NICVA Governance and Charity Advice Training

These sessions are organised and delivered by NICVA’s Governance and Charity Advice Service which ran a very successful training programme under the outreach programme which came to an end in December 2006.

These two hour courses are interactive and can be delivered in your premises. They allow participants to ask questions throughout and are accompanied by comprehensive notes on the subject. NICVA has a special discounted pricing rate for members. Depending on your group’s financial circumstance we may be able to negotiate on price and possibly offer the training free under our new governance review and support service.

Committees and Trustee responsibilities

This is an interactive session which will help committee members understand their basic responsibilities in relation to the governance and management of a voluntary or community organisation.

By the end of the session participants should be able to:

• define the role of the committee of a voluntary and community organisation
• define the roles of the honorary officers
• devise a skills audit for their committee
• identify the characteristics of good and bad meetings
• explain the importance of best practice in committees including the importance of carrying out inductions and having a conflicts of interest policy

Duties of the directors of a charitable company

This is similar to the above session but concentrates specifically on the board members of a charitable company.

By the end of the session participants should be able to:

• define the role of the board of a charitable company
• devise a skills audit for their board
• identify the characteristics of good and bad meetings
• list the key features of a company
• outline the administration requirements involved in running a company limited by guarantee

Setting up a company limited by guarantee

This session will help both new groups who are thinking of setting up a company limited by guarantee and established groups who are considering changing from another legal structure to a company limited by guarantee.

By the end of this session participants should be able to:

• identify the key features of a company limited by guarantee
• explain the process of setting up a company limited by guarantee
• outline the administration requirements involved in setting up and running a company limited by guarantee
• list the key duties and responsibilities of directors of a company limited by guarantee

Assessing and managing risk

Risk management is an important tool in ensuring the efficient and successful operation of voluntary and community organisations, regardless of their size or nature. This session introduces voluntary and community sector organisations to assessing and managing risk.

By the end of the session participants should be able to:

• outline the benefits of risk management
• develop risk management procedures
• identify risks and carry out a risk assessment
• analyse risks and draw up an action plan to deal with risks
• monitor and review your action plan

Charitable status and charity law reform update

This session examines the implications of registering and operating as a charity in Northern Ireland as well as providing an update on the proposed new changes to the legislation covering charities. By the end of the session participants should be able to:

• outline the advantages and disadvantages of charitable status
• explain how to register as a charity in Northern Ireland
• outline the key features of the new charity legislation
• identify the legal requirements for charity trustees

Understanding your governing document

As an organisation’s governing document sets out the rules for administering the organisation it is extremely important that the governing document is understood. This session will help you understand the clauses in your governing document and how to practically apply them in governing your organisation.

By the end of the session participants should be able to:

• outline the different types of governing document in relation to legal structure
• identify the key information in their governing document
• identify some practical ways in which they would use their governing document

For more information please contact:

Denise McCann, Mark McCarey, Oonagh Kane;
028 9087 7777