Delegation

Trustees are ultimately responsible for the charity. They are required to act in person and make collective decisions. 

However, in practice, the boards of all but the very smallest charities will assign or delegate day to day, operational or specific matters to individual trustees, sub-committees, staff and/or volunteers. 

The way trustees delegate varies from charity to charity:

• In a very small charity trustees might take all decisions, agree role descriptions for individual trustees and then decide at meetings who will carry out individual tasks  
• In a large staffed charity, trustees often delegate the day to day running of the charity along with many day to day decision making powers to its paid chief executive and, through that person, to staff and volunteers.

Trustees must be clear about what is being delegated and to whom and should have this in writing. Those taking delegated authority must promptly report back to the trustee board on the use of the authority and the actions taken. The format of this report will vary – in particular, depending on the size of the charity and the extent of delegated authority.

The power to delegate decision-making from the trustee board must be included in the governing document for an incorporated body.   Powers also arise from the Trustee Act 2006 and trustees of charitable trusts have limited implied powers to delegate. It is sensible to take advice where there are no clear powers in the government document.

Details of the limits or delegated authority might be set out in the governing document, in minutes of meetings, in agreed role descriptions (for example, setting out the duties and responsibilities of staff) and/or in policies and procedures.

The board generally remain ultimately responsible for any decisions delegated to others.

Some tasks generally should not be delegated to others but remain the subject of a board decision. The Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators has produced a specimen list of such tasks.