Charity Policies and Procedures Templates

These templates give you 55 of the most important policies and procedures for running your organisation effectively. They range from those related to conditions of employment such as annual leave and flexible working to those concerned with compliance and finance like data protection and credit control.

Hugely popular since first launched in 2020, this second edition contains a further 21 brand new templates (highlighted in bold below) including ones on  equality, equity, diversity and inclusion and virtual meetings to make sure your organisation’s policies are as comprehensive as possible.

The policies and procedures contained in the Word document are intended to be adapted and tailored to your specific organisation to make your policy creation that much easier. Obvious slots exist for you to drop in your organisation’s name or the job title of the relevant person. We have added notes on some policies for explanatory purposes, so it’s important to read through the policies fully before deciding whether further changes are required!

This publication is aimed at those responsible for and involved in devising policies and procedures in their organisation including those with leadership responsibility, HR officers, managers and those with an interest in areas such as risk management, compliance and equality.

The following templates (correct as at publication Feb 2023 and some individual policies further updated as indicated below) are included in this downloadable Word document:

• Acting in Absence Policy
• Annual Leave Policy – updated April 2024
• Authorisation Level Policy
• Bullying and Harassment Policy
• Compassionate Leave Policy
• Credit Control Policy – NEW
• Data Protection Policy – NEW
• Disaster Recovery Plan – NEW
• Disciplinary and Dismissal Procedure
• Dress Code Policy
• Early/late and Lone Office Working Policy
• Employee Volunteering Policy – NEW
• Environmental Policy – NEW
• Equality, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Policy – NEW
• Equipment Policy
• Exit Interview Procedure
• Expenditure Authorisation Policy
• External Complaints Procedure
• Fire Procedure
• Flexible Working Policy and Procedure – NEW – updated April 2024
• Grievance Procedure
• Guidance for Managers on Holding Effective One-to-ones – NEW
• Guidance for Staff on Effective One-to-ones – NEW
• Handover Notes Policy
• Health and Safety Policy
• Induction Policy
• Internet, Email and Social Media Policy
• IT Security Policy – NEW
• Job Evaluation Policy
• Leavers’ Procedure
• Management and Leadership Policy and Standards – NEW
• Maternity, Paternity and Adoption Policy
• Microsoft Teams Policy – NEW
• Other Forms of Leave Policy
• Partnerships Due Diligence – NEW
• Performance Review Procedure
• Personal Data Breach Policy – NEW
• Recruitment and Selection Policy
• Redundancy Policy
• Safeguarding Policy – NEW
• Salary Policy and Performance Awards – NEW
• Scheme of Delegation Policy – NEW
• Shared Parental Leave Policy
• Sickness Policy and Procedure
• Six-month Performance Review Procedure
• Statement of Standards of Behaviour
• Team Briefing Policy
• Time Off in Lieu Policy
• Trustee Recruitment and Selection Policy – NEW
• Trustees’ Disputes Policy and Procedure – NEW
• Trustees’ Expenses Policy
• Unauthorised Absence Policy
• Virtual Meetings Policy and Procedure – NEW
• Volunteer Management Policy
• Whistle-blowing Policy
• Work–Life Balance Policy and Principles – NEW

The document is deliberately low on formatting and design to make adapting it as easy as possible. Copying and pasting single policies into your own template should be easy, as should working the other way round and dropping your existing policies into this document to create a comprehensive staff handbook.

We hope that these templates will save you a small amount of time in developing your own policies, and a much bigger amount of time through having them in place when you need them the most. Note that our  information our standard terms and conditions for digital downloads do not allow changes to our documents, but this product is an exception. It is expected that these Word templates will be amended and personalised to suit your organisation.

NB: While most of the policies are about procedures and processes, there are some relating to legal elements. As the policies are substantially based on those created and adopted by the Directory of Social Change, for your organisation’s particular circumstances you should always check official guidance around statutory provisions and seek legal advice where necessary.

 

‘These templates are a great tool for when I’m working with voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations to ensure they have all the right policies and procedures in place to meet the requirements of prospective funders.’

Robin Causley, Community Fundraising Advisor, Torbay Community Development Trust

 

‘DSC’s Charity Policies and Procedures Templates are invaluable, offering a whole range of policies with a simple framework. They couldn’t be simpler to use – to either create a new set of policies in your own house style and branding or cut and paste into your existing documents. These templates have saved us hours of staff time in getting all our basic organisational policies and procedures updated.’

Helen Crisp, Chair of Trustees, PROMPT Maternity Foundation

 

‘This collection of policies and procedures is an excellent practical resource for charities, in particular for smaller organisations that don’t have in-house specialists. It contains easy-to-use templates, which can be tailored to suit every organisation depending on the work it carries out, the number of staff it employs, and its structure and organisational culture.’

Rachel Mace, Director, Beating Time

 

‘Getting the organisation’s policy framework right is difficult in any organisation, but it is particularly challenging for those in the third sector. In my more than 20 years of working in HR roles, including as a lead of the Charities HR Network for over five years, DSC’s Charity Policies and Procedures Templates is one of the most useful tools to help navigate this challenge. At its lightest touch, these templates act as useful starter to help build your organisation’s policy framework. Alternatively, the templates can be applied straight out of the guide with minimal tweaks to reflect your organisation’s needs. A welcome help for anyone tasked with an HR role in a charity.’

Peter Reeve, CEO, Charities HR Network and Head of HR, Motor Neurone Disease Association

 

‘This guide is a really useful tool when reviewing your existing policies and procedures to ensure that they are fresh and up to date. It is even more valuable when developing new procedures from scratch – so much better than starting with a blank sheet of paper!’
Ian Simpson, Company Secretary, Gloucestershire Gateway Trust

Who is this book for?

This book is aimed at those responsible for and involved in devising policies and procedures in their organisation including those with leadership responsibility, HR officers,  managers and those with an interest in areas such as risk management, compliance and equality.

Look inside

Have a look inside Charity Policies and Procedures Templates.

Please note this is a Word document (ignore reference to PDF below as this is an automated website setting).

These templates are correct as at publication date Feb 2023 and some individual policies further updated as indicated in the list above.

By placing this order you agree to DSC's terms and conditions - * Order before Thursday 12 December to guarantee hard copy publications orders arrive before Christmas:
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