Charity Governance Review Tool

Simplify Your Board’s Approach to Charity Governance

You can now simplify your board’s approach to Charity Governance without the hassle of paper checklists or the cost of governance consultants.

And you can quickly improve the effectiveness of your board at the same time.

Remember…if your trustees understand and embrace good governance in a more simplified and practical way, the charity is more likely to meet its objectives.

Using our online governance tool your board (and senior management) will work together collectively as a team to benchmark your governance arrangements against Charity Governance Code Principles and best board practices.

The tool is easy to use and you will generate your own instant, personalised Governance Report and SMART Action Plan. You can then implement it at your own pace.

When to use the tool

Best practice recommends that charities should complete a governance review annually and larger charities should complete an external review every 3 years.

Our Charity Governance Review Tool enables trustees to complete a governance review at key times for your charity such as:

  • To meet your charity’s annual review requirements
  • To reassure your key stakeholders (funders/donors) that your governance meets high standards
  • To provide comfort to new and potentially new trustees that your charity’s governance is important and meets key standards
  • When a new Chair is elected and he/she wants to benchmark or enhance the charity’s governance at the start of their term
  • When you appoint a new CEO or you’re re-organising the senior management team

Who should complete the tool

Ideally the full board should complete the Charity Governance Review Tool with the support of the CEO and/or Senior Management.

However a sub-committee can also complete it on behalf of the full board and present the Report and Action Plan to the full board for review and approval.

How the tool works

After you register on behalf of your charity, you will gain access to the dashboard that includes the questionnaire and instructions on how to complete the Charity Governance Review Tool.

There are 7 sections covering all the key Charity Governance Code key principles:

1.  Board Roles and Responsibilities

2.  Board Composition and Development

3.  Strategic Leadership & Performance

4.  Operating The Board

5.  Audit, Risk & Financial Management

6.  Legal & Compliance

7.  External Relationships

When your board responds to all the questions you will instantly generate your own personalised Governance Report and SMART Action Plan.

With your own plan, your board can prioritise each of the actions (High/Medium/Low) and the timeframes so you control implementation to match the capacity and resources of your charity and board.

Once your board approves the final plan, you can review it at least quarterly to track the actions.

The benefits of using the tool

Here are just some of the benefits of using the Charity Governance Review Tool:

  • Meets key governance requirements – so you can satisfy your funders and other key stakeholders that your organisation adheres to the Charity Governance Code Principles
  • Easy for the board to understand and follow – the tool sections and questions are clearly written so there is no need to be a governance “expert"
  • Generates clear governance outputs – the SMART Governance Report and Action Plan is clearly laid out so that it is easy to implement and track
  • Improves the effectiveness of your board – better governance means more effective results and outcomes
  • Complete it remotely or in person – meet collectively either in person as a team or online by a Zoom or MS Teams video call
  • Saves your organisation money – a one-off fixed price (with no hidden subscription fees) means you can save £’000s on specialist consultants
  • Saves you time and resources – as the online tool is interactive, this means no cumbersome paper checklists or writing up reports and agreeing the actions with everyone

Read more about how your charity board can improve your governance and be more effective using our Charity Governance Reviews.

What other charities say

Feedback on 1-1 live demos

Here are just some of the positIve reactions from our recent 2024 live demos with charity trustees, Chairs and CEOs:

  1. “That is really simple to use”
  2. “It does exactly what it says on the tin”
  3. “That will save us so much time"
  4. “Every charity should have access to this tool”
  5. “We’ve been looking for something like this that provides practical structure to our governance framework"
  6. “The price is extremely good value compared to a recent quotation we received from a governance consultant"

How much is it?

We like to think of it more as an investment in your charity’s governance for a one-off £695.00.

You just pay this fixed price for 12 months unlimited access with no annual subscriptions or hidden fees.

Free Preview

If you want a quick look at how the Charity Governance Review Tool works, try our Free Preview version. This provides access to one of 7 sections so you can see how the tool is relevant and easy to use.

You will have 3 months free unlimited access and there’s no need to commit any payment details.

Free Live Demo

To see exactly how it will benefit your charity, then avail of your own personalised live demo at no cost. And it will only take 15 minutes as your time is valuable.

Use this link to set up your own 1-1 live demo at a day and time to suit you on Calendly.

A short explainer video about the Charity Governance Review Tool