In Liverpool, LCVS | United Way is the umbrella body for charities and other non-profit organisations. Our annual membership fee is £10/£15, and our members are entitled to discounts on some of our services.
The Charity Commission will expect all charities to become part of a voluntary sector umbrella body, and has mooted highlighting on the Commission website the memberships that charities hold. Chair of the Charity Commission Dame Suzi Leather made the announcement at the Commission’s recent Annual Public meeting, which discussed the theme 'Charities and self-regulation – how far can it go?'.
Dame Suzi said going forward the Charity Commission was expecting the charity sector to become more self-reliant, with trustees taking more decisions without input from the Commission. As part of this strategy, the Commission would work to increase the profile of umbrella bodies, who could take on the advice role that the Commission currently plays:
“There have been discussions about an umbrella support coalition of sector groups taking on an advice function that feeds off Charity Commission guidance. Then, we could deal with a limited number of umbrellas rather than 180,000 charities.”
She said all charities would be expected to be a member of an umbrella body.
Sam Younger, the Commission's chief executive, added that while the Commission would be unable to give financial support to the umbrella groups, their resource issues would cease to be such a problem if they increased their memberships.
“We could encourage more charities to be members through information on annual returns, or a field when registering with the Charity Commission," he said.
Dame Suzi added: “It won’t happen overnight. But more membership means more income and more profile. In turn, umbrellas could help us ensure that members do accounts on time. This is an important strategic development and I’m proud of it. It would be akin to the relationship between the Institute of Fundraising and the Fundraising Standards Board.”
Source: Civil Society eNews, 23 September 2011