertise.
At the very least, the Charity Commission should
be involved in authorising any payments to Trustees, to ensure
that there is a genuinely independent review of the need for the
payment.
June 2004
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