(a charitable company limited by guarantee)
Registered Charity No. 1054914
Company Number 3182826
The Charity Finance Directors' Group was incorporated by guarantee on 29 March 1996. It has no share capital and is a registered charity. The guarantee of each member is limited to £1. The governing document is the Memorandum and Articles of Association of the company and members of the Board of Trustees are the Directors of the company.
The full complement of Trustees is ten; this was maintained till March 2006. Trustees serve for a term of three years and may be appointed to serve for one further term. Appointment is by election at the Annual General Meeting, which takes place in September each year, and postal ballots are conducted when necessary. All Trustees must be members of CFDG and the members are invited to nominate people to serve. Prior to inviting nominations the Trustees review their skills audit to try to attract members with the relevant experience and skills to the Board. The Chair and Officers are appointed by the Trustees from among their number. The Board convenes five times each year and holds an additional strategic planning day.
Because all CFDG members are finance specialists it can be difficult to get some of the skills we need so we have set up committees to advise and support us on some aspects of our work. We also have Pesh Framjee of Deloitte as our Special Adviser and John Tate who is our IT Adviser. The supporting committees included at least one Trustee as follows:
Each Committee has its own Terms of Reference and their reports are a standing
agenda item for the full Board meetings. The Board also receives reports from
each of our three main work activities, as described earlier in this report.
Other committees and working groups are set up as needed to support and inform
staff and these include the Policy Development Working Group chaired by Claire
Newton of Marie Curie Cancer Care and the Technical Accounting Group chaired
by Fiona Young previously of Crisis. We are very grateful to them and all those
who have helped us to develop our work and influence.
Since incorporation in 1996 the number of charities with a CFDG member has increased
from 493 charities to 973 and there are now three regional membership groups.
Each of these is constituted as a Branch under the Articles of Association and
has its own steering committee. The Trustees are currently completing a governance
review to ensure that the structure, procedures and protocols are appropriate
for a charity of this size and activity.
On appointment each Trustee signs a code of conduct and completes a register of interests. The latter is renewed annually. They are given a Trustee Handbook that includes the Memorandum and Articles of Association, policies and procedures on issues such as delegation of authority, recruitment, equal opportunities, and conflict of interest and other guidance. It contains job descriptions for Trustees, officers and staff. New trustees meet with the Chair and Chief Executive and undertake an induction process. According to their skills and aptitude they take responsibility for at least one activity area by appointment to a committee. We are fortunate that as our trustees are charity finance directors their training needs are met by their employers.
CFDG Trustees have delegated management of CFDG to the Chief Executive who reports on the performance against the Strategic and Operational Plans approved by the Trustees. The Deputy Chief Executive reports, via the Treasurer and Finance Committee, on the financial position, including outturn against budget. Management Accounts are received quarterly by the Board and monthly by the Finance Committee.
The Trustees are currently undertaking a complete review of the Charity’s governance and intend to report back their findings to members during Summer 2006 and place special resolutions to the AGM on 7th September 2006.
Page 11 - Annual Report and Financial Statements 2006