The latest guidance from the ICAEW highlights common myths surrounding the charity sector, offering insights and practical recommendations to help dispel them, so that charities can continue to build donor trust and confidence in order to achieve their strategic goals. It should be remembered that people’s goodwill and donations are the lifeline for the sector which has around 200,000 registered charities in the UK.
The guide covers various issues from confusion surrounding tax status and cash reserves, to how charities are run, and their vulnerability to fraud.
It’s important for charities to keep these misunderstandings in mind. This is particularly important when they are writing annual reports, as well as using their accounts to reinforce the positive impact of their work for the sector and the wider community, whilst remaining transparent about their approach.
To support the guidance, ICAEW’s Charity Community hosted a webinar, ‘Sharing perspectives on common myths about how charities operate’, which is available to watch on-demand. The insightful session looked at how charities can use transparent reporting to educate stakeholders, as well as hearing auditor perspectives on these prevalent misconceptions.
These useful resources from the ICAEW help to highlight the daily challenges faced. It’s important that those involved help to tackle the misconceptions, whilst promoting the achievements and positive outcomes of all UK charities.
Charities play a vital role in society. People’s goodwill and generosity remain the lifeblood of the sector, but this is at risk if the public misunderstand what charities do and how they operate.
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