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Charity

People, Volunteers and Premises

This section covers the practical arrangements a charity makes with the people who work for it and the places it uses: reimbursing expenses, engaging volunteers, hiring rooms and halls, buying in services, home working and keeping people safe at work during a public health emergency. It is relevant to any charity, whatever its legal structure. It is aimed at the trustees, managers and administrators who deal with these matters day to day.

What is the difference between volunteers, employees and trustees?

Charities rely on people in three different capacities. Trustees run the charity and are usually unpaid. Employees work under a contract of employment. Volunteers give their time without a contract of employment and without pay, although they can be reimbursed for genuine expenses. The distinctions matter, because the wrong arrangement can turn a volunteer into an employee or an expense into a taxable payment. The documents in this section are drafted to keep the three roles separate.

The volunteers dealt with here are people who work within the charity under its direction. Independent groups of supporters who raise money in aid of the charity are a different case and are covered in the Fundraising, Grants and Charity Finance section. Employment contracts, staff policies and other documents for a charity's employees are in the Employment section of the site rather than here.

How are the sections organised?

Expenses for Trustees, Employees and Volunteers contains an expenses policy and a claim form for each of the three roles. Charity Volunteers contains volunteer agreements and guidance. Hiring Premises covers hiring a room or hall, whether the charity is the hirer or the owner. Services and Working Arrangements contains an agreement for buying in services and a home working policy for volunteers. Public Health and Return-to-Work Documents contains risk assessments and health declarations for bringing people back into a charity's premises during a public health emergency.

People, Volunteers and Premises is part of Charity. Just £38.50 + VAT provides unlimited downloads from Charity for 1 year.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do our volunteers need to sign anything? +
A volunteer agreement is worth having, but drafted with care: it should describe the arrangement and expectations without creating the obligations and payments that turn a volunteer into an employee or worker, with the rights that follow. Reimbursing genuine expenses is safe; perks and fixed commitments are where status risk creeps in. The Charity Volunteers section provides long and short form agreements built around that line and the expenses policy and claim form are in the Expenses for Trustees, Employees and Volunteers section.
We hire out our charity's hall, and sometimes hire rooms elsewhere. Do we need special agreements? +
Yes, matching the direction of the deal. Hiring out your premises needs terms protecting the charity: permitted use, fees, damage, insurance and cancellation, without accidentally granting tenancy rights. Hiring rooms as a charity needs the mirror protections. Regular commercial letting can also raise trading and tax questions worth advice. This group provides both versions, hire of a room or hall from a charity and to a charity, drafted for one-off and recurring hires.
Why would a charity need its own agreement for buying in services? +
Because supplier standard terms protect the supplier. When a charity procures services, consultancy, maintenance, IT, its agreement should protect charitable funds: clear deliverables and fees, termination rights if the service fails, data protection terms and no commitments beyond what trustees authorised. The Agreement for a Charity to Procure Services in this group is drafted from the charity's side for non-fundraising services; fundraising services have their own regulated agreements elsewhere.
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