Are you ready for your AGM?

With many charitable settings holding their annual general meetings (AGMs) during the early stages of the Autumn term, here’s an overview to holding them correctly – a full version of the guide can be found on the members area of our website at portal.eyalliance.org.uk.

Firstly, all charities need to have a governing document, either a constitution for unincorporated associations or charitable incorporated organisations, or Memorandum and Articles of association for charitable companies. Each governing document sets the rules by which the charity must be run, including how to call and run an AGM.

While each will differ greatly, for the purpose of this article, we will focus on the commonly used Alliance templates, which are pre-approved by the Charity Commission and Companies House.

What is the purpose of an AGM?
Each year, charities need to hold an AGM with the specific purpose of:

presenting the members of the charity with the Trustees’ Annual Report and accounts for the past year
providing members with an update on the activities and finances of the charity for that period
electing the charity trustees for the upcoming year
proposing resolutions for attendees to vote on, as well as any items put forward from the previous meetings and any that have arisen since.

Your governing document will include the minimum requirements for holding your AGM, such as how many members need to attend and how many need to vote in favour of a resolution for it to be passed.

Calling the AGM
Your governing document will stipulate a minimum number of members required to attend the AGM, otherwise, it would need to be recalled. So it’s important to think of other ways to generate their interest, such as linking them with other events, including summer fetes or parents’ evenings. You’ll need to give members two weeks’ notice of the AGM, and again to encourage maximum attendance, think carefully as to when and where it will be held.

Conducting a general meeting
A typical agenda for a general meeting would include:

welcome and apologies
agree and discuss any matters arising from the previous minutes
an account of actions taken since the previous meeting
introducing each proposal on the agenda with an explanation

The chair should facilitate the meeting to ensure that the points are clearly presented and ensure the discussion is productive and kept to the point. Any actions arising from an item should be decided by a vote.

Minutes of general meetings must be made available to all the members of the charity.

After the AGM
Unincorporated associations and charitable companies are required to appoint officer roles to three of the trustees, as Chair, Secretary and Treasurer, which is usually done at the first committee meeting.

While charitable incorporated organisations do not have this requirement, the trustees should agree how the work of the charity will be shared among the committee as a whole, as all trustees are equally responsible for the smooth running of the charity, therefore, individual trustees should not be burdened with responsibilities any more than others.

For any trustees removed or appointed, the records of the charity must be updated with the Charity Commission and Companies House, if appropriate.

Ofsted requires all charity providers to register newly elected trustees by completing a EY2 declaration and consent form. A DBS check must also be completed for each new trustee via the Ofsted application. The EY3 notification form should also be completed, as this would result in a change of trustees.

Unfortunately, the time it takes Ofsted to complete these registration processes can vary, therefore, we would recommend that you ask as many of the current trustees to continue in their roles until the registrations for new trustees are complete. In the meantime, you can allow new trustees to attend committee meetings, provided information of a confidential nature is not discussed in their presence.

As part of the Alliance’s Business Block offer, we are holding two Insights in September which will cover the roles and responsibilities of an early years committee, ideal for those new to the committee or a refresher for those who remain on the committee.