When was the last time you looked at your charity commission entry? When assessing charities for funding, it is one of the first things I (and many other funders and assessors like me) do. Not your carefully crafted funding bid nor your lovely website. I put your charity number in the purple charity search box to see what comes up.
What does it tell me? I get lots of useful information like
when you registered and how many Trustees you have. But crucially for anyone
applying for funding, two sections can reveal significant issues:
- Activities in the charity overview – this is the box where you get to say what you do. A brief summary to give me a good introduction to your work and purpose. Sometimes it says “no information recorded” and sometimes it is out of date or written in archaic language. If so, you are missing a trick – this is a free marketing space, a concise summary in your own words for all funders to see.
- Financial history – and more especially the warning triangle and red text that means you failed to report on time. This sets off alarm bells in my head about your financial management. Funders usually expect a timely report for any funding given and they will be very worried that you won’t comply with their requirements. If this is you, don’t let it happen again. Get your reports and accounts in on time. In the meantime, you will need to proactively address this issue for the five years it will show up in your entry. Be prepared to be questioned about it. Be upfront and explain how it happened and what you have done to prevent it recurring.
All charities should know the importance of the message your
charity commission entry is giving out and control this where you can. Why not
make it a habit to check your entry?
Follow @emmabeeston01
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