ICSA: The Governance Institute has issued free guidance on how to build a board assurance framework (BAF), a document it says can help assure trustees that management assertions their charity is well run are accurate.

The institute said a BAF can provide a clear and comprehensive overview of a charity’s risks, including the management and mitigation of those risks.

The framework can help identify where there is insufficient assurance available and strengthen those controls, and highlight areas of overlap or duplication of control mechanisms.

A BAF can reveal where control mechanisms are ineffective or inefficient, ICSA said, and focus limited resources on areas of greatest need. An effective framework provides evidence to support formal governance statements.

ICSA head of policy (not for profit) Louise Thomson said it can be challenging for trustees to be certain their charity is being run properly and meeting its strategic goals.

Trustees can feel disconnected from the activities of frontline staff, but compliance and oversight requires a certain amount of insight into operational matters, Thomson said.

“The quality and veracity of board information is key to enabling trustees to provide challenge and stewardship. This is where a board assurance framework can give assurance, providing evidence that decisions are being implemented and strategic aims are having the intended outcome,” she said.

Access the guidance here.

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