It’s important that you arrange your charity’s meetings and administer the voting process in the right way. We don’t make the rules for these things - charities should each have their own rules. This page explains where you can find them, and how to find out if they are appropriate.

• Where can I find the rules which set out how my charity should hold meetings?
• What elements should the governing document/rules cover?
• The governing document is not clear about the procedure for holding meetings and voting. What should I do?

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Where can I find the rules which set out how my charity should hold meetings?

Look at your constitution, rules, trust deed or other document which sets out the purpose of your charity and how it’s supposed to be run. This document is called the charity’s governing document.

If the governing document says how and when meetings should be organised and how voting should be carried out, you must do these things exactly as it says. If you don’t, any decision that is made during a meeting may not be properly made and could be challenged.

Some governing documents have a section in them which says that you can make rules for how to run the charity. If your governing document has a section like this, you can usually make rules about how to organise meetings and voting. The rules should be written down and agreed by the charity trustees (committee members). They should be kept together with the governing document.

• See example governing documents

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What elements should the governing document/rules cover?

Your governing document, or any rules you are allowed to make by the governing document, should cover the following things. Click on the headings to find out more.

1. How often meetings must be held and when
2. How many people must attend a meeting so that decisions can be made properly (Quorum)
3. Who should organise a meeting
4. How people will know what the meeting is about (Agenda)
5. How you let people know about the meeting (Notices)
6. Who will be in charge of a meeting (Chair/Chairperson)
7. How you deal with charity trustees who have conflicts of interests
8. What records should be kept of the meetings (Minutes)
9. How many people must vote for a decision to be properly made
10. What types of meetings the charity has: Annual General Meetings and Extraordinary and Special General Meetings

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The governing document is not clear about the procedure for holding meetings and voting. What should I do?

If your charity’s governing document isn’t clear, and it doesn’t have a section allowing you to make rules on this issue, you should think about improving it.

• See ‘Changing what your charity does and how it is run’

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See also:

• Our full guidance on meetings: Charities and meetings (CC48)