Guidance

Decision-making for charity trustees (CC27)

Guidance about making trustee decisions, including the 7 decision-making principles.

Applies to England and Wales

Documents

Details

When making decisions for your charity, you and the other trustees must:

  • act within your powers
  • act in good faith and only in the interests of the charity
  • make sure you are sufficiently informed
  • take account of all relevant factors
  • ignore any irrelevant factors
  • manage conflicts of interest
  • make decisions that are within the range of decisions that a reasonable trustee body could make

This guidance explains these principles in more detail and how to follow them, particularly when making significant or strategic decisions. It also explains how to record the decisions you make.

This guidance applies to trustees of all charities in England and Wales - registered, unregistered or exempt. This includes corporate charity trustees.

Updates to this page

Published 10 May 2013
Last updated 9 September 2024 + show all updates
  1. This guidance has been updated to make it more accessible and easier to use.

  2. Guidance updated to reflect changes introduced by the Charities Act 2022.

  3. First published.

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