Acevo posts loss of £138,000 in accounts for 2016/17

But the chief executives body says this is a smaller loss than the previous year, and it expects to record a surplus in the next accounts

The charity chief executives body Acevo made a loss of £138,000 in 2016/17, its latest accounts show.

But the deficit was an improvement on the previous year, when it was £190,801. The charity said it had taken “substantial steps” towards achieving a sustainable business model, including staff restructuring and voluntary salary reductions for some senior staff, and expected the accounts for the current year to show a small surplus.

The latest accounts, which cover the year to the end of March and were published today, show that Acevo had an income of £1.1m and expenditure of £1.3m in 2016/17, compared with an income of £1.3m and spending of £1.5m in the year before.

Acevo said much of the £166,000 decline in income was due to the conclusion of long-term funded projects, including work carried out after a review of the commissioning of services for people with learning disabilities or autism, which was carried out by Sir Stephen Bubb while he was Acevo chief executive in the wake of the Winterbourne View care scandal, and a review of the loneliness of young people in London.

The charity said it had withdrawn from providing paid-for consultancy services, cut staff numbers and refocused its direction of travel to “better reflect its purpose as an organisation giving practical support to, and representation of, its members”.

Acevo had an average of 15 full-time-equivalent posts in 2016/17, down from 19.3 in the previous year, the accounts show.

They say that Vicky Browning, the charity’s chief executive from the end of January, was employed on a salary of £75,000, considerably less than Bubb, her predecessor, who received £107,000 a year.

Acevo’s accounts show that its reserves stood at £151,784 at 31 March, which is below the charity’s target level of between £175,000 and £350,000. It said it planned to invest about £40,000 in the reserves in 2017/18.

The number of Acevo members fell by 17 per cent over the course of the year to 1,165 at the end of March, but the charity said that membership figures were now showing net gains.

Paul Farmer, chair of Acevo and chief executive of the mental health charity Mind, said the chief executives body had gone through a lot of change in recent years, but its “developing financial position gives much cause for optimism”.

He said: “The organisation has already shown the resilience to take it through the turbulence of the last three years. It is now very well placed to move forward and continue to develop its mission to support and empower the civil society leaders of today and tomorrow.”

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Acevo опубликует 30 онлайн-статей, посвященных 30-летию

. 23 письменных статьи и семь видеороликов будут опубликованы один день в течение ноября

Acevo опубликует сборник из 30 статей и видеороликов о проблемах, затрагивающих добровольный сектор, в рамках празднования 30-летия организации благотворительных лидеров.

Один новый пункт будет опубликован на веб-сайте Acevo каждый день в течение ноября, до тех пор, пока не будут опубликованы 23 статьи и семь видеороликов.

В статьях есть статья от Ричарда Хоукса, главы британского азиатского треста, который утверждает, что сектор сам виноват в том, как он был показан в средствах массовой информации в последние годы, и говорит, что благотворительные организации должны быть смелее вызывая плохой практика.

Еще одна статья Джен Шаня из Центра устойчивой филантропии в Плимутском университете считает, кто из филантропов завтрашнего дня, а часть от Линды Томас, главы исполнительной власти поддержки рака Макмиллан, обсуждает будущее сбора средств.

Статьи будут опубликованы на сайте «Acevo's 30 Things to Think About».

Вики Браунинг, исполнительный директор Acevo, говорит в своем вступительном слове, что она больше заинтересована в том, чтобы думать о будущем, чем о прошлом.

«Какие проблемы затронут наш сектор в течение следующих трех десятилетий и как мы, как руководители гражданского общества, должны реагировать на них?» она спрашивает.

«Не все части дают ответы, но они задают интересные вопросы. Мы надеемся, что они ожидают обсуждения и дают пищу для размышлений и стимулов для действий».

Членский орган также будет чирикать о своей годовщине, используя hashtag # acevo30.

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After Kids Company, trustees ‘becoming more like inspectors’, says Acevo chief

Vicky Browning tells the Association of Volunteer Managers’ annual conference that trustees feeling under pressure are crossing the line between governance and the executive

The fallout from the collapse of Kids Company means charity trustees are “becoming more like inspectors” and putting their noses too far into executive business, the chief executive of the charity leaders body Acevo has said.

Speaking at the annual conference of the Association of Volunteer Managers in London yesterday, Vicky Browning said charity trustees were under more pressure than ever before.

She said the role of trustees was about three things: strategy, scrutiny and support. But she said events such as the dramatic collapse of Kids Company had affected trustees’ behaviour.

“The way that things like Kids Company have affected us as a sector is that trustees are becoming more like inspectors,” Browning said.

“They want to be absolutely sure about everything and they are getting their noses in a little bit too far across the line that normally divides the executive and non-executive responsibilities.”

Browning told Third Sector after the session that her comments were based on what she was hearing from her membership.

“It’s a sense I get from Acevo members that the line between executive and non-executive responsibilities, which is often something of a grey area, is shifting further into what they consider to be executive territory,” she said.

“The role of trustees has always been that of strategy, scrutiny and support, but in some cases there’s a feeling that the scrutiny role is turning more into that of an inspectorate.”

She said there was no sense that people were blaming trustees for this, but it was a result of the increased pressure and heightened sense of responsibility trustees were feeling.

“But the danger is that it leads to a greater sense of risk-aversion at a time when the sector needs innovation and a positive attitude towards risk more than ever,” she added.

The former trustees of Kids Company and Camila Batmanghelidjh, the charity’s founder and former chief executive, are facing disqualification proceedings after the charity closed abruptly in 2015.

The trustees have said they “wholly reject” the allegation that they were running an unsustainable business model and the decision to bring disqualification proceedings was “both unjust and unprecedented”.

If the proceedings are successful, they could receive bans from running or controlling companies for between two-and-a-half and six years.

Batmanghelidjh told Third Sector this week that she would advise against people becoming charity trustees until the Charity Commission had completed its investigations into Kids Company.

Batmanghelidjh said she believed that she and the trustees of Kids Company had been treated badly and the case being brought against them could set a dangerous precedent.

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Regulator must understand charities’ concerns about its levy, says Acevo chief

Vicky Browning says the Fundraising Regulator must not treat all charities in the same way when it comes to persuading them to pay for its upkeep

The Fundraising Regulator must avoid treating all charities in the same way if it hopes to persuade more of them to pay its levy, according to Vicky Browning, chief executive of the charity leaders body Acevo.

In a statement made after the Fundraising Regulator published a list showing the names of the 162 charities that have not paid the levy to contribute towards its costs, Browning warned that the regulator needed to do more to tailor its arguments to different types of charities.

She said the list published by the regulator showed that certain kinds of charities were more likely than others not to pay, primarily religious or medical charities and those in the arts.

“This demonstrates a need for the Fundraising Regulator to engage with representatives from these types of charities and understand what their concerns are,” Browning said.

“The sector is not homogeneous: the same argument isn’t going to work with everyone. Charities that have concerns about paying need to see and hear that their perspective is understood and being taken into account.”

Browning said it was up to each charity to make up its mind on whether or not to pay the levy, but Acevo’s view was that it was better to have the voluntary self-regulation offered by the Fundraising Regulator than to have government legislation imposed on the sector.

The regulator’s list included 1,570 charities, the majority of which had paid the levy, but showing the names of 162 that had not. The regulator said another 95 charities not included on the list were currently negotiating with it about making the payment.

Of the 162 that have not paid, 13 have agreed to pay the levy next year, but not this year.

At least 85 of the 162 have charitable objects relating to medicine, religion or the arts, including museums.

Browning said: “Charities not paying the levy on the principle that donors’ money was not intended for the Fundraising Regulator must measure the risk against the principle and consider whether the principle should itself be subsidised by the majority of the rest of the sector that is paying the levy.”

A spokeswoman for the regulator said it engaged with all charities that got in touch to express concerns about the levy, but if charities did not reply to emails and letters it was “near impossible” to discover exactly what their concerns were.

“Where charities have refused to pay, we will continue to engage with them individually, and it is helpful that some have said they will start to pay the levy in year two,” she said.

The regulator was always happy to discuss any issues, she added.

“Many arts, faith and medical research charities have paid the levy, and we are pleased that they support independent regulation,” she said.

“We are working with the Arts Council, the Institute of Fundraising, the National Council for Voluntary Organisations and others to reach out to those organisations, and will continue to do so.

“As Acevo points out, the sector is not homogeneous, so it can be difficult to do this where charities are not part of wider networks.”

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