Roles

It is a good idea to have a written role description for those serving on the committee/board. It makes it clear to people and the whole organisation what the role is responsible for and expectations on all sides. We have a factsheet that sets out the overall role of the committee/board to take strategic decisions but can delegate, summarises the roles of a chair, treasurer, secretary with suggested role descriptions. The Association of Chairs is a membership organisation for charity chairs and offers a number of resources and training courses, including a good guide to the role, A Chair’s Compass. The Honorary Treasurers Forum is another membership organisation for charities with a newsletter and resources including the very good Honorary Treasurer’s Handbook.

Code of Conduct

It is a good idea to set out expectations of behaviour, ways of working to remain legal and areas like confidentiality. This should come out of a conversation amongst the committee/board about what are the shared, agreed standards. Very often when written down these standards will be called a Code of Conduct. We have a factsheet about developing such a document.

Last updated: 26th April, 2022