Charity operational advice and income generation

Charities are all different but they all have operational requirements to deliver their charitable purposes. Many charities operate as social  businesses and Blake Morgan's Charities team can offer a full range of advice to meet all their legal needs.

Main areas of practice

Our charities team offers a wealth of knowledge in a wide variety of areas relating to operations and funding to support your work. Our advice includes:

• Working well: support for efficiency and effectiveness - includes support for loans and grants, procurement, debt collection, cost efficient contract creation, in-house training and support
• Protecting and using your reputation and intellectual assets - including brand protection, accreditation and certification, data protection, licensing
• People you work with - employment law, volunteers, pensions, immigration, safeguarding etc
• Investment and financing - including private equity investment,, lending and borrowing, property investment and leases
• Generating funds - gifts of assets and property, social enterprise, appeals, competitions and e-commerce, gift aid management, digital giving and legacies
• Property management - includes acquisition and disposal, planning and construction, estates and farms, heritage property and assets, environmental law.
• Risk limitation and compliance - regulatory compliance, operational policies, complaints policies and handling, trustee liability, fraud and business risk, disputes and litigation.

Clients

Our clients comprise of every type and size of charity and voluntary organisation, including:

Significant experience

• Advising a charity on a major government outsourcing contract, procurement and public law issues, risk assessment and the transfer of employment contracts (TUPE).
• Providing training, processes and supporting guidance and template documents to an in-house charity contracting team with a supporting advice line for risk related support.
• Advising a charity on successfully resolving a contractual dispute with a supplier involving issues connected with miss selling by the supplier.
• Advising a faith based charity on an allegation of abuse, the conduct of an internal investigation, liaising with the Charity Commission and establishing trustee policies for the handling of such cases and to assist them in difficult decision making.
• Advising a heritage charity on the lease, and construction of a landmark museum building.
• Advising a medical research charity on terms and conditions  and quality assurance requirements for the award of research grants.
• Advising an educational charity on a merger involving the acquisition of existing educational business and related contractual arrangements.
• Advising on a multinational public health research collaboration involving charitable and grant funding and private investment, and educational and charitable institutions.
• Advising on the structured growth of a national care charity including the acquisition and merger of a number of charitable trusts and companies, reorganisation of care arrangements including advice on CQC requirements and  advising to ensure related charity law and other regulatory compliance.