Charity being mis-managed

[NCOneDayOnly]

I've name changed for this and would really appreciate any guidance from anyone with experience of working within the charitable sector who may have experienced something similar, or anyone who has experience of Charity Commission procedures.

I work for a charity that I have serious concerns is being mis-managed; both by the chief exec and all of the board of trustees (with one notable exception).

My concerns relate mainly to operational and financial mis-management; for example:

• CEO and board of trustees being entirely dis-interested in day-to-day oversight, governance or interaction with staff and the various projects we run in the charity's name


• failure to act in a timely manner to avoid unnecessary expenditure and costs to the charity's available funds


• promises of actions/work being undertaken by the CEO which never materialise (the CEO essentially sits in meetings with staff, agrees to undertake tasks, admits they need to act differently and then does precisely nothing different)


• inconsistency in budgeting eg: applying costs to a project that the CEO knows cannot afford to pay them owing to lack of funds (funding being exceptionally difficult for some of the charity's projects in the wake of covid), no clear guidance on how budgets are set up, repeatedly failing to address budgeting inconsistencies and failure to understand or act upon staff concerns around budgetary issues


• board of trustees do not act with any impetus, for example: a major source of funding was lost to the charity during 2018/19 and a strategic review for the organisation to address this was not implemented until 2021/22


• once the strategic review was begun, and recommendations were put to the board of trustees, the trustees once again failed to respond in a timely manner and/or ignored or watered-down the recommendations - for example; a 'deep dive' financial review was recommended. That 'deep dive' was undertaken only by the CEO and the chairman of the board of trustees who declined an offer of assistance and support from an external, independent officer.


• office space costs the charity around £30,000 p/a. The office space has not been used to any really degree since the start of the first pandemic lockdown and all staff have been working remotely for around 95% of the time. Trustees have STILL not agreed that notice can be given to give up the office space, thus forcing the charity to pay around (to date) £75,000 in rent which could have been avoided. Staff unanimously agreed that the charity should give up the office to save costs, money which could have been diverted to the projects, but the board of trustees did not wish to enter into discussions with any staff members about this.

Several colleagues and I feel that the charity is being mismanaged and that the board of trustees has allowed it to run into financial difficulties. The last set of filed accounts state very plainly that money applicable to 12 weeks reserves should be maintained with an accompanying note stating that the reserves at the end of 2021 were actually very much less than that - surely, that means the trustees have been negligent - if only on that one point?

Staff have reported concerns to the CEO and various members of the board of trustees on numerous occasions, but nothing ever happens. Colleagues who have worked for the charity for longer than I have been through two previous strategic reviews and NOTHING has changed. The charity simply limps along until the next lot of interim funding saves it from collapse in the nick of time. As a result, medium to long-term planning is impossible.

Charity Commission guidance on whistleblowing says the Charity Commission will '... if we investigate a concern we usually work with the charity and the trustees to get it back on track...'. There's also some advice that says you can report 'mis-management' if you think it actually is happening, has happened or is 'likely' to happen, so that might cover some of the above.

I am conscious that any whistleblowing would/could have an impact on jobs, but I am also hugely concerned that a charity is being managed in such a careless way.

Any advice would be very much appreciated. Thank you.

Generally a sign of a sht board is one where they don't have regular interaction with employees so don't get beyond the Chief Exec

OR a sign of a shit board is one where they have a board who are interfering in day to day operational matters and overstepping their boundaries

I used to report directly to the CEO and had one particular board member who would constantly call me and ask me to do x, y, z, completely undermining my actual line manager.

Over involved boards can be just as damaging as under involved boards, trust me.

It wouldn't work. You wouldn't have enough Trustees able to form quorum for such matters as Pay, Pay appeals, complaints, the Finance committee or the CEO review, as anybody employed by the charity would be unable to vote on those matters.

If it's being that mismanaged but there isn't enough for PIDA, the only thing you can do other than get a job somewhere else - which is what I recommend, as if this all comes out, mud sticks - is watch it be run into the ground.

I second this, and it's been a long week of interfering in my world.

I totally get that. But the tightrope takes SO much careful walking, and when a board recognises its mistake and tries to do the opposite, the staff are so used to the first way that some of them will still complain at the change.

This is why I will be resigning from the board by the end of the year. It really is a no win, unpaid, time consuming gig and it's been incredibly stressful.
We've actually achieved a massive amount, turned things around in pretty much every area, and the place is in massively better shape. But throughout I've felt like I can't do right for doing wrong.

Well yes, I don't disagree with this either. Bad trustees need sacking as much as bad CEOs, and I have been asked to sack a lot of both.

There's a saying that boundaries come down fastest in charities and the church. Very true in my experience.

I whistleblow to the charity commission over serious safeguarding concerns of both vulnerable clients and staff.

They didn't even reply to me.

I got bullied out of my job for contacting HSE.

I did get paid off as I started the tribunal process.

Would never put myself through it again. Incredibly stressful and everyone will work as a system to protect themselves and discredit you.

Look for another job and don't look back is my advice.

I've often thought there needs to be a support organisation for people who have struggled/been harmed by their involvement in 3rd sector organisations....

And/or an organisation to focus on 3rd sector issues/disfunction.

Vote with your feet, you won't change this. unless the financial mismanagement is misrepresented in the formal accounts or there's something super iffy going on. Or stay and await redundancy if you qualify, I'd say not worth it though. The charity sector is awash with jobs right now, many remote based, get out.

I worked for a charity where the accountant stole £200k. The charity commission did not care, no one on the board stood down. I was appalled and I left. That was all I could actually control in that situation.

Sometimes the downfall is positive, another better run charity may expand or establish a service to fill the gap left behind for beneficiaries. Or even better, a statutory service might step up. It's ok for a charity to fail sometimes, many do, and it's likely to be a frequent occurrence over the next few years. Survival of the fittest (not the richest, its more than that).