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What policies a charity should have depends on its role and what is required by UK law, Charity Commission guidance or other regulator rules and regulations. These are the most common policies a charity should have, with links to guidance and sample charity policy templates to create your own. You can download any of our 60+free charity policies in Word format by registering then logging in (see below).
The most recently added are in italics.
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As you score the health check questionnaires, the system will make available (in the statement download area - bottom left of screen) the policies you might need as and when these are relevant to any given statement.
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Here are some of the more common policies that a charity should have, as required by UK law. I've included links to either a regulators template or guidance, although some are also available as downloads from the system.
The law says that every organisation must have a policy for managing health and safety. This sets out your general approach to health and safety and explains how you will manage this. It should clearly say who does what, when and how - here's the HSE guidance on how to write a policy
If you have five or more employees, you must write your policy down. If you have fewer you don't have to, but it is useful to do so. You must share the policy, and any changes to it, with your people.
The charity trustee/Management Committee needs to issue any underpinning Health & Safety at Work (H&SW) policies needed and to ensure that any risk assessments and/or training required is carried out, and any safety equipment or clothing needed is provided.
Here’s a useful getting started checklist for H&SW. And, here’s the Heath & Safety Executive guidance for voluntary organisations managing low risk, such as offices, shops and community halls.
You must have an up-to-date data protection policy, which is understood by everyone and consistently applied, to ensure data is safeguarded and managed correctly.
This can get complicated, in some circumstances, but for most of us basically make sure that what you are doing adheres to the 8 data protection principles.
The policy I've created and uploaded into the system does that and has sections on issues, such as PECR, that link to the guidance you can use to write your policy. What I've written is probably good enough for most small charities and community groups and focusses on the key issues, which is what matters, but it is not comprehensive. The ICO (Data Protection Regulator) has a small organisations hub.
The ICO (Data Protection Regulator) has some very good, simple advice on writing a privacy notice and a create your own privacy policy toolkit.
Staff/volunteers must be made aware of relevant HR policies, which are comprehensive, up-to-date and are applied fairly and consistently.
A written statement of employment must be given to staff and should either contain or refer to disciplinary rules and procedures. Many employers create a separate disciplinary procedure and a grievance procedure.
I would suggest that an equal opportunities and anti-harassment & bullying policies should be a must, in light of the abuse in the sector. Leave entitlement, travel expenses and pay policies are worth thinking about, as are a flexible working and a working from home policies. Acas has a selection of HR policy and other templates and also has a help line.
Note that volunteers are not staff/employees/workers, so I would suggest a volunteer policy and agreement to ensure our volunteers are managed, supported and recognised for their contribution to our work. There's a bit to this and it applies to most, so I wrote this Charity Excellence guide to managing volunteers. It includes what you need for a volunteer policy and agreement.
The trustees/management team should ensure that HR procedures are applied in a consistent and fair way, and without avoiding addressing issues or unreasonably delaying the process.
The Charity Commission lists a series of policies that you complete as part of your annual return. Not all may apply but, to be honest, it's a bit naff. It looks like a policy list designed by a committee of Civil Servants, which is probably what it is. You can download any of these by logging in the Charity Excellence.
Here's the list: risk management, investment, safeguarding, conflicting interests, volunteer management, complaints handling, paying staff, social media, financial reserves, external speakers, bullying, serious incident reporting, trustee expenses and campaigns and political activity.
A registered charity ourselves, the CEF works for any non profit, not just charities.
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I have written charity policies for years, because charities can't often afford lawyers but I'm not an accountant, nor a lawyer and no advice can be applicable to all organisations, in all circumstances, so this resource is no more than a guide to understanding. I've summarised the regulatory guidance and augmented this with my own experience and Internet research, but I am not competent to provide professional advice.
I have included links to the source guidance to enable you to check this yourself and, if you think you might need professional advice, register, then login and use the Help Finder directory to find pro bono support. Everything is free.
Chat GPT was used in a very limited way for some of the charity policy templates, but only for initial drafting.
