Charity Compliance Excellence
Manage Charity Commission requirements, safeguarding, and governance with digital tools designed for registered charities.
The Challenge
Registered charities face intense regulatory scrutiny from the Charity Commission, safeguarding requirements for vulnerable beneficiaries, and governance expectations from funders and donors - all managed by small teams with limited administrative capacity. Paper-based systems make it impossible to prove DBS compliance for volunteers, track trustee decisions and conflicts of interest, or demonstrate safeguarding training completion. Problems surface when a safeguarding concern is raised, the Charity Commission makes an inquiry, or a major funder audits your governance.
How Assistant Manager Solves Charities Compliance
Each module is designed to address the specific challenges charities businesses face every day.
Digital Checklist
Charities need governance checklists that cover Charity Commission requirements, safeguarding procedures for vulnerable groups, and funder accountability - with the ability to demonstrate compliance to regulators, donors, and beneficiaries
The Problems
Why This Matters for Charities
- Governance tasks like policy reviews, annual return preparation, and risk register updates are tracked on paper lists or spreadsheets that quickly become outdated and ignored
Critical deadlines are missed, policies go years without review, and the charity fails to meet Charity Commission requirements for good governance
- Safeguarding checks for activities with vulnerable beneficiaries are done verbally or not at all, with no documented evidence that proper procedures were followed
When a safeguarding concern arises, you cannot prove that staff followed proper protocols, leaving the charity exposed to regulatory action and reputational damage
- Grant reporting deadlines and funder requirements are tracked across multiple email threads, calendars, and handwritten notes, leading to missed reports and incomplete submissions
Funders receive late or incomplete reports, damaging relationships and jeopardising future funding applications
The Solution
How Digital Checklist Helps
Digital checklists with scheduled governance tasks, safeguarding checks, and funder reporting deadlines with automatic reminders and completion tracking
Every governance requirement is tracked with clear ownership, safeguarding procedures are documented at each step, and funder deadlines are never missed - all with audit trails for regulators and trustees
Use Cases:
- • Annual Charity Commission return preparation checklist
- • Quarterly policy review schedules with trustee sign-off
- • Safeguarding procedure checklists for beneficiary contact
- • Funder report deadline tracking and submission verification
- • Trustee meeting preparation and action follow-up
- • Serious incident identification and reporting procedures
Feature Screenshot
Digital Checklist
Real-World Examples
Example 1: Governance tasks like policy reviews, annual return preparation, and risk register updates are tracked on paper lists or spreadsheets that quickly become outdated and ignored
Real Scenario
"The Charity Commission asks about your safeguarding policy review date during a regulatory engagement. You discover the policy was last reviewed four years ago - the annual review task was on a spreadsheet nobody maintained."
Example 2: Safeguarding checks for activities with vulnerable beneficiaries are done verbally or not at all, with no documented evidence that proper procedures were followed
Real Scenario
"A volunteer is accused of inappropriate behaviour during a home visit. LADO asks for your lone working check records and supervision documentation. You have nothing because checks were 'understood' but never documented."
Example 3: Grant reporting deadlines and funder requirements are tracked across multiple email threads, calendars, and handwritten notes, leading to missed reports and incomplete submissions
Real Scenario
"A major funder contacts you about an overdue impact report. The project manager left three months ago, and nobody realised the report was due. You've missed the deadline and now risk having to return unused funds."
Staff Training
Charities rely heavily on volunteers and part-time staff who need structured safeguarding training, while trustees need governance education - all requiring documentation for Charity Commission inquiries and funder due diligence
The Problems
Why This Matters for Charities
- Safeguarding training is delivered at induction but never refreshed, with certificates filed in personnel folders that nobody checks until a concern is raised
Staff and volunteers lack current safeguarding knowledge, training expires without renewal, and the charity cannot prove competence when the Charity Commission or LADO inquires
- Trustees receive no formal training on their governance responsibilities, conflict of interest management, or financial oversight duties
Trustees make poor decisions, fail to identify conflicts of interest, and don't provide proper oversight - creating regulatory risk and potential personal liability
- Specialist training for roles like handling donations, data protection, or managing restricted funds is never documented, creating knowledge gaps when staff leave
New staff make compliance errors, restricted funds are mismanaged, and GDPR breaches occur because training was verbal and undocumented
The Solution
How Staff Training Helps
Learning management system with mandatory safeguarding courses, trustee governance training, role-specific modules, certificate tracking, and automatic expiry alerts
Every staff member and volunteer completes required training with tracked certification, trustees understand their duties, and you can produce instant training reports for regulators and funders
Use Cases:
- • Safeguarding Level 1 and Level 2 training with certificate tracking
- • Trustee induction and governance responsibilities training
- • Conflict of interest awareness for trustees and senior staff
- • GDPR and data protection training for staff handling beneficiary data
- • Financial procedures and restricted funds management
- • Volunteer induction with role-specific competency modules
- • Annual refresher training scheduling and completion tracking
Feature Screenshot
Staff Training
Real-World Examples
Example 1: Safeguarding training is delivered at induction but never refreshed, with certificates filed in personnel folders that nobody checks until a concern is raised
Real Scenario
"A beneficiary makes a disclosure to a volunteer who handles it completely incorrectly, telling the alleged perpetrator. Investigation reveals the volunteer's safeguarding training expired two years ago and was never renewed."
Example 2: Trustees receive no formal training on their governance responsibilities, conflict of interest management, or financial oversight duties
Real Scenario
"A trustee approves a contract with their spouse's company without declaring the conflict. When the Charity Commission investigates, they find no evidence of conflict of interest training or clear procedures for trustees."
Example 3: Specialist training for roles like handling donations, data protection, or managing restricted funds is never documented, creating knowledge gaps when staff leave
Real Scenario
"A new finance officer allocates restricted grant funds to general expenditure because nobody explained restricted fund accounting. The funder audit discovers the breach and demands repayment."
Safe Supplier
Charities must verify that anyone with beneficiary contact has appropriate safeguarding credentials, while demonstrating proper governance of supplier relationships and value for money to funders and regulators
The Problems
Why This Matters for Charities
- Charities commission services from consultants, trainers, and contractors without checking their safeguarding credentials, insurance, or suitability to work with vulnerable groups
Third parties with inadequate safeguarding training or expired DBS checks have contact with vulnerable beneficiaries, creating serious risk the charity is responsible for
- Grant expenditure on suppliers and contractors cannot be properly evidenced because contracts, invoices, and service delivery records are scattered across email and filing cabinets
Funder audits find inadequate documentation of how grant funds were spent, leading to repayment demands and exclusion from future funding
- Related party transactions with trustee-connected suppliers are not properly documented, creating conflicts of interest that attract Charity Commission attention
The Charity Commission finds undisclosed conflicts of interest in supplier relationships, triggering regulatory action against trustees
The Solution
How Safe Supplier Helps
Supplier management with safeguarding credential verification, conflict of interest flagging, document storage for contracts and compliance certificates, and grant expenditure audit trails
Every supplier working with beneficiaries has verified safeguarding credentials, related party transactions are properly documented, and funder audits find complete procurement records
Use Cases:
- • Third-party safeguarding credential verification before engagement
- • Contractor DBS and insurance documentation storage
- • Related party and trustee conflict of interest flagging
- • Grant expenditure documentation and audit trail
- • Professional registration verification for regulated services
- • Service delivery evidence collection for funder reporting
Feature Screenshot
Safe Supplier
Real-World Examples
Example 1: Charities commission services from consultants, trainers, and contractors without checking their safeguarding credentials, insurance, or suitability to work with vulnerable groups
Real Scenario
"A counselling provider you contracted is accused of inappropriate behaviour with beneficiaries. You discover you never verified their safeguarding training, professional registration, or DBS status before they started working."
Example 2: Grant expenditure on suppliers and contractors cannot be properly evidenced because contracts, invoices, and service delivery records are scattered across email and filing cabinets
Real Scenario
"A lottery funder audits a completed project and asks for evidence of value for money in contractor selection. You can't find the quotes you received, the evaluation criteria used, or documentation of what was actually delivered."
Example 3: Related party transactions with trustee-connected suppliers are not properly documented, creating conflicts of interest that attract Charity Commission attention
Real Scenario
"Your annual accounts reveal payments to a trustee's company. The Charity Commission asks for conflict of interest declarations, competitive tender documentation, and trustee benefit authorisation. You have none of these."
Action Tracker
Charities need action tracking that connects governance decisions to implementation, ensures safeguarding follow-through, and monitors funder compliance - with audit trails for regulatory inquiries
The Problems
Why This Matters for Charities
- Trustee meeting actions are recorded in minutes but never systematically followed up, with nobody tracking whether decisions are implemented
Critical governance decisions are made but never actioned, risk management measures are agreed but not implemented, and the board loses oversight of organisational delivery
- Safeguarding concerns and incident follow-up actions are tracked on paper or in email, with no systematic monitoring that all required steps are completed
Required safeguarding actions are missed, referrals are not made or followed up, and vulnerable beneficiaries remain at risk because nobody tracked the action to completion
- Funder grant conditions and reporting requirements are not systematically tracked, leading to missed milestones and compliance failures
Grant conditions are breached because actions weren't tracked, milestone reports are submitted late, and the charity develops a reputation for poor grant management
The Solution
How Action Tracker Helps
Action tracking with ownership assignment, deadline monitoring, escalation alerts, and integration with meeting minutes, safeguarding records, and funder requirements
Every trustee decision is tracked to implementation, safeguarding actions are monitored to completion, and grant conditions are systematically managed with clear accountability
Use Cases:
- • Trustee meeting action tracking with implementation monitoring
- • Safeguarding concern follow-up action management
- • Risk register action implementation tracking
- • Grant condition and milestone compliance monitoring
- • Policy review and update action scheduling
- • Serious incident response action coordination
Feature Screenshot
Action Tracker
Real-World Examples
Example 1: Trustee meeting actions are recorded in minutes but never systematically followed up, with nobody tracking whether decisions are implemented
Real Scenario
"Trustees discover that a risk mitigation action they agreed six months ago was never completed when the risk materialises. The minutes show the decision, but nobody was tracking implementation."
Example 2: Safeguarding concerns and incident follow-up actions are tracked on paper or in email, with no systematic monitoring that all required steps are completed
Real Scenario
"A follow-up home visit after a safeguarding concern was supposed to happen within two weeks. Three months later, LADO asks about the outcome and you realise the visit never happened - it was in someone's email to-do list."
Example 3: Funder grant conditions and reporting requirements are not systematically tracked, leading to missed milestones and compliance failures
Real Scenario
"A funder asks why you haven't submitted the required monitoring data for three consecutive quarters. The grant officer who knew about the requirement left, and the action was never transferred to anyone else."
Document Vault
Charities need document management that organises governance records, safeguarding documentation, and funder compliance evidence - with the ability to produce complete records instantly for Charity Commission inquiries and funder audits
The Problems
Why This Matters for Charities
- Critical governance documents like the constitution, trustee meeting minutes, and conflict of interest registers are scattered across email attachments, filing cabinets, and personal computers
When the Charity Commission requests governance documentation, staff spend days searching for documents that may be incomplete, outdated, or missing entirely
- DBS certificates, safeguarding training records, and volunteer agreements are stored in personnel files that are difficult to access and impossible to report on across the organisation
You cannot quickly demonstrate safeguarding compliance, DBS certificates expire without notice, and auditors find incomplete records when they inspect
- Grant agreements, restricted fund conditions, and funder correspondence are not centrally stored, making it impossible to verify what was agreed or demonstrate compliance
Grant conditions are breached because staff don't know what was agreed, and audits find no evidence of compliance with funder requirements
The Solution
How Document Vault Helps
Secure document storage with version control, expiry tracking, role-based access, full-text search, and automatic organisation by document type and compliance category
Every governance document is instantly accessible, safeguarding records can be reported on across the organisation, and funder audits find complete documentation immediately available
Use Cases:
- • Trustee meeting minutes and decision records storage
- • DBS certificate storage with automatic expiry alerts
- • Safeguarding training certificate repository
- • Grant agreement and restricted fund documentation
- • Constitution and governing document version control
- • Conflict of interest declarations and register
- • Policy documents with review date tracking
Feature Screenshot
Document Vault
Real-World Examples
Example 1: Critical governance documents like the constitution, trustee meeting minutes, and conflict of interest registers are scattered across email attachments, filing cabinets, and personal computers
Real Scenario
"The Charity Commission opens a statutory inquiry and requests all trustee meeting minutes for the past three years. You discover minutes from several meetings were never properly filed, and some exist only on a departed staff member's laptop."
Example 2: DBS certificates, safeguarding training records, and volunteer agreements are stored in personnel files that are difficult to access and impossible to report on across the organisation
Real Scenario
"A funder's due diligence questionnaire asks you to confirm all staff working with vulnerable adults have current DBS checks. It takes a week to check every personnel file, and you find three have expired."
Example 3: Grant agreements, restricted fund conditions, and funder correspondence are not centrally stored, making it impossible to verify what was agreed or demonstrate compliance
Real Scenario
"A funder queries expenditure against their grant. Nobody can find the original grant agreement to check what was permitted. Eventually someone finds it in a departed staff member's email archive."
Incident Reports
Charities must document safeguarding concerns thoroughly for regulatory inquiries, identify and report serious incidents to the Charity Commission, and demonstrate a learning culture to funders and insurers
The Problems
Why This Matters for Charities
- Safeguarding concerns are reported verbally or via email with no consistent format, making it impossible to track patterns or demonstrate proper response procedures
Concerns are not properly escalated, patterns of behaviour are missed, and the charity cannot demonstrate to regulators that it followed proper safeguarding procedures
- Serious incidents that should be reported to the Charity Commission are not identified as such, or reports are delayed because staff don't recognise their reporting obligations
The Charity Commission learns about serious incidents from other sources and criticises the charity for failing to report, triggering regulatory action
- Near-misses, complaints, and minor concerns are not recorded because staff feel they're 'making a fuss' about small issues
Warning signs are missed before serious incidents occur, and the charity cannot demonstrate to insurers or regulators that it has a learning culture
The Solution
How Incident Reports Helps
Structured incident and concern reporting with safeguarding categorisation, serious incident determination, Charity Commission reporting triggers, and pattern analysis
Every concern is properly documented with clear escalation pathways, serious incidents are identified and reported appropriately, and pattern analysis identifies risks before they escalate
Use Cases:
- • Safeguarding concern recording with LADO referral tracking
- • Serious incident identification and Charity Commission reporting
- • Beneficiary complaint documentation and response tracking
- • Near-miss and early warning concern recording
- • Pattern analysis across concerns and complaints
- • Incident investigation documentation and outcome recording
- • Regulatory correspondence and inquiry response tracking
Feature Screenshot
Incident Reports
Real-World Examples
Example 1: Safeguarding concerns are reported verbally or via email with no consistent format, making it impossible to track patterns or demonstrate proper response procedures
Real Scenario
"LADO asks for records of all concerns about a particular volunteer over the past two years. Staff search emails and find three separate concerns that were never connected or escalated because there was no central recording system."
Example 2: Serious incidents that should be reported to the Charity Commission are not identified as such, or reports are delayed because staff don't recognise their reporting obligations
Real Scenario
"A beneficiary makes a complaint to the Charity Commission about an incident at your charity. The Commission asks why you didn't report it as a serious incident. Staff didn't realise it met the reporting threshold."
Example 3: Near-misses, complaints, and minor concerns are not recorded because staff feel they're 'making a fuss' about small issues
Real Scenario
"A volunteer's behaviour escalates from minor boundary issues to a serious safeguarding incident. Investigation reveals staff had noticed concerning patterns but never documented them."
Audit Trail
Charities must demonstrate proper governance to the Charity Commission, maintain complete records for historical inquiries, and provide comprehensive audit trails for funder accountability
The Problems
Why This Matters for Charities
- Trustee decisions, especially on conflicts of interest and related party transactions, are not documented with sufficient detail to demonstrate proper governance
When the Charity Commission inquires about a decision, you cannot prove trustees followed proper procedures, considered conflicts, or acted in the charity's best interests
- Changes to policies, procedures, and governance documents are not tracked, making it impossible to know what version was in force at any point in time
When investigating a past incident, you cannot determine what policies should have been followed or demonstrate that proper procedures were in place
- Funder audit trails for grant expenditure are incomplete, with poor documentation of decision-making, approvals, and value for money considerations
Funders find inadequate evidence of proper grant management, leading to claw-back demands and exclusion from future funding opportunities
The Solution
How Audit Trail Helps
Comprehensive audit trail with timestamped records of all decisions, document changes, approvals, and user actions with full version history and search capability
Every governance decision is fully documented, policy versions are preserved with change history, and funder audits find complete approval trails for all expenditure
Use Cases:
- • Trustee decision documentation with conflict of interest records
- • Policy version control with change tracking
- • Grant expenditure approval trails
- • Safeguarding record access logging for data protection
- • Document modification history for governance records
- • User activity logging for compliance verification
Feature Screenshot
Audit Trail
Real-World Examples
Example 1: Trustee decisions, especially on conflicts of interest and related party transactions, are not documented with sufficient detail to demonstrate proper governance
Real Scenario
"The Charity Commission questions a payment to a trustee. Your minutes say 'payment approved' but don't record who declared the conflict, who withdrew from the decision, or what comparison options were considered."
Example 2: Changes to policies, procedures, and governance documents are not tracked, making it impossible to know what version was in force at any point in time
Real Scenario
"Investigation of a historical safeguarding concern requires understanding what policies were in force at the time. You only have the current policy - nobody knows when it was updated or what the previous version said."
Example 3: Funder audit trails for grant expenditure are incomplete, with poor documentation of decision-making, approvals, and value for money considerations
Real Scenario
"A lottery funder conducts a post-project audit and asks to see the approval process for a major contractor. You have the invoice but no record of who approved it, what alternatives were considered, or what evaluation criteria were used."
HR Management
Charities rely heavily on volunteers who need the same safeguarding oversight as staff - DBS tracking, training records, and role management must cover both employed and volunteer workforce
The Problems
Why This Matters for Charities
- DBS checks for staff and volunteers are tracked on spreadsheets that nobody updates, with renewal dates missed and certificates stored in inaccessible personnel files
Staff and volunteers with expired or missing DBS checks work with vulnerable beneficiaries, creating serious safeguarding risk and regulatory exposure
- Volunteer records are informal, with contact details, availability, and role assignments managed through personal knowledge and email rather than systematic records
When a safeguarding concern is raised about a volunteer, you cannot quickly access their complete record, training history, or the activities they've been involved in
- Right-to-work checks, reference verifications, and other pre-employment compliance is completed but not properly documented or stored
Home Office enforcement finds inadequate right-to-work documentation, or employers' liability insurance is voided because you can't prove proper employment checks were done
The Solution
How HR Management Helps
Complete staff and volunteer records with DBS tracking, automatic renewal alerts, right-to-work verification, reference storage, and role assignment management
Every staff member and volunteer has complete, accessible records, DBS renewals are automated, and you can instantly demonstrate safeguarding compliance to any regulator
Use Cases:
- • DBS certificate tracking with automatic 3-year renewal alerts
- • Volunteer role assignment and activity tracking
- • Right-to-work verification and expiry monitoring
- • Reference check documentation and verification
- • Emergency contact management for staff and volunteers
- • Role-based access permissions aligned to responsibilities
- • Leaving procedures and access revocation for departing volunteers
Feature Screenshot
HR Management
Real-World Examples
Example 1: DBS checks for staff and volunteers are tracked on spreadsheets that nobody updates, with renewal dates missed and certificates stored in inaccessible personnel files
Real Scenario
"A routine review by your insurance company asks for DBS compliance data. You discover 40% of volunteer DBS checks have expired, and you can't find certificates for several long-standing volunteers."
Example 2: Volunteer records are informal, with contact details, availability, and role assignments managed through personal knowledge and email rather than systematic records
Real Scenario
"A parent raises a safeguarding concern about a volunteer. You need to urgently contact them but their mobile number is only in a staff member's personal phone, and you can't find records of which activities they've supervised."
Example 3: Right-to-work checks, reference verifications, and other pre-employment compliance is completed but not properly documented or stored
Real Scenario
"A staff member's right to work expires. Because nobody tracked the expiry date, they continue working for six months. Immigration enforcement issues a civil penalty because you employed someone illegally."
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