Charity Focus 7: News for charities in Scotland

The Scottish charity sector in 2008

There are now around 24,000 charities on the Scottish Charity Register (more than 9,600 have been removed since July 2006 as OSCR prunes out “dead wood” and some smaller entities merge together).

Electronic communications are becoming much more widespread, as 24% of charities now have a website and 56% provide an e mail contact to OSCR.  This will surely rise further given the significant increases in printing and postage costs, as well as environmental concerns.

However, resources remain scarce.  The greatest concerns for charities are lack of volunteers and limited funds - around 65% of those which are Scottish constituted organisations have an annual income of less than £100,000.   

One surprise is just how many charities in Scotland are unincorporated (55%). Since most undertake direct activities, rather than simply making grants, their trustees are running very real risks of personal liability, in addition to the practical and legal difficulties non-corporate status brings to the charity itself.

Jordans can provide help with converting to a charitable company limited by guarantee. Find out more...

Governance is under scrutiny – how good is yours?!

Governance of Scottish charities is under scrutiny with the announcement by OSCR of an important study.  Researchers from Cranfield University will be contacting trustees and staff of charities with questions to find out the characteristics of organisations, their boards, Chairs and CEOs.  The team will also assess:

• How trustees are recruited, selected, inducted, trained and appraised;
• The ethos, culture and context of the charities; and
• The effectiveness of their governance.

Charities should be ready to reply if they are contacted in the sample.  The results will be made public early in 2009, so maybe now is the time to review your governance?
   
Accounting and reporting - are you getting it right?

OSCR itself will also be busy in the coming months as it carries out an assessment of how well charities on the Scottish Charity Register are meeting their reporting and accounting obligations.  The results will inform the kind of support OSCR will give charities in the future to help them meet the requirements but also influence future reviews of the rules and impact on how OSCR interacts with professional advisers who deal with charities. 

Recent public surveys conducted by OSCR show that accurate accounting and reporting is a key concern for the general public.  OSCR will be issuing detail of current levels of compliance soon, so charities should be pro-active, prompt and transparent in their reporting. 

Rolling review of charities

The rolling review of charities provides OSCR with a chance to consider whether those charities under current review meet the “charity test”.  It is essential to do so in order to retain charitable status, through a continued entry on the Scottish Charity Register.  Review results for the present batch of 30 charities is expected in October.  They include care providers, schools, membership organisations and heritage charities.   

Ensure you can cope with all of this!

Book now for our Charity Accounts and Reporting in Scotland and Charity Law and Practice in Scotland seminars.