Trustee Benefits

noble_pigeon

Can a charity Trustee promote his/her own business interests as part of the charity's activities?

Example. The charity has a promotional stand at a local show and the Trustee is in attendance with publicity material for his/her business and is actively promoting the business from the charity's stand.

LinLui

That would be very bad practice, but it is up to the charity to police it. A charity should not be seen to endorse commercial interests (other than their own, obviously) unless there is good reason. So, for example, a business might sponsor a charity, but that would not include promoting that specific businesses interests. There are, amongst other things potential liability issues if someone believed that the business was connected to or endorsed by the charity and entered into a commercial relationship with them based on that belief. It's not illegal - but it is exceptionally unwise, and depending on the exact circumstances could lead to major problems and diificulties for the charity (and liability for the individual trustees)

Undervalued

noble_pigeon said:

Can a charity Trustee promote his/her own business interests as part of the charity's activities?

Example. The charity has a promotional stand at a local show and the Trustee is in attendance with publicity material for his/her business and is actively promoting the business from the charity's stand.

As has been said it is not against the law so the answer is yes!

However, the charity may want to consider taking the appropriate steps to remove the trustee (who is presumably a volunteer?) from their board. Or, at the very least warn them that will happen if they do it again. However that is entirely up to the other trustees to decide.

noble_pigeon

Undervalued said:

noble_pigeon said:

Can a charity Trustee promote his/her own business interests as part of the charity's activities?

Example. The charity has a promotional stand at a local show and the Trustee is in attendance with publicity material for his/her business and is actively promoting the business from the charity's stand.

As has been said it is not against the law so the answer is yes!

However, the charity may want to consider taking the appropriate steps to remove the trustee (who is presumably a volunteer?) from their board. Or, at the very least warn them that will happen if they do it again. However that is entirely up to the other trustees to decide.

What if the Trustee responsible is the Chair of Trustees?

Savvy_Sue

That's when you get the other trustees to take a stand together. 

You may have a local Voluntary Services organisation near you, where you might be able to get some 'official' advice, pointers to appropriate trustee behaviour etc. Its name may vary but google Volunteer plus your town / city / county / area. 

Undervalued

noble_pigeon said:

Undervalued said:

noble_pigeon said:

Can a charity Trustee promote his/her own business interests as part of the charity's activities?

Example. The charity has a promotional stand at a local show and the Trustee is in attendance with publicity material for his/her business and is actively promoting the business from the charity's stand.

As has been said it is not against the law so the answer is yes!

However, the charity may want to consider taking the appropriate steps to remove the trustee (who is presumably a volunteer?) from their board. Or, at the very least warn them that will happen if they do it again. However that is entirely up to the other trustees to decide.

What if the Trustee responsible is the Chair of Trustees?

As far as I am aware, a Trustee can be removed by a unanimous resolution of the the other trustees in much the same way as a director of a limited company. 

If it is a registered charity, the Charity Commission would be able to advise in general terms regarding procedure.