Fundraising
First approach to a company
Use this when you want a first conversation with a local or regional company of any size that has never given to you, whether you are asking for money, goods, space or staff time.
Open → LetterDonor update with no ask
Send this between appeals, when a donor has given to a specific fund or appeal and you have something real to tell them, such as a milestone in the work.
Open → LetterReply to a funder who said no
Use this when a trust, foundation, lottery distributor or company has turned down your application, whether or not they gave a reason and whether or not they have supported you before.
Open → LetterEnd of grant report
Use this when a grant from a trust, foundation, council or company has come to an end, or when the funder asks for a progress report part way through.
Open → LetterLetter to a lapsed donor
Use this to write to a supporter who gave once or several times, has not given for a year or more, and has not asked you to stop writing.
Open → LetterSponsorship proposal outline
Use this once a company has shown interest in a specific project or event and has asked what sponsorship would involve.
Open → LetterThank you letter for a first gift
Use this the first time a person gives to your charity, whether by cheque, bank transfer, cash at an event or through an online platform.
Open → LetterThank you letter for a major gift
Use this when someone gives your charity a gift large enough that your usual thank you would feel wrong.
Open →Governance and trustees
AI acceptable use policy
Use this when your staff, volunteers or trustees are already using ChatGPT, Copilot or similar tools for charity work and nothing is written down about what is allowed, or when a funder…
Open → Board documentBoard meeting agenda
Use this when your trustee meetings run long, drift into day to day detail or have no settled running order, or when a new chair or minute taker joins.
Open → PolicyComplaints policy
Use this when a complaint has just arrived and nobody is sure who should deal with it. It is also the one to reach for when you have no written complaints policy and a funder or…
Open → PolicyConflicts of interest policy
Use this when a trustee's business is quoting for work, a relative has applied for a job, or a funder or independent examiner has asked to see your register of interests, and you need a…
Open → PolicyData protection policy (short form)
Use this when a funder, commissioner or insurer asks to see your data protection policy and you have none, or the one you have was copied from a much larger organisation and nobody follows…
Open → Board documentDecision log
Use this when decisions are being made by email, in corridors or between meetings and nobody can later say who agreed what.
Open → Board documentBoard minutes
Use this at every trustee meeting, including short online meetings and any meeting where a decision is taken.
Open → PolicyPrivacy notice for a small charity
Use this when your charity has no privacy notice, when the one on your website was copied from a larger organisation and no longer describes what you actually do, or when you start handling…
Open → Board documentRisk register
Use this when your board has no written record of what could stop the charity doing its work, or when the one you have is a spreadsheet nobody has opened since it was made.
Open → Board documentTrustee skills matrix
Use this when you are about to recruit a trustee, when a trustee has given notice, before the annual general meeting, or when a funder asks about the board's skills.
Open → LetterTrustee recruitment advert
Use this when you have a trustee vacancy to fill, a skills gap the board has identified, or a board that has stopped changing.
Open → Board documentTrustee role description
Use this when you are recruiting a trustee, inducting a new one, or when the board has never written down what the job involves.
Open → PolicyWhistleblowing policy
Use this when your charity has no written route for staff, volunteers or trustees to report wrongdoing, or when the one you have was copied from a large employer and nobody has read it.
Open →Money and finance
Expenses policy
Use this when anyone at your charity spends their own money on its work and expects it back, whether that is staff mileage, a volunteer's bus fare, a trustee travelling to a meeting or a…
Open → PolicyFinancial controls policy
Use this when your charity has no written rules about who can spend money, sign payments or count the cash, or when the rules exist only in the treasurer's head.
Open → PolicyReserves policy
Use this when your charity has no written reserves policy, or only a single line about holding a few months of costs with no reasoning behind it, or when a funder, independent examiner or…
Open →Services and volunteers
Health and safety policy summary
Use this when your charity employs anyone, runs activities with volunteers or uses premises, and has no written health and safety policy or one that nobody has read for years.
Open → PolicySafeguarding policy summary
Use this when your charity has no written safeguarding policy, or has a long one that nobody reads, and you want something short that tells staff and volunteers what to do on the day…
Open →Comms and supporters
People and wellbeing
Equality, diversity and inclusion policy
Use this when a funder, commissioner or local authority asks for your equality policy, when you take on your first paid member of staff, or when a volunteer or service user raises a concern…
Open → PolicyVolunteer policy
Use this when you take on volunteers in any regular way and have nothing in writing, or when the policy you have was borrowed from a much larger charity and no longer matches how you work.
Open → LetterVolunteer welcome letter
Send this to a new volunteer once you have agreed the role and a start date, and before their first session.
Open →