Charity Transparency Framework and Accompanying Guide
First launched in 2015, the Charity Transparency Framework (CTF) aimed to improve transparency and accountability in the charity sector. The Charity Council initiated a review in 2019 to refine the CTF’s relevance and applicability for charities, as well as to align the framework with the refined Code of Governance issued in 2017. The revised CTF was issued in November 2020.
The CTF with its Charity Disclosure Scorecard act as a guide to help charities take active steps to improve charity transparency. The scorecard also serves as a self-diagnostic tool for charities to assess themselves against identified good disclosures standards. It is not mandatory.
For a more comprehensive understanding of the framework, charities are encouraged to refer to the
Accompanying Guide to the CTF to understand the background, pillars of the framework as well as the necessary skills and resources to drive transparency in a charity.
Click to download the guides:
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Charity Transparency Framework (CTF)
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Accompanying Guide
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CTF Self-Assessment Excel Sheet
Charity Transparency Award and Charity Governance Award
About the Awards
The Charity Transparency Award (CTA) and Charity Governance Awards (CGA) recognises charities that have adopted good transparency and governance standards. An initiative of the Charity Council, the awards aim to promote good transparency and governance in the charity sector by acknowledging the excellent work of charities, while inspiring others to emulate their best practices.
Eligibility Criteria for the Charity Transparency Awards
To qualify for the Charity Transparency Awards, charities must meet the following criteria:
- Be a registered charity and/or an Institution of a Public Character (IPC) which has been in operation in Singapore for at least three years;
- Have submitted their Annual reports (AR), Financial Statements (FS) and Governance Evaluation Checklist (GEC) on time for the two immediate preceding financial years; and
- Have gross annual receipts of not less than $50,000 in the immediate preceding financial year.
Upon meeting all eligibility criteria, charities which are interested to participate in CTA 2024 should identify which tier they are in, and fill up the applicable CTA Participation Form below. Each charity should only submit
one form.
Charities are encouraged to download the Charity Transparency Framework Self-Assessment Excel Sheet to conduct a simple self-assessment exercise offline to understand their transparency standards and areas of improvement, before submitting the CTA Participation Form.
For CTA 2024, charities are to fill up the form based on the charities’ disclosures in its FY2022 Annual Report, Financial Statements, Governance Evaluation Checklist that were submitted on the Charity Portal, as well as information on the charities’ official website, facebook page or other social media platforms (if applicable).
Tier
| Charities
| Institutions of a Public Character (IPCs)
| CTA Participation Form
|
Basic
| Gross annual receipts or total expenditure from $50,000 to less than $500,000
|
Not applicable |
https://go.gov.sg/cta2024-basic
|
Intermediate
| Gross annual receipts or total expenditure from $500,000 to less than $10 million
| IPCs with gross annual receipts or total expenditure of less than $500,000
| https://go.gov.sg/cta2024-intermediate
|
Enhanced + Advanced
| Gross annual receipts or total expenditure from $10 million or more
| IPCs with gross annual receipts or total expenditure from $500,000 to $10 million or more
| https://go.gov.sg/cta2024-enhancedadvanced
|
Eligible charities which are interested to participate should fill up the CTA 2024 Participation Form between
1 May 2023 to 31 Oct 2023.
Charities which have performed well under the Charity Transparency Awards will be invited to participate in the Charity Governance Awards. Please refer to the CGA assessment guide to have a better understanding of the CGA assessment questions, scoring and judging procedures.
Click to download the guides:
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Charity Governance Awards - Assessment Guide
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CGA Assessment Questionaire Response Template(Basic)
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CGA Assessment Questionaire Response Template(Intermediate & Enhanced+Advanced)
The results for the Charity Transparency and Governance Awards 2024 will be announced in the later part of 2024.
[Note: The participation period for the Charity Transparency Awards 2023 has ended on 31 Oct 2022. Results will be announced in the later of 2023.]
