NETWORK VOLUNTEERING PACK FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Transcription

1 NETWORK VOLUNTEERING PACK FINANCIAL INFORMATION 207

2 All the documents listed below are available individually for editing (where applicable) via the Volunteer Resources section; please see The following is specific to volunteering in a Crohn s and Colitis UK Local Network and is aimed at Lead Volunteers (Coordinators and Chairs) and Finance Volunteers (Link Volunteers and Treasurers). More general information, support and resources can be accessed online via the Volunteer Resources www. crohnsandcolitis.org.uk/vr. CONTENTS Unrestricted, Designated and Restricted Funds Local Grants Heyman Bursary Gift Aid VAT Financial Records Accounting Year Audits Financial Returns Banking Process Local AGM & Annual Report

3 UNRESTRICTED, DESIGNATED AND RESTRICTED FUNDS There are three types of funds - unrestricted, designated and restricted - to which donors can give. BACKGROUND Unrestricted Funds are those where the donor has not specified for a particular purpose. Members subscriptions, General Fund donations and general fundraising for Crohn s and Colitis UK fall into this category. The Trustees can decide how to use these funds as long as they are used to meet Crohn s and Colitis UK s objectives. Designated Funds are those which were given as an unrestricted donation, but which the Trustees have chosen to allocate to a particular purpose. This commonly happens with legacies, where money has been bequeathed to Crohn s and Colitis UK but a purpose has not been specified. The Trustees can then decide to reserve the money for a specific purpose. Restricted Funds are those where money has been given by donors to be used for a specific purpose for example to spend on Research or the Personal Grants (Welfare) Fund. UNRESTRICTED FUNDS Unrestricted donations can be used to: help run the network s activities; put towards a Local Grant or project or sent to one of the three national funds: General Fund this supports everything Crohn s and Colitis UK does, e.g. publications, Helplines, the website, Connect, network volunteering, campaigning, health services, awareness-raising and running the Crohn s and Colitis UK office. Research Fund medical research looking to find a cure for IBD, as well as Living with IBD and health services research. Welfare (Personal Grants) Fund this enables the Charity to give a small grant to people with IBD who are in need, e.g. they require a washing machine or new bed linen. Crohn s and Colitis UK relies on the General Fund to be able to carry out any activities, and therefore if a network wishes to suggest the use of unrestricted donations towards a particular purpose when forwarding them to national funds, the Trustees suggest that they are allocated in the following way: General Fund 40% Research Fund 40% Welfare Fund 20% All funds received by Crohn s and Colitis UK, including those that come via networks, have to be legally accounted for and may only be spent to further the objectives of the Charity.

4 LOCAL GRANTS Networks may choose to give money towards local services; this is known as a Local Grant. The following is a list of circumstances in which a network may choose to give a local grant: they have received a donation restricted to use in the local area they wish to raise the profile of the Network by making a donation and generating publicity they wish to give something back to a local hospital in recognition of their IBD services they wish to motivate supporters to do more fundraising by stressing the local benefit Local grant requirements, procedure and eligibility can all be found in the Local Grants policy. The policy also contains examples of grants that have been approved from 200 up until the present day. It is important that networks report to supporters how money has been spent and also receive feedback from the recipient of the grant please consult the Local Grants policy throughout this process. HEYMAN BURSARY Occasionally networks may seek to use Local Grants as a means to support the training of IBD Nurses and other healthcare professionals. However, if this is not possible, healthcare professionals may be able to access support via the Heyman Bursary (drawing upon national funds). For more information, please see the application form and guidance notes at GIFT AID Gift Aid is a fantastic way of generating extra funds for the Charity. BACKGROUND Additional income from Gift Aid is an important source of funds for some charities and as of 206 we have made some changes to how the Charity, specifically Local Networks, are able to benefit from this. Following a review of Gift Aid processes, Local Networks will now receive an annual amount based on money they have raised each year. This figure will be based on the Networks annual returns and will be calculated on the proportion of Gift Aid that we are able to reclaim from HMRC. It is time consuming and sometimes impossible to administer Gift Aid on individual donations specific to Local Networks and changes at HMRC in the way Just Giving are able to claim Gift Aid on our behalf adds to this. Fundraising is an important part of local activity and we hope this annual amount will be a useful addition. 2

5 GIFT AID DECLARATIONS & SPONSOR FORMS Declarations are required for all donations on which Gift Aid is to be claimed. Donors are able to provide the declaration in advance of, at the time of or any time after the donation, as long as it is within four years. The declaration needs to contain: the donor s name and full home address name the charity (or be made in circumstances where the charity is identified) identify the gift or gifts to which the declaration relates, and confirm that the identified gift or gifts are to be treated as Gift Aid donations. It is most common for declarations to come via sponsor forms (often used for events, runs, walks etc.) which can be found online at uk/vr Money from donations on which Gift Aid is to be claimed should paid into the bank as usual. The Gift Aid declarations should be sent to the network s Volunteer Coordinated Network Treasurer who will then liaise with the Fundraising Team to process the Gift Aid claim on behalf of the Charity. Money from donations on which Gift Aid is to be claimed should paid into the bank as usual. The Gift Aid declarations should be sent to the Charity (c/o The Fundraising Team) who will then process the Gift Aid claim on behalf of the Charity. VAT Contrary to popular belief, charities are not exempt from paying VAT. They must pay VAT due on purchases of goods and services just like any other purchaser. If a charity registers for VAT then it can reclaim VAT paid on some of these purchases, just like any other business. Crohn s and Colitis UK registered for VAT purposes in 200 enabling us to reclaim VAT expended on relevant business expenses which, as a member organisation, limits our relevant business expenses to those costs directly associated with the provision of membership services. This means that we do have a significant proportion of irrecoverable VAT which costs the Charity some 200K per annum. The Charity is currently working with external VAT consultants to find ways of mitigating against this irrecoverable VAT. At the moment we are unable to claim VAT on network expenditure although we are looking into this. For further information please contact the Director of Finance and Corporate Services. 3

6 FINANCIAL RECORDS All financial documents should be kept for 6 years. Please send anything older to the Charity s office. ACCOUNTING YEAR Crohn s and Colitis UK s accounting year is the calendar year st January to 3st December. AUDIT A person with some financial experience should audit the annual accounts; they do not have to be a registered auditor or qualified Accountant. The auditor should be appointed at the network local AGM. FINANCIAL RETURNS The financial return (end of year accounts) forms part of the records required by the Charity s auditors to ensure the proper use of funds. Chaired network Treasurers are required to complete the financial return, whereas the remotely-based treasurers do this for coordinated networks. All should be returned to the Finance and Corporate Services Team by a January deadline as requested each year. A copy of the closing bank statement(s) must be included. The Charity s auditors may also request copies of statements for the remainder of the year as part of their audit routines. The financial return will be completed and audited by the Volunteer Coordinated Networks Treasurer and a copy sent to the Network for their records. The financial return is a standard format of accounts which all networks must produce. The return will be sent from the Crohn s and Colitis UK office to all network Treasurers towards the end of each accounting year. The financial return details the information required by Crohn s and Colitis UK s auditors to enable network accounts to be appropriately consolidated within the Accounts for presentation to Crohn s and Colitis UK s AGM. The returns and any other statements of accounts must be audited and presented to the network local AGM each year. Copies should then be sent to the Crohn s and Colitis UK Office for the Director of Finance & Corporate Services even if they have not been fully audited. 4

7 ACCOUNTS The Volunteer Coordinated Network Treasurer will keep a proper record of the networks accounts e.g. recording all income and expenditure. The network Organising Team should be kept regularly informed of the financial status of the network. These records will be kept up-to-date so that another member of the Organising Team can take over the Link Volunteer s responsibilities at short notice, should it become necessary through illness or some other reason. New coordinated networks starting between January and September of any year must ensure that all payments and receipts are forwarded to the Volunteer Coordinated Network Treasurer (allowing preparation time) before 3st December of that year. New coordinated Networks starting in October December must do this at 3st December of the following year. The network via the Treasurer will keep a proper record of each item of money received or spent. The Organising Team should be kept regularly informed of the financial status of the network. These records should be kept up-to-date so that another member of the Organising Team can take over the Treasurer s responsibilities at short notice, if that becomes necessary through illness or some other reason. BANKING PROCESS Bank accounts are administered by the Volunteer Coordinated Network Treasurer. Each coordinated network holds a paying-in book to pay in any donations. The Volunteer Coordinated Network Treasurer and Finance Manager are signatories on the account Payments may be made online (Lloyds accounts only) against invoices for network expenditure or Organising Team volunteers expense claims. All online payments require dual authorisation In the case of cheque payments, the Finance Manager sends out countersigned cheques received from the Volunteer Coordinated Network Treasurer to pay invoices and expenses claims as described. Crohn s and Colitis UK currently has an arrangement with CAFCash and interest is paid on all funds held in accounts. However, the Charity are working on an arrangement to move all networks to Lloyds (where possible) with whom the Charity has a central banking relationship. It is recommended that up to 3 Organising Team members are signatories on the accounts, who should not be members of the same family. The bank mandate must also include the Director of Support Services and the Director of Finance and Corporate Services. 5

8 Cheques must be signed by two signatories. All monies in the account belong to Crohn s and Colitis UK, but the network can use the money to fund their local activities and can use some funds to make grants or purchase equipment to support the care of IBD patients in local hospitals. All local grants and purchases must first be approved by Crohn s and Colitis UK as per the Local Grants policy. At the end of the year Crohn s and Colitis UK asks networks to retain enough money in their accounts to be able to operate for 2 months, (usually up to,000). Any additional monies should be sent to the Crohn s and Colitis UK office before the year end, unless they are being held for agreed Local Grants, purchases or are restricted funds. Funds sent back to the central charity will be held in a designated fund for 2 years from 3 December of that year, and may be recalled by the network at any point during that time if there is need or if there is a local project for which the network requires funds, subject to the Local Grants policy. Any unutilised funds will be transferred to General Funds after 2 years. Where networks have a surplus of unrestricted funds, they may choose to donate the funds outright to Crohn s and Colitis UK, and may if they wish allocate these across funds (see Unrestricted Funds above). Monies given by donors for a specific purpose must be used for that purpose, e.g. any money given for research must be transferred to the national Research Fund. Cheques can be paid into the CAFCash account via a HSBC bank (using CAF paying in slips) or by post. LOCAL AGM & ANNUAL REPORT All networks are asked to produce a report detailing activities for the past twelve months, with coordinated networks asked to communicate this to supporters via their newsletter. In addition, quarterly reporting will take place to provide an accurate log of activity. This information is used to report to the Charity s Board of Trustees who, in turn compile a report of all activities to the Charity Commission/ OSCR. It also helps us write bids and raise vital funds. Chaired networks hold a Local AGM to: fulfil network obligations; report on activities and elect the Organising Team. Networks are advised to arrange Local AGMs as part of an educational talk/event. The Local AGM section should last no longer than 0-5 minutes and can be hosted like any other meeting. 6