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Depart from the meeting when you are con icted
While in some circumstances the charity’s governing document may allow a trustee to remain in the meeting in which he/she has a con ict, if in doubt, best practice is to step out of the meeting and not in uence or take part in the decision. If to do this would leave your meeting inquorate, and there is no alternative route in the governing document you will usually need to obtain Charity Commission consent to the con ict.
Ÿ Withdrawal:
– The con icted trustee should not as a general rule be part of the quorum/discussion/vote on a matter on which they are con icted (unless approved under the governing document or a
standing order)
– Absence from room (as this means no pressure could be brought to bear on the remaining trustees)
4. Manageyourcharity’sresourcesresponsibly
The rst step trustees need to take is to obtain an overview of the charity’s assets and liabilities.
As we have discussed above it is important to make sure that any assets of the charity are held in the correct names on behalf of the charity, and can therefore be dealt with when needed without having to rectify problems with
ownership rst.
It is then important to have an investment and property management plan to make sure that your assets are working as well as they can for the bene t of the charity. As part of this you will need to consider your short, medium and long term goals for the charity in order that you can develop with your investment and property advisers the right strategy for you, to deliver funds when you need them. You may need to take legal advice on disposal of land etc.
Once you have ascertained what the charity owns you can then set the charity’s mission and decide what activities you wish to pursue.
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