Charity Governance Awards 2019 offer £35,000 prize pot
The 2019 Charity Governance Awards open for entries on 1 October, with a £35,000 prize fund.
Now in their fourth year, the Charity Governance Awards have seven categories recognising outstanding governance, with the winner in each one to receive a £5,000 prize as an unrestricted grant.
The categories are:
- Board Diversity and Inclusivity
- Embracing Digital
- Embracing Opportunity and Harnessing Risk
- Improving Impact – charities with 3 paid staff or fewer (including charities with no paid staff)
- Improving Impact – charities with 4–25 paid staff
- Improving Impact – charities with 26 paid staff or more
- Managing Turnaround
The awards organisers are particularly keen to receive entries in the Embracing Digital and Board Diversity categories.
To enter, a charity must have been established before 31 December 2015 and be registered in the UK. A charity may submit a single entry into only one category.
Entries must cover activities undertaken in the last five years (2013 – 2018); focus on the work of the main board, not sub-committees; be made by a trustee, employee or volunteer of the charity; and be signed off by the Chair or CEO. The deadline for entries is 22 January 2019.
The awards are free to enter and shortlisted entrants will be invited to the awards ceremony at London’s historic Clothworkers’ Hall on 22 May 2019. Case studies of the shortlisted charities will also be featured on the Awards website under ‘Advice and Resources’ offering free guidance to charitable boards.
Full details can be found on the Awards website.
Judges include Dawn Austwick, CEO, Big Lottery Fund; Vicki Hearn, Director, Nominet Trust; Vinay Nair, Co-founder, Lightful; Dan Corry, CEO, New Philanthropy Capital; David Gold, CEO, Prospectus; and Janet Thorne, CEO, Reach Volunteering.
Michael Jarvis, who will be the host and master of ceremonies at the awards ceremony in May 2019, said:
“In 2018 we received our strongest field of entries yet, but there are some areas where we are eager to see even more outstanding examples. The influence of digital in our lives continues to loom large so any charities devising smart, creative digital strategies should enter our ‘Embracing Digital’ category.
“I would also recommend charities consider our ‘Board Diversity and Inclusivity’ category and to think broadly about what diversity means – we are looking for examples that truly shine a light on the importance of a diverse board and what that can help a charity to achieve. Based on previous years, we are anticipating some exceptional entries across all categories from brilliant boards.”Advertisement
Main image: Winners of the 2018 Charity Governance Awards. Photo: Kate Darkins Photography.