Expenses and public trust
Public confidence is a fragile thing...
MPs embroiled in the expenses scandal are finding out the hard – though wholly deserved – way, but maybe the shame and humiliation could have been avoided if they had paused for a moment to consider how the third sector handles expenses. Charity trustees could have given them one or two helpful tips.
David Locke, FD at BMS World Mission (a large charity) told me at the recent CFDG annual conference that the average reimbursement for a trustee for a board or committee meeting is typically under £50 a meeting - usually for a second class train fair. This average includes trustees coming from as far away as the Orkneys. The debate on whether trustees should be paid will no doubt rumble on but while it remains illegal to pay trustees in most circumstances, the independence of a volunteer board is in safe hands. So is the concept of being a custodian of someone else’s money.
Charities have to work harder than ever to sustain the public and donors’ trust, despite the reforms taking place on public benefit and the additional reporting requirements that came with SORP 2005. The last thing the sector needs is donors being given any kind of disincentive to give because they don’t believe their funds will get to the needy. This is why the work of organisations that develop robust standards is so important. The balance between over-regulation and the lightness of touch so that voluntary organisations can get on with the job rather than divert resources on dealing with red tape remains delicate, and adjustments to this are an inevitable part of the sector’s evolution. To put it bluntly, the challenge remains one of improving accountability in a way that doesn’t suggest to supporters and donors that the apples had been a tad rotten thus far – something Human Accountability Partnership (see 'Two steps forward one step back?' in this issue) has to grapple with.
Storms – whether they are economic or brewed in teacups – have a habit of flushing out things that shouldn’t have been allowed to fester. While the rules on MPs’ expenses are being revamped, charities are conducting long overdue reviews of operations and finding efficiencies they had not dreamed possible and the customer is reasserting prominence across all sectors. I like silver linings…
Author: Clarissa Dann
Clarissa Dann was the editor of Caritas as well as an HR and management online service,he People Bulletin until July 2011.
She is now the editor of the specialist trade finance magazine, Trade and Forfaiting Review which can be viewed at www.tfreview.com but does write on charity finance and investment from time to time.
Clarissa has a background in legal and professional publishing, as well as business journalism and holds an MBA from
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