Trustee Responsibilities

Governance

Trustee Responsibilities

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Contents of this page:

• ProgHist Ltd
• Core objective
• Trustee Responsibilities
• Notes

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ProgHist Ltd

ProgHist Ltd (publisher of Programming Historian’s journals) is a charity registered in England and Wales and a not-for-profit company.

ProgHist Ltd is governed by a Board of Trustees, who share legal responsibility for its management and financial administration.

Core objective

The Charity's core objective is: to advance education in the humanities through the production of educational tutorials, articles and research published in the public domain.

Trustees responsibilities

The Charity Commission of England and Wales provides guidance to support trustees of charities. The Essential Trustee sets out trustees’ 6 main duties and breaks each duty down into constituent responsibilities. The following is a summary:

Ensure the charity is carrying out its purposes for the public benefit

• Understand the charity’s objectives and powers
• Ensure that the charity’s activities are focussed for the public’s benefit
• Plan and review the charity’s work
• Update the charity’s objectives when necessary

Comply with the charity’s governing document and the law

• Ensure compliance with the charity’s governing document
• Manage the charity’s financial records and annual accounts
• Maintain up-to-date awareness of the laws and regulations that apply to the charity
• Understand procedures for actions and decisions to avoid mistakes

Act in the charity’s best interests

• Understand the charity’s interests
• Share responsibility for collective decisions taken in the best interests of the charity
• Review decisions critically and objectively, being prepared to challenge assumptions
• Recognise, prevent, and record conflicts of interest
• Abide by the voluntary principle: trustees receive no payment for their work with the charity

Manage the charity’s resources responsibly

• Identify, assess, evaluate, and regularly review risks
• Plan and monitor budgets
• Generate income in a legal, responsible, and prudent way
• Implement clear policies, good record-keeping, and robust controls for managing funds
• Ensure an appropriate policy for managing reserves
• Share responsibility for staff and volunteers

Act with reasonable care and skill

• Use personal skills and experience to inform decision-making and benefit the charity
• Recognise, acknowledge and invite external advice when needed
• Take prompt and appropriate action to protect the charity if something goes wrong

Ensure the charity is accountable

• Ensure compliance with statutory requirements for accounting and reporting
• Consider the views of members, stakeholders and supporters to improve the charity’s services
• Involve members, stakeholders and supporters in decision-making
• Devise clear and appropriate procedures for dealing with complaints
• Agree processes for, and limits of, delegation to individual trustees or senior staff
• Share responsibility for holding staff, volunteers, and fellow trustees to account
• Avoid mistakes by seeking information, asking questions, and developing knowledge

Notes

The Essential Trustee is available as a concise info-graphic or in long-form. It is also available to download as a PDF.

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