roles and responsibilities

Management committee/board members have ultimate responsibility for directing the activity of the organisation, ensuring it is well run and delivering the outcomes for which it has been set up.

Every management committee/board should provide leadership to the organisation by:

Behaving with integrity as a management committee member is vital.  As a member of the committee you are a steward of the assets of the organisation and accountable for the activities of the organisation.  As part of your leadership role, you need to set a standard for conduct which can be mirrored throughout the organisation. Failure to act with integrity will have major, damaging implications for the reputation of the organisation you lead.

Efficiently run committees are more likely to be able to secure and retain the commitment and enthusiasm of all their members. This has to make organising the committee's work effectively a high priority.

Well-organised committees have the following features:

The committee needs to have a good understanding at a strategic level of the work of an organisation.  This includes an awareness of the vision, values and mission, strategic and operational plans, staffing, funding and finance, monitoring and evaluation relating to an organisation's work.  The management committee also has a responsibility to present regular reports of the organisation's work to members, funders and stakeholders.  For example the Charity Commission.

The role of management committee members is described may vary according to the size and nature of the organisation. However, all committee members are individually committing to:

• upholding the values and objectives of the organisation;
• giving adequate time and energy to the duties of being a trustee; and
• acting with integrity and avoiding or declaring personal conflicts of interest. 

(Adapted from Good Governance: A Code for the Voluntary and Community Sector).

Decision making

Management committees are responsible for taking major strategic decisions and need to take decisions jointly with other members. In making any big decision, a number of steps are involved, including some or all of the following:-

An organisation will demonstrate its accountability by being able to produce an accurate and verifiable record of how it has spent a particular grant.  Such a record would show how much was received, how much was spent and that all expended monies were spent on the grant aided activity as agreed by the funder.

There are many reasons why this might happen.  For example, the committee members might feel that they lack experience of financial management and are reluctant to raise questions about issues they do not fully understand.

Whilst the management committee retain overall responsibility for financial management, it is acceptable for them to delegate certain tasks to particular committee members, staff or volunteers.

However, it is not good practice for all tasks associated with the finance function to be performed by one person without adequate supervision from the management committee.

This is not a matter of trusting your employee(s); it is about safeguarding the organisation from fraud and protecting the employees from possible allegations.

It is important to note that although the Treasurer ensures that these responsibilities are met, much of the work may be delegated to a finance sub-committee and paid staff or volunteers.

In summary, the Treasurer is responsible for: