This page is a collection of "thoughts" based on some of the issues that Small Charity Support has helped other small charities deal with.

Click on the headings to go to the relevant article.

To Accrue...    or Not to Accrue ?
Choosing between Receipts & Payments financial reporting and Accruals financial reporting is a between "The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" dilemma for small charities !
For a "no-brainer" solution, click HERE.

Gift Aid - A Gift for the Wealthy ?
Two fictional tales – but based on real information.
What do these little tales tell us about our social & financial attitudes to charity, wealth, equity, levelling up ……. and Gift Aid?

Chicken or Egg  -  Which Came First ?
Rummaging through some old e-mails I came across one which I wrote back in 2018 when I was working as a volunteer with another charity.   It seems as relevant now as it did then – if not more so.   So I though I would publish it as a “Charity Thought”.

Charity Financial Reporting Standards - Not Fit for Purpose ?!
This "Thought" is about how charities are currently required to report (and, by implication, manage) their finances and makes the case that current practices are not fit-for-purpose, particularly for the vast majority (>85%) of small charities with annual incomes less than £250,000.
It also proposes a practical feasible alternative and demonstrates it working in practice in the Small Charity Support "Charity Accounts Made Easy" spreadsheet, as used by a number of other small charities.

 The Good Sam
This "thought", was originally published in "The Third Sector" magazine ("members only" section) on 29-Jan-16.   A modern adaptation of the well-known story of "The Good Samaritan", it is based on some real issues encountered by Small Charity Support in helping other small charities.

Charity Bonds Raise £33M
This "thought" originally appeared as a comment (since deleted) in response to an article which appeared in Civil Society News on 17-Mar-17.   The article was reporting on a charity Care Home which had raised £33M by issuing interest-paying bonds.

What is a Charity?
This "thought" on misunderstandings about what organisations can, or cannot, be called "charities" is inspired by Lewis Carroll's description of the encounter between Alice and Humpty Dumpty in "Alice Through the Looking Glass".

18 Top Charities Pay Trustees
This "thought" is about the difficult issue of payments (ie: a wages/salaries) to trustees.

How Small is "Small"?
This "thought" looks at what constitutes a "small" charity? - and why? - and the implications !

Should Private Schools be Charities?
This "thought" - written in 2019 - looks at the implications, and possible consequences, of a suggestion by the UK Labour Party that the resources of private (ie: fee-paying) schools should be taken for distribution throughout the education system,