Page 100 - Demo

ARE THERE ASPECTS OF THE DECISION THAT NEED FURTHER THOUGHT AND SHOULD THE DECISION BE RECORDED?
Once the due diligence has been completed, all of the results should be summarised for discussion by the charity’s trustees. It may be that further questions are raised or it may be that following discussion a decision
can be made.
If a decision is made not to award a grant, the applicant should be informed and be provided with a brief explanation of why a grant will not be awarded.
On the other hand, if a decision is made to award a grant then the charity trustees should consider any terms and any conditions to be imposed – for example, that the grant will be awarded in instalments with each instalment only paid after the receipt of a satisfactory progress report; any restrictions and conditions of use - for example, that the funding is to be used for a very speci c purpose such as the payment of a named member of staff; the nature and frequency of feedback and reports; and any deadlines to be imposed for using the funding.
The awarding of the grant and the conditions under which it is given should be set out in writing and a form of contract devised between the charity and the successful applicant. Before any monies are given, the successful applicant should be asked to acknowledge, in writing, their agreement to the terms and conditions by signing and returning to the charity a copy of the offer letter con rming the terms and conditions that apply.
One nal issue the charity trustees might consider at this stage is whether or not they require that there is any formal acknowledgement of the support their charity has given or will be giving – for example, an acknowledgement of the charity’s grant in the recipient’s annual report and accounts or (perhaps in the case of a substantial grant to assist with the construction of a building) a plaque.
It is essential that the formal discussion about the application and the decision of the charity trustees are recorded in minutes of the relevant meetings. As always, such minutes should not be a verbatim recording of all aspects debated but nor should they be simply a record that a decision was made to award a grant. The minutes should be suf cient to enable an understanding of the issues discussed, the questions asked and resolved and the basis on which the decision was made in addition to the decision itself.
96 Chapter 5