Trustees are collectively responsible for the organisation’s finances. Proportionate controls must apply to fundraising, banking, purchases, grants, expenses, restricted funds, reserves and reporting.
Financial principles
- Use funds only for authorised purposes and respect donor restrictions.
- Separate approval, payment and reconciliation where practical.
- Keep invoices, receipts, decision records and a clear audit trail.
- Budget, monitor cash flow and review management information.
- Carry out due diligence on recipients, partners and unusual transactions.
- Prevent fraud, bribery, money laundering and diversion of aid.
Urgent humanitarian decisions
Urgency may justify a faster approval route, but it does not remove trustee responsibility. Emergency expenditure should have defined authority limits, a recorded rationale, proportionate recipient checks and prompt retrospective review.
Public reporting
AidWorkers intends to publish required accounts and useful summaries of income, spending, reserves and administrative costs. Figures will be reported consistently and without claims that could mislead donors about unavoidable delivery or governance costs.