Guide to Management Committees

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What Is the Management Committee?
The management committee (sometimes called a ‘steering group’ or ‘executive committee’) is the leadership team elected or appointed to oversee the running of the organisation.
General Responsibilities of All Committee Members
All committee members have a shared duty to:
• Act in the best interests of the organisation and its members.
• Follow the constitution or rules of the association.
• Ensure the organisation’s activities are lawful and aligned with its stated aims.
• Handle finances responsibly and keep good records.
• Be transparent and accountable to members.
• Work collectively with respect and confidentiality.
• Avoid personal conflicts of interest.

Typical Roles on a Management Committee
Chairperson / Chair
Main role: Leads the committee and ensures smooth running of meetings and decision-making.
Responsibilities:
• Chairing meetings and setting the agenda (with the Secretary).
• Facilitating participation and fair discussion.
• Representing the organisation at events or in public.
• Supporting and guiding the rest of the committee.
Secretary
Main role: Keeps the organisation’s records and communications in order.
Responsibilities:
• Organising and recording meetings (minutes, agendas).
• Keeping membership lists up to date.
• Managing correspondence (emails, letters).
• Filing any reports required by funders or stakeholders.
Treasurer
Main Role: The Treasurer is responsible for managing the group’s finances. They must ensure that the organisation uses its funds responsibly and transparently, reporting clearly to the committee and funders.
Key Responsibilities:
• Maintain accurate financial records, including receipts and invoices.
• Prepare financial statements, reports, and annual accounts.
• Monitor the budget and provide updates at committee meetings.
• Manage the bank account and authorise payments appropriately.
• Ensure compliance with any funder reporting requirements.

Other Committee Roles (Optional)

Depending on the size and needs of the group, additional roles might include:
• Vice-Chair – supports and stands in for the Chair.
• Membership Officer – manages member engagement and recruitment.
• Fundraising Officer – leads on grant applications or income generation.
• Events Co-ordinator – plans and oversees events and activities.
• Safeguarding Lead – ensures policies are followed for children/vulnerable adults.
Legal and Governance Considerations

Even though unincorporated associations are not legal entities:
• Committee members may personally be liable for contracts or debts.
• It’s essential to keep good records and act responsibly.
• If the association registers as a charity, committee members become charity trustees and must follow Charity Commission rules.
Good Practice for Committees

Encourage diversity and inclusion in your leadership.
• Provide training and support for new committee members.

• Regularly review the constitution and update policies.
• Promote teamwork, accountability, and respect.
• Hold regular meetings and keep proper minutes.

Good governance

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Watch our short video that explains good governance.

You might also want to read our Top Tips for Good Charity Governance.

To ensure that you have a well-run, efficient organisation that complies with laws and regulations, and that sustains a good reputation whilst making a difference based on its targets it will need good governance.

Although a board of trustees are responsible for governance, they rely on employees, volunteers, advisors and other stakeholders.

A useful tool that helps charities and their trustees with their governance is called the Charity Governance Code. The code is also useful for not-for-profit organisations that deliver a public, community or social benefit but is not a legal requirement.

The code has the following set of principles.

  • Organisational purpose
    The board is clear about the charity’s aims and ensures that these are being delivered effectively and sustainably. Charities exist to fulfil their charitable purposes. Trustees have a responsibility to understand the environment in which the charity is operating and to lead the charity in fulfilling its purposes as effectively as possible with the resources available.
  • Leadership
    Every charity is led by an effective board that provides strategic leadership in line with the charity’s aims and values. Strong and effective leadership helps the charity adopt an appropriate strategy for effectively delivering its aims. It also sets the tone for the charity, including its vision, values, and reputation.
  • Integrity
    The board acts with integrity. It adopts values, applies ethical principles to decisions and creates a welcoming and supportive culture that helps achieve the charity’s purposes. The board is aware of the significance of the public’s confidence and trust in charities.  It reflects the charity’s ethics and values in everything it does. Trustees undertake their duties with this in mind.
  • Decision-making, risk and control
    The board makes sure that its decision-making processes are informed, rigorous and timely, and that effective delegation, control and risk assessment, and management systems are set up and monitored.  The board is ultimately responsible for the decisions and actions of the charity, but it cannot and should not do everything.
  • Board effectiveness
    The board works as an effective team, using the appropriate balance of skills, experience, backgrounds, and knowledge to make informed decisions. The board has a key impact on whether a charity thrives. The tone the board sets through its leadership, behaviour, culture and overall performance is critical to the charity’s success.
  • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    The board has a clear, agreed and effective approach to supporting equality, diversity and inclusion throughout the organisation and in its own practice. This approach supports good governance and the delivery of the organisation’s charitable purposes. Addressing equality, diversity and inclusion helps a board to make better decisions.
  • Openness and accountability
    The board leads the organisation in being transparent and accountable. The charity is open in its work unless there is good reason for it not to be. The public’s trust that a charity is delivering public benefit is fundamental to its reputation and success, and by extension, the success of the wider sector.

The code can be found at www.charitygovernancecode.org

 

What is leadership?

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Watch our short video that explains how to be an effective leader. It covers the six essential features of a good leader and six skills recognised in the Social Leadership Capabilities Framework that can help leaders in social and ethical organisations.

 

To be an effective leader, you need to know the difference between management and leadership. There is considerable overlap between the two, but an organisation needs both. Inspiring leaders must be someone with management skills who can convert a vision into action. A manager would focus on planning, improving today, and organising the future.

A leader would focus on vision, shaping tomorrow, and creating the future.  In a large organisation, the chief executive focuses on leadership. In a smaller organisation, leaders don’t have that luxury. The director may be dealing with strategy in the morning and reorganising office files in the afternoon.

Here are six essential features of a good leader.

  • Building trust by being a role model for the organisation, but remembering trust is a two-way process.
  • Demonstrating courage by taking firm action when necessary, making difficult or unpopular decisions.
  • Challenging views when needed, but with a focus on improvement and encouraging individuals.
  • Providing focus to a team and their priorities and striving towards the vision for the organisation.
  • Communicating effectively by listening as well as talking.
  • Consulting people before making decisions to gain commitment from the wider team and being clear about what they are asking.

Here are six skills recognised in the Social Leadership Capabilities Framework that can help leaders in social and ethical organisations.

  • The Empowering Enabler who empowers others to take on new challenges and training.
  • The focused strategist who continuously seeks organisational improvement for their people.
  • The passionate advocate who is committed to the mission and their people.
  • The generous collaborator who seeks to establish and grow collaborative partnerships and relationships.
  • The courageous changemaker who drives change and is unafraid of taking risks in a responsible way.
  • The inspirational communicator who relates to others with authenticity.

Leaders can use this framework to reflect and assess their current skills, identify leadership gaps and plan the personal and professional development for themselves and their team.

Volunteers Week 2025

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Volunteers Week 2025 began on the 2nd of June. It’s an important week where the value of volunteers can be truly recognised. We all know the powerful impact that volunteers provide: Without them many VCSE organisations would be unable to deliver the innovative and creative services they do. Whether it’s as a volunteer Trustee, or an individual working within a service, the role they perform is immense.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank every volunteer that assists and helps across West Northamptonshire.

I would also like to provide a further special thanks to my volunteer Trustees for their support, and for those volunteers that work closely with VIN.

Volunteering is not easy: It requires time, commitment, and empathy. With a cost-of-living crisis well and truly embedded into UK society and people working longer hours than ever before, it takes a special kind of person to go above and beyond.

We must also remember that volunteering is not free: It requires organisations to think about how and why they involve volunteers and spend time working with them as they uncover their own personal journey. It can be resource heavy on occasions, but the benefits far outweigh the negatives.

So, let’s celebrate this week and the volunteers that support us.