New award category & bigger prize fund for 2024 Charity Governance Awards
Melanie May | 17 November 2023 | News
The 2024 Charity Governance Awards have opened for entries with a new category called People in Governance, and a bigger prize fund of £42,000.
In the new category, the judges are seeking boards with an inclusive culture where different views are harnessed, and where there is a clear sense of purpose. They are looking for trustee boards that demonstrate effective decision making, place value on training and development, as well as exercise strong accountability and engagement of all their trustees.
The Charity Governance Awards 2024 offer six categories, all recognising best practice in governance within areas including digital strategy, diversity and equity, and tacking systemic challenges. National and local charities of all sizes can enter for free, with a deadline of 6 February 2024.
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With this year’s addition of a new award, the total prize fund now stands at £42,000. The winner of each category will receive £5,000 as an unrestricted grant. Runners-up will receive £1,000, and all shortlisted charities will also receive a paid one-year membership to the Association of Chairs for their board and a complimentary place on a Cause4 Trustee Leadership Programme for a new or inexperienced trustee.
Deepak Nambisan, who will chair the 2024 Awards for the organisers The Clothworkers’ Company, said:
“As we all know, charity boards are not shadowy, abstract entities, but a collection of real people. And outstanding charity boards are a collection of incredible people – those who bring their individual talents and expertise to a trustee role, but who also work exceptionally well together as a board. For people to achieve this it’s partly down to personal chemistry, but also about valuing performance and devising effective processes. Our new ‘People in Governance’ award seeks to recognise those inspirational people who, collectively, have had such a positive impact on their charity and, ultimately, its beneficiaries.
“I’m delighted that the Charity Governance Awards is now open for entries for a ninth time, and say, if your charity has a brilliant success story to share, please enter and help inspire others in the sector.”
Shortlisted entrants will be announced in April, with the winners revealed at an awards ceremony in central London on 30 May 2024. Case studies of the shortlisted charities will be featured on the Awards website and free guidance to all charitable boards is offered under the ‘Advice and Resources’ page.
To enter, a charity must have been established before 31 December 2020 and be registered in the UK. A charity may submit a single entry into only one of the following categories:
- People in Governance
- Board Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
- Transforming with Digital
- From Systemic Challenge to Meaningful Change
- Improving Impact in Small Charities (0-3 Paid Staff)
- Improving Impact in Small Charities (4-30 Paid Staff)
Entries must cover activities undertaken in the last five years (2018 – 2023); focus on the work of the main board, not sub-committees; be submitted by a trustee, employee or volunteer of the charity; and be signed off by the Chair or CEO.
Full details, including an entry form, details of the judging panel and stories from the 2023 award winners are available on the awards site.
The winners of the 2023 Awards were Merton Centre for Independent Living (joint winner), Women in Prison (joint winner), MQ Mental Health Research, Carers in Bedfordshire, Edinburgh School Uniform Bank and Depden Care Farm.
The Charity Governance Awards are sponsored and hosted by The Clothworkers’ Company in partnership with NPC (New Philanthropy Capital); Prospectus; and Reach Volunteering.
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About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.