The not-for-profit sector
Charities are set up to benefit others and not those responsible for its running. The work of a charity falls under one or more of four main categories:
- The relief of poverty
- The advancement of education
- The advancement of religion
- Other purposes beneficial to the community
Most charities are registered with the Charity Commission except very small organisations or those with a special excepted or exempted status. The Charity Commission is a governing body providing guidance and regulation to individual organisations to ensure that they are compliant with current practice and regulations.
Charities are commonly independent of government and business, non-profit distributing, provide a wide public benefit that goes beyond any membership and are non-sacramental religious bodies or places of worship (Source: The UK Voluntary Sector Statistical Almanac, NCVO).
Key characteristics include:
- Vacancies are usually advertised internally first
- The recent push to improve succession planning and improve careers with charities means that good employees are strongly encouraged to stay within the sector
- Although most charities have their HQ in London or the South East, they are likely to have regional offices throughout the UK
- All charities in England have been subject to stricter guidelines on their accounts, so have been encouraged to recruit more financial staff
- The variety in types of charity (environment, animals, children, illness etc.) means there will be a field of interest for everyone
- Charities vary from big international organisations to ones with much smaller budgets
