The current global pandemic is having lasing effects in all areas of life

Many charities want to know whether and how they can respond to an emergency or humanitarian crisis such as this current one.  A charity must apply its funds for the aims it was set up to achieve, but this need not mean that they cannot help when an emergency happens. 

Trustees have a legal responsibility to ensure that funds raised are used for the purposes for which they were raised. This means your charity should consider putting in place a range of checks and controls to safeguard its funds and prevent fraud.

In the interests of openness and transparency, your charity should also be able to demonstrate to donors and the general public that funds raised have been, and will be, used for the purposes they were given.

Disaster Action’s Guidance on Management and Distribution of Disaster Trust Funds is a useful source of information.