New Guidance for Accepting, Refusing and Returning Donations from Charity Commission

New guidance has been released by the Charity Commission regarding the trustees roles in accepting, refusing and returning donations. The guidance states that the trustees’ starting point should be to accept and keep donations offered or given to their charity, as they are important to successfully delivering a charity’s purposes.

Trustees must also obtain Commission authority if all of the following apply:

• Trustees have decided it is in your charity’s best interests to refuse or return a donation
• Trustees do not have the power to do this
• The trustees cannot change your governing document to include a power

The guidance also clearly sets out the general trustee duties and decision-making principles that must be followed, including not allowing personal motives, opinions, or interests to affect their decision.

Please find the full details of these new guidelines here, which came into effect on the 4th March 2024 .