Self Assessment
This self assessment questionnaire is made available by the Association in the hope that it may help charities to design their own self assessment programme.
1. Governing Committee
1.1. Do you have a governing committee which comprises a Chairman, a Treasurer and at least one other member?
1.2. Are you confident that your committee members are fully aware of their responsibilities?
1.3. Are you confident that the diversity of skills on the Governing Committee is sufficiently broad for the Governing Committee collectively to discharge their responsibilities?
1.4. Are your Committee members (and members if applicable) aware that they are jointly and severally liable for debts and claims incurred by the charity?
1.5. Have the members of the Committee submitted themselves for re-election in the last 3 years?
1.6. Do any of the members of the Governing Committee have criminal convictions, are an undischarged bankrupt, or a disqualified Director?
1.7. Do the Governing Committee set performance targets (eg fund raising targets) for themselves?
1.8. Does your constitution provide procedures to ensure any conflicts of interest amongst members of the Governing Committee (including Founder and dominant members) are dealt with openly and appropriately?
1.9. Have you got succession plans for Governing Committee members leaving?
2. Pursuit of aims
2.1. Do you have a constitution and/or a strategic plan, which sets out the charity’s aims?
2.2. Have you reviewed your constitution in the last 2 years?
2.3. Does the Governing Committee approve financial budgets, which are linked to the charity’s aims?
2.4. Does the Governing Committee regularly review the status of the charity’s finances and/or performance versus budget?
2.5. Does each member of the Governing Committee have the opportunity to comment on the charity’s accounts before signing?
2.6. Do you seek feedback from beneficiaries, members, funders or service users at your annual general meeting or at other times?
3. Activities
3.1. Do you ensure that only activities that contribute to the charities objectives are carried out?
3.2. Do you manage and account for all your resources?
3.3. Do those involved in the provision of services have sufficient skills and are fit and proper persons?
3.4. Have you put benchmarking procedures in place to measure the success of the event?
3.5. Have you considered and adequately protected against risks involved in a fund raising activity?
3.6. Do you have any unresolved complaints?
4. General compliance with the constitution
4.1. Has your charity complied with its constitution?
4.2. Have you held an annual general meeting in the last 15 months?
4.3. Have all of your activities been to further the aims of the charity?
4.4. Are formal meetings of the Governing Committee and the Annual General Meeting held and are decisions recorded?
5. Financial management and internal controls
5.1. Have all payments to members of the Governing Committee other than refund of expenses been approved by the Annual General Meeting?
5.2. Do you consider your financial records adequate for the scale and complexity of the charity’s activities?
5.3. Have segregation of duties been adopted wherever possible and practical (e.g. dual cheque signatories)?
5.4. Do you have a treasurer?
5.5. Are your accounts audited by an accountant independent of the Governing Committee?
6. Other matters
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The conclusions reached above regarding action required should be considered by the Committee, remedial action taken where necessary and the Chairman take responsibility for ensuring that resolution of the matters is followed up on at a future meeting. |
DISCLAIMER
Whilst every effort has been made to identify the important elements of best practice, the questions asked are not intended to be comprehensive and do not address the specific requirements of every charity or charities constituted as companies, by way of trust deed etc. Appropriate advice should be taken to establish best practice in each case and the Association of Guernsey Charities can take no responsibility for reliance placed on this self assessment aid.
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