Refreshing the Charity Governance Code in hard times
A review of the code will aim to guide charities through an increasingly difficult external operating environment
GOVERNANCE
Image: Istock
Radojka Miljevic
Partner, Campbell Tickell; Independent Chair, Charity Governance Steering Group
Radojka Miljevic
Partner, Campbell Tickell; Independent Chair, Charity Governance Steering Group
Issue 71 | April 2024
This year the Charity Governance Code Steering Group, of which I’m the independent Chair, will be launching a consultation exercise on the Code’s contents and presentation. The last refresh was in 2020, but even in that short period of time, a lot has changed.
Any code has to balance what might be viewed as the ‘evergreen’ aspects of governance, behaviours and practices that are common across all sectors and generally accepted by practitioners and others as underpinning effective boards, with the changes in the external operating environment.
There are judgements to be made about how ‘topical’ a code should be. Sometimes this can lead to some conservatism and caution; other times what may have felt to be content that challenged the norms is increasingly seen to be the stuff of ‘evergreen’ practices. Governance approaches to diversity and inclusion perhaps exemplify that shift.
The charity sector challenge
These are febrile times in the charity sector, with a world full of uncertainty and volatility. Local authorities are struggling with solvency and what they can afford to commission, while individual and corporate budgets are tight in respect of charitable giving.
Some charities have not been able to survive this difficult period, and some will be considering their options in respect of future sustainability. The absence of long-term policy vision further contributes to a sense of being stuck and perpetual swimming with heads just above water in the here and now. Add to that the desire to address climate change issues while balancing what kind of change is affordable in the short term.
More widely in society, technology is shifting the way in which opinions are voiced and positioned in a way that (arguably) tends to secure people in their viewpoints rather than challenge them. Positions on current conflicts and on rights-based issues spring to mind, with bridges of understanding pulled up to barricade perspectives.
For charities, because of the values-based anchorage of their objects, the pressure to ‘take a position’ can be felt from a range of sources, whether staff, volunteers, donors or indirectly from the press. Trustees and CEOs from a wide range of charities are increasingly being challenged to navigate the charity’s place in society, and what does and does not further the charity’s objects.
Guidance on decisions
These kinds of challenges, and board responses to them, can lead to different kinds of furores; some may be unforeseen stumbles into a public storm, while others will be conscious and thought-out tactics to change the public or political conversation.
It is notable that last year the Charity Commission issued new guidance on the use of social media. We will need to find out through our consultation whether this means anything new for the Code’s contents or whether existing principles (such as organisational purpose) are helpful guiding points for boards wrestling with these kinds of decisions.
It is against this backdrop that the Steering Group of the Charity Governance Code has to reflect and seek views on what kind of changes may be needed to the Code in the future.
We will want to test the fundamental principles of the Code and how well they stand up to changed times, as well as how we position Recommended Practice. A particular focus is likely to be how we adjust the Code to meet both the capacity and aspirations of smaller charities.
“It is notable that last year the Charity Commission issued new guidance on the use of social media.”
The need for active hope
I and my colleagues on the Group are passionate about the work and purpose of charities.
Charities are often both bold and doggedly tenacious in pursuing their vision. This keeping-on-going motors the hope that we can and should have a fairer, safer, more sustainable world and that transforming the status quo is in all of our interests. Many charities would love to be so successful that their purpose becomes obsolete.
A few weeks ago I listened to an online session presented by a therapist about responses to climate breakdown and the impact on therapist and client relationships. Amidst the recognition of anxiety, mourning and guilt, there was a call for active hope.
This phrase has resonated with me subsequently; at a time when the world seems bleak, there is a lot we can do to activate hope and to support charities – whether through codes of governance or through our pockets.
