The 2024 Charity Governance Awards have opened for entries with a new category called People in Governance, and a bigger prize fund of £42,000.
The winner of each category will receive £5,000 as an unrestricted grant. Runners-up will receive £1,000, and all shortlisted charities will also receive a paid one-year membership to the Association of Chairs for their board and a complimentary place on a Cause4 Trustee Leadership Programme for a new or inexperienced trustee.
In the new category, the judges are seeking boards with an inclusive culture where different views are harnessed, and where there is a clear sense of purpose. They are looking for trustee boards that demonstrate effective decision making, place value on training and development, as well as exercise strong accountability and engagement of all their trustees.
The Charity Governance Awards 2024 offer 6 categories, all recognising best practice in governance within areas including digital strategy, diversity and equity, and tacking systemic challenges.
National and local charities of all sizes can enter for free, with a deadline of Tuesday 6th February 2024.
A charity may submit a single entry into only one of the following categories:
The 6 award categories are:
o People in Governance.
o Board Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.
o Transforming with Digital.
o From Systemic Challenge to Meaningful Change.
o Improving Impact in Small Charities (0-3 Paid Staff), and
o Improving Impact in Small Charities (4-30 Paid Staff).
To enter, a charity must have been established before 31 December 2020 and be registered in the UK.
Entries must cover activities undertaken in the last five years (2018 – 2023); focus on the work of the main board, not sub-committees; be submitted by a trustee, employee or volunteer of the charity; and be signed off by the Chair or CEO
Full details, including an entry form, details of the judging panel and stories from the 2023 award winners are available on the awards site.
The winners of the 2023 Awards were:
o Merton Centre for Independent Living (joint winner) and Women in Prison (joint winner).
o MQ Mental Health Research.
o Carers in Bedfordshire.
o Edinburgh School Uniform Bank, and
o Depden Care Farm.
The Charity Governance Awards are sponsored and hosted by The Clothworkers’ Company in partnership with NPC (New Philanthropy Capital); Prospectus; and Reach Volunteering.
Source: UK Fundraising