Gifts and Hospitality Policy

Al-Waris Foundation recognises that modest gifts and hospitality may sometimes arise naturally during charitable, professional, community or overseas activities.

However, gifts and hospitality must never:

Trustees, volunteers and other representatives must act in the best interests of Al-Waris Foundation when making decisions on its behalf.

This policy establishes the charity's approach to:

This policy applies to:

It applies to gifts or hospitality offered because of a person's association with Al-Waris Foundation.

Any gift or hospitality connected with Al-Waris Foundation should be:

The appearance of impropriety should be considered as well as actual impropriety.

For this policy, a gift may include:

Ordinary charitable assistance received as a beneficiary is not treated as a gift under this policy.

Hospitality may include:

Reasonable refreshments provided during an ordinary meeting will not normally require formal treatment as significant hospitality.

A gift or hospitality may be accepted where it is:

Where there is doubt, the gift or hospitality should be declared before acceptance where practicable.

A gift must not be accepted where it:

Cash offered personally to a trustee, volunteer or representative because of their charity role should normally be declined.

Where the person genuinely intends to donate to Al-Waris Foundation, they should be directed to an authorised charity donation method.

Charity donations must not be treated as personal gifts.

Particular caution should be exercised with:

Material cash-equivalent gifts should normally be declined unless there is a clear legitimate reason and appropriate approval.

Low-value promotional items may normally be accepted.

Examples include:

They do not normally require formal declaration unless circumstances create a conflict or concern.

As an internal governance control, a gift or hospitality with an estimated value of £50 or more should normally be declared and recorded.

Multiple smaller gifts from the same source should be considered collectively where they appear connected.

The £50 figure is an internal control threshold and does not mean that anything below £50 is automatically acceptable.

A gift worth £50 or more should not normally be personally retained without appropriate approval.

Possible outcomes include:

The decision should be recorded.

High-value personal gifts connected with charity business should normally be declined.

Where refusal would create a serious cultural or diplomatic difficulty, the gift may be accepted temporarily on behalf of Al-Waris Foundation and referred for a decision about its appropriate use.

Al-Waris Foundation should maintain a proportionate Gifts and Hospitality Register.

The register may record:

A trustee should declare material gifts or hospitality received because of their trustee position.

A trustee must not use their position to obtain inappropriate personal benefits.

A trustee should not be the sole decision-maker regarding their own material gift.

Where approval is required, it should be considered by another unconflicted trustee or the Board as appropriate.

Gifts from existing or prospective suppliers require particular caution.

A gift should normally be declined where:

Contractors must not be permitted to secure favourable treatment by providing personal benefits to people involved in:

No gift or hospitality may be accepted as consideration for:

See the Procurement and Purchasing Policy.

A discount generally available to:

will not normally constitute a personal gift.

A special personal discount offered to a decision-maker because of charity business may require declaration.

Legitimate product samples supplied for evaluation may be accepted where reasonably necessary.

Samples should not become an inappropriate personal benefit.

Material samples should normally remain charity property unless there is a reasonable documented reason otherwise.

A donor may occasionally offer a small personal gift as an expression of appreciation.

A modest token may be accepted where:

Material gifts should be declared.

Beneficiaries may sometimes offer small gifts as an expression of gratitude.

Representatives should consider:

A gift should be politely declined where accepting it could disadvantage the beneficiary or be inappropriate.

Reasonable items provided to beneficiaries as part of legitimate charitable activity are not prohibited gifts.

They should be treated as charitable assistance or project expenditure and recorded appropriately.

Trustees, volunteers and representatives should exercise caution before personally giving money or significant gifts to individual beneficiaries outside an approved programme.

This can create:

Where assistance is needed, it should normally be considered through an authorised charitable process.

Reasonable hospitality may be accepted where it supports legitimate charity activity.

Examples may include:

Hospitality should be declined where it is:

A reasonable meal provided during:

may normally be accepted.

The context and value should be considered.

Free tickets or invitations to events may be accepted where attendance has a legitimate charity purpose.

Examples may include:

High-value entertainment unrelated to the charity's work should normally be declined.

Third-party-funded travel or accommodation requires additional scrutiny.

Before accepting material travel or accommodation, consideration should be given to:

Significant arrangements should normally receive prior approval.

Al-Waris Foundation recognises that hospitality customs vary between countries and communities.

Reasonable local hospitality may be accepted where refusing would be unnecessarily discourteous and acceptance creates no improper obligation.

Cultural custom does not justify bribery or corruption.

In some cultures, refusing a gift may cause significant offence.

Where a material gift cannot reasonably be refused:

Acceptance in these circumstances does not automatically mean the individual may personally retain it.

Facilitation payments are not permitted merely because they are customary locally.

No representative should make an unofficial payment to secure or accelerate a routine action unless there is an immediate and genuine threat to personal safety.

Any payment made under duress should be reported as soon as reasonably practicable.

Al-Waris Foundation prohibits bribery.

No person acting for the charity may:

a financial or other advantage intended to induce improper conduct.

See the Anti-Fraud, Bribery and Corruption Policy.

Particular caution must be exercised regarding gifts or hospitality involving:

No gift may be used to obtain improper official treatment.

Professional advice should be obtained where necessary.

Charity resources must not be used to provide personal gifts intended to:

Legitimate engagement with public officials on matters furthering the charity's purposes should remain distinct from political donations.

Reasonable hospitality involving religious or community leaders may be appropriate where it supports legitimate charitable engagement.

Their position must not exempt the relationship from:

Reasonable hospitality may be provided at fundraising or donor-engagement events where:

Fundraising expenditure should be appropriately recorded.

Al-Waris Foundation may provide reasonable hospitality for:

The expenditure should have a legitimate charity purpose.

Al-Waris Foundation will not normally purchase or reimburse alcoholic drinks.

This applies to hospitality provided using charity funds unless the Board has expressly determined that exceptional circumstances justify otherwise and doing so is lawful and appropriate.

Personal hospitality unrelated to Al-Waris Foundation must not be charged to the charity.

The fact that charity matters were briefly discussed during a personal social event does not automatically make the expenditure charitable.

The charity should not routinely pay for hospitality provided to family members of trustees, volunteers or representatives unless their attendance serves a legitimate charity purpose.

Any such material expenditure should be appropriately justified.

Where an event invitation includes a guest or plus-one, the charity should consider whether accepting the additional benefit is appropriate.

A personal guest's costs should not automatically be borne by Al-Waris Foundation.

A gift or hospitality may create a conflict even where there is no intention to influence a decision.

Relevant interests must be declared and managed under the Conflict of Interest Policy.

The charity should consider how a reasonable external observer might view the arrangement.

A gift may be inappropriate even where the recipient believes personally that it would not influence them.

Repeated low-value gifts from the same source may collectively become inappropriate.

Frequency should therefore be considered alongside individual value.

The timing of a gift can increase its significance.

Particular caution is required when a gift is offered:

People participating in a tender or competitive procurement process should normally decline gifts or hospitality from participating suppliers while the process is active.

Trustees or representatives involved in grant decisions should not accept material personal gifts from:

where this could influence or appear to influence grant decisions.

Modest reciprocal hospitality between partner organisations may be legitimate.

However, partnership relationships must not be used to provide inappropriate private benefits.

Overseas contractors must not be permitted to substitute gifts or hospitality for:

A person inspecting a project should retain sufficient independence to report defects accurately.

Hospitality from a contractor must not influence:

No trustee, volunteer or representative may personally retain an undisclosed:

arising from charity expenditure.

Any benefit properly belonging to the charity should be credited to Al-Waris Foundation.

Where charity expenditure generates:

the benefit should normally belong to the charity where reasonably practicable.

Incidental personal reward points generated through an individual's own payment method should be considered proportionately and must never influence purchasing decisions against the charity's interests.

A supplier or contractor may donate to Al-Waris Foundation.

A genuine donation does not automatically prevent the charity from doing business with the donor.

However:

A donation must not be accepted where its condition effectively requires the charity to provide an improper private benefit or procurement advantage to the donor.

See the Fundraising Policy.

Where a gift is clearly intended for Al-Waris Foundation rather than an individual, it should be treated as a charity asset or donation as appropriate.

It should be recorded according to its nature and value where material.

Equipment donated to the charity may need to be:

The charity is not obliged to accept unsuitable donated equipment.

Where a gift accepted by the charity is not useful, the charity may consider:

Any restrictions imposed by the donor must be considered.

A charity-owned gift or asset must not simply be taken for personal use without appropriate authority.

Low-value consumable items may be dealt with proportionately.

Material decisions should record enough information to demonstrate:

Where appropriate, a person may explain:

"Thank you, but Al-Waris Foundation's policy does not allow me to accept this personally."

No further justification is normally required.

Where a gift has already been received and later determined to be inappropriate, it may be returned with a polite explanation.

The return should be recorded where the gift was material.

Where appropriate, a person wishing to show appreciation may be invited to make a donation directly to Al-Waris Foundation instead of providing a personal gift.

No pressure should be applied.

Gifts and hospitality must never be used to:

Suspicious gift-giving involving beneficiaries should be escalated.

The Gifts and Hospitality Register may contain personal information.

Records must be:

See the Data Protection and UK GDPR Policy.

Sensitive information about gifts, allegations or investigations should be shared only with people who reasonably need access.

Confidentiality must not be used to conceal misconduct.

Anyone who suspects that a gift or hospitality represents:

should report the concern promptly through an appropriate route.

A person may use the Whistleblowing Policy where they reasonably believe serious wrongdoing has occurred.

Retaliation against someone for raising a genuine concern is not acceptable.

Material suspected breaches may be investigated.

The investigation should be:

Relevant evidence should be preserved.

Where bribery, fraud, corruption or another criminal offence may have occurred, Al-Waris Foundation should consider:

A significant bribery, corruption or governance incident may require consideration under the Serious Incident Reporting Policy.

The trustees should assess whether reporting to the Charity Commission or another authority is required.

Breaches of this policy may result in:

People with significant responsibility for:

should understand the requirements of this policy.

The charity may periodically review:

Patterns may be considered even where individual gifts are below the declaration threshold.

This policy should be read alongside:

This policy will be reviewed:

Version: 2.0 Status: Approved Approved by: Board of Trustees Approval date: 25/08/2026 Next scheduled review: 24/08/2027