Charities and Not For Profit

Our specialist Charities and Not for Profit team delivers practical, commercial advice to clients across the UK, supported by a deep understanding of the third sector.

Flexibility and collaboration are at the heart of our approach for charity and third sector clients. We have a strong service ethos, based on close working relationships with clients and their professional advisers.

Our team of almost 30 experienced lawyers have detailed sector knowledge and expertise to advise on all aspects of constitutional, governance and operational needs.

Many of our team also advise public bodies, commercial entities and high net worth individuals, and are familiar with the contracting, funding, gift, and legacy issues that charities commonly encounter.

Our experience and client base

Our Charities and Not for Profit Team provides advice on all aspects of best practice and good governance, including in respect of powers to enter into proposed arrangements where there might be some uncertainty.

We are often instructed to provide support in updating governing documents, and we have expertise on the legal requirements for all types of legal form and structure (whether or not charitable), including trusts, unincorporated associations, companies, CIOs, statutory corporations and Royal Charter bodies, CICs, and Community Benefit Societies.

We also regularly advise charity trustees on their legal duties and responsibilities and assist and support our charity clients through difficult circumstances where Serious Incident Reports might be required or Charity Commission inquiries are received.

Charity governance and regulation

We regularly provide advice to our clients on all aspects of best practice and good governance, including in respect of powers to enter into proposed arrangements where there might be some uncertainty.

A common area of advice upon which we are often instructed to provide support is updating governing documents, and we have expertise on the legal requirements for all types of legal form and structure (whether or not charitable), including trusts, unincorporated associations, companies, CIOs, statutory corporations and Royal Charter bodies, CICs, and Community Benefit Societies.

We also regularly advise charity trustees on their legal duties and responsibilities, and assist and support our charity clients through difficult circumstances where Serious Incident Reports might be required or Charity Commission inquiries are received.

We regularly deliver training on key governance and regulatory topics, both in-house via our Shaping Excellence programme, and through free to attend seminars and webinars. Some of our previous webinars on governance and regulation include:

Adding value for our charity and not for profit clients

Philanthrophy ribbon in heart shape

Charity Newsletter

We produce a variety of newsletters covering changes in legislation, topical news and issues affecting our clients. You can download the latest issue of Essential Trustee, our newsletter for charity trustees and senior management, from our newsletter page. If you would like to automatically receive future issues please register your details.

Closeup on colorful wish ribbons in a row.

Charity trustee induction and refresher training

We deliver a rolling programme of virtual training via Zoom for charity trustees. This course provides charity trustees with essential legal training to enable them to comply with law and best practice in fulfilling their duties and furthering the success of the charity. For more information, please visit our training page and to sign up for an upcoming seminar please visit the events section of our website.

Charities

Charity webinars and events

We regularly deliver free webinars on topics of relevance and interest to charities, social enterprises, churches, clubs and other not for profit clients. All of our webinars are available on our Birketts YouTube channel, and you can watch all of our historic webinars in your own time from our Charity Law Playlist.
If you would like to receive notifications about future webinars and events, please register here to sign up to our Charities and Not for Profit mailing list

Free guides for charities

We have published a free guide to help you to understand the statutory requirements that apply whenever engaging with professional fundraisers and commercial participators. To request a free copy of the guide, please email [email protected] with your postal address.


…the team is very responsive and knowledgeable, with lower rates than London firms; their fee arrangements are always clear, upfront and transparent.

Legal 500 [UK 2024]

Contact Us
Contact Us
For general enquiries please call +44 (0)808 169 4320 or send a message from our Contact us page.