Managing Your Institute

Supporting Another Charity

Each year, many Institutes wish to support an outside charity and plan fund raising activities within their programme.

As always happens there are rules for doing this, some are laid down by the WI Council and set out in the Handbook 2019, page 26. These state that an Institute can only support one outside charity in a year and this applies to all Institute activities. If, for instance, an Institute has a choir or a drama group, that group as part of that Institute, can only fund raise for the Institute’s named charity for that year.

Our rules do not allow for a collection to be taken up for visiting speakers or on behalf of visiting speakers.  Nor do they allow for ballots sponsored by outside organisations.

This is all pretty straight forward but life becomes more complicated when we take into account the requirements of the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland, which as we are registered with, we have to abide by.

The important rule is that that all our activities have to be in accordance with our own governing document – The Handbook 2019. So everything that we do has to meet our objects which are to enable women to take a more effective part in the life of the rural and urban community. They also say, as we noted above, that an Institute can only support one outside charity per year.

This means that when choosing that one charity to support in a year an Institute must be sure that it can be shown that it has the same aims as ourselves.

However, in some circumstances it would also be acceptable for us to donate to other charities if the funds were raised when carrying out activities that were in pursuit of our charitable objects.  For example, if an Institute organises a coffee morning, this enables women to take a more effective role in society and the funds collected would be incidental. These funds can be given to a charity which does not have the same charitable objects as ourselves and if it is the Institute’s named charity of the year.

 Not easy and an Institute must think carefully when deciding which charity to support and how.

 If uncertain advice is always available from your Executive Member or Headquarters

What needs to be remembered, in all of this, is the one charity that we should all be supporting – The Federation and its various funds including the ACWW Charities

Too Many Regulations!

Many members consider that there are far too many regulations to be followed. Unfortunately, we live in a time in which everything is regulated no matter what you do or say, there are rules. We have insurance, the newly introduced GDPR, the Charity Commission and that favourite catch-all – Health and Safety! On top of that there are such things as Equality, Labour and Fair Employment legislation to name but a few.

Although many will not believe it, within the WI we do try to keep regulation to the minimum. However, the main things that we have to abide by, by law are:

Insurance: we have to ensure that all our members are covered when taking part in WI activities. This includes non -members who have been invited to our events. Institutes must comply with the requirements set down by the insurers otherwise they will not be covered in the event, God forbid, of an accident.

GDPR: these regulations cover privacy and the use of personal data.

The Charity Commission regulations have to be followed. These do not affect the Institutes too much except in matters of fund-raising for charities, be aware that you have to be careful of what you do, speak to your Executive Member.

Health and Safety: these have wide ramifications and compliance with them is required by our insurance policy but basically they are a matter of common sense.

Apart from these we have our own regulations for the good organisation and management of our affairs called “governance”. These are all laid out in the Handbook 2019 which complies with the requirements of the NI Charity Commission.

We are not the only organisation which has to follow the regulations you will find that any one which you join will have them.

Unfortunately, regulations are a fact of life but your Executive has tried to keep the as few and straightforward as possible.

Why Minutes?

“Minutes are boring…too much time is taken up reading them…why have them at all?” are just some comments made in the survey returns.

Yes, Minutes can sometimes be time-consuming and occasionally boring, but they are an important record of what your Institute has done, what it intends to do and why. If you are celebrating an anniversary Minutes books can be an invaluable source of your Institute’s history. If you are planning a meeting or an outing you can refer back to find out what was done before. If there is a dispute about what is happening, the minutes will tell you what was decided and who was assigned to do what. They are a very important tool in helping to run an institute.

What goes into Minutes and how long should they be?

There is no need for lengthy minutes.  Their purpose is to record:

• who attended
• what took place
• what decisions were taken
• who agreed to do what

There is no need for full details of the speaker’s presentation.  A note to the effect that the speaker was interesting/boring, what the topic was and if it generated interest in the members is sufficient. In discussing say, the annual outing, simply note the final decision and, if necessary, whether any members disagreed.

For important decisions, such as the appointment of bankers, the resolution to do so should be given in full, together with the names of those who proposed and seconded it and what the vote was e.g.”passed unanimously”.

Writing the Minutes

Ideally, the minutes should be written up within a couple of days of the meeting as if they are delayed there is a danger that things can be forgotten or misremembered, and they must only include decisions taken at the meeting even though events may subsequently overtake them:  if that occurs it will be recorded at the next meeting.

There is no need to wax eloquent.  Short precise sentences are sufficient as a formal record.  The use of bullet points could be adopted as a very efficient method of listing important information.

Most minute secretaries have access to a computer and using one can make life an awful lot easier. The minutes can still be printed out and put into a minute book to be signed and kept for the record. Maybe now is the time to introduce a new-style minute book.

Is it necessary to read out the Minutes at meetings?

No! – provided they have been made available to members to read before the meeting. The easiest way to do this is to send them out online to members with email with hard copy available (for members who may not have had access to an emailed version) on display for at least thirty minutes before the start of a meeting.

The President can then ask if everyone has read the minutes and agrees that they are a true and accurate record. If the answer is yes, they are signed and she moves on to matters arising – two minutes maximum! If no, amendments are made and they are signed.

In conclusion, it is not necessary to spend a lot of time at the start of a meeting on the reading of minutes, there are ways around it, but accurate minutes are essential to the life of all Institutes.