What can we do for you?

Illuminate Governance offers a range of services to support charities of all sizes. 

Using that rare mix of experience gained at the charity regulator, as an in-house expert and an external adviser. 

Governance Consultancy

When was the last time your charity had a governance health-check? Does your governance reflect changes in the law, best practice and your organisation’s own development?

Illuminate Governance can:
  • Undertake a tailored governance review to assess the effectiveness of your governance arrangements and highlight improvements.  This could be a full-scale review, based on the Charity Governance Code, looking at both structures/processes and behaviours/dynamics or focussing on one particular aspect of your governance.
  • Evaluate how effectively your board is working together, including with your staff team (if applicable).  This could include helping you assess if there are gaps in what you need and identifying ways you can ensure your board is achieving the balance it needs, with active, supportive engagement from all trustees alongside constructive challenge and healthy debate.
  • Walk alongside you to implement recommendations and governance improvements from a governance or board effectiveness review.
  • Provide online or in-person trustee training – for new trustees or as a refresher. This can include a tailored trustee handbook or code of conduct.
  • Facilitate board away days to support the development of the board and its working relationships or to support trustee input on strategy dreaming and planning.

Charity Law-related Projects

Do you want to make changes to be more effective but are not sure how to navigate Charity Commission guidance or charity law?

Illuminate Governance believes charity law should be an enabler – used to help charities achieve their best. There are many tools that trustees could use to develop how they work, if only they had the time, know-how or confidence.

Examples include:
  • Changing your charity’s purposes and/or updating your Constitution, Articles of Association or Trust Deed.
  • Unlocking restricted funds to use for new or existing activities.
  • Exploring the possibility of merging or working in partnership with another charity.
Illuminate Governance can:
  • Give you guidance on projects that may be relevant to your organisation.
  • Develop legal advice and/or Charity Commission guidance into a fully-fledged project strategy and plan, covering engagement with stakeholders, timescales, resources, risks and anticipated costs.
  • Work with professional advisers to provide a full project management service, to offer clients that extra sparkle. 

How We Work

Illuminate Governance offers flexibility and value for money options to suit your needs.

Our fees are tailored to the nature of the support you need and the size of the organisation. 

We provide:
  • Support on a consultancy basis - whether 1:1 or by drawing together a team of experts.
  • A partnership approach, working with external professional advisers including lawyers and accountants.
  • A point of contact for the Charity Commission: requesting legal consents; responding to regulatory concerns; sense-checking documents for review and/or filing. 

We also work with and recommend other consultants/firms including: 
Illuminate Governance will always tell you if you need to seek specialist advice from a lawyer or accountant and can help you obtain this as part of the package.  

Want to know more?

To see how we can make your organisation shine a little brighter