Part C, for finance and the trustees, is on a separate restricted page: Money Policy: finance and trustees.

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Part A. Audience: Everyone

A1. About this policy

This policy sets out how The National Society for Education, Mentoring and Media (NSEMM), charity no. 1209673, looks after its money.

It covers:

• payments, cancellations and refunds;
• donations and Gift Aid;
• pay and expenses;
• reserves, funds and accounts;
• spending, signing, fraud and investment.

We spend all our income on our charitable objects. Our financial year runs from 6 April to 5 April.

Everything to do with money happens in the NSEMM system: every payment, refund, credit, transfer, pay line and decision. Nothing is done outside it. The system checks the totals every night. Where a person has made a decision by hand, it is recorded with a reason, and it wins over anything the system would do automatically.

Procedures and help pages follow this policy and may not set a different number, period or role.

Questions about this policy go to [email protected].

A2. Prices

• Prices for families: Families and Service Terms, section 4.
• Prices for schools: Families and Service Terms, section 10.
• Who can get help from the Community Education Fund, and what the Fund pays for each lesson: the CEF Access Policy.

A3. Paying for lessons

Your card is charged about 24 hours before each lesson. If you have lesson credit, we use that first.

Staying safe from scams

• We will never ask you to confirm card details over the phone or by email.
• We will never ask you to pay by gift card, cryptocurrency or an unofficial money transfer.
• We never send payment links by email. Always pay by signing in to NSEMM Learn, and only enter your login details at auth.nsemm.org.uk.
• If a request for money looks wrong, stop and check it with us first.
• If you think you have been caught by a scam, contact your bank straight away.

If a family gets Fund help by misrepresenting their circumstances, they may be asked to repay the cost (CEF Access Policy).

A4. Cancellations and refunds

• If a lesson doesn't go ahead as it should because of us, the money goes back to your card, unless you choose lesson credit.
• If you cancel 24 hours or more before a lesson you have paid for, the money becomes lesson credit straight away. Ask us and we'll put it back on your card.
• Other refunds, such as goodwill refunds, are lesson credit.
• Where the Fund paid part of a lesson, we refund what you paid, and the Fund's share goes back to the Fund.

We never ask for your bank details. A refund decided by hand is approved by a member of staff with the admin, finance or HR role.

The full rules, including the 14-day right to cancel and how to ask, are on our Cancellations and refunds page, which is written from this section. To complain about a decision, see the Families and Service Terms, section 9.

A5. Donations

What we welcome

• Gifts from individuals, including regular gifts, legacies, memorial gifts and event proceeds.
• Gifts from ethically aligned businesses and from grant makers.
• Gifts in kind: learning materials, suitable equipment, professional services, venues and training.

Businesses we don't accept gifts from

• Tobacco, gambling, alcohol, fossil fuel, arms, adult entertainment or exploitative fast fashion.
• Businesses with unethical drug pricing, exploitative healthcare or education pricing (non-profit universities excepted), poor data protection records or aggressive marketing to children.
• Anyone who asks us to give up our independence.

Gifts we don't accept

• Cryptocurrency, property or shares.
• Anonymous gifts above £150.
• Political or religious gifts that would imply endorsement.
• Gifts needing complex tax or valuation work.
• In-kind gifts we cannot safely manage.
• Gifts with conditions that don't fit our objects.

Checks

• Gifts under £150: we confirm the donor's name and contact details and watch for warning signs.
• Gifts above £150: we confirm identity and where the money came from, and check the sanctions list and politically exposed persons.
• Businesses get extra checks.
• Checks are finished before we accept a gift.

Thanks and restrictions. We acknowledge every donation within 48 hours, with our charity number. A gift is restricted only if the donor says so in writing at or before the time of the gift and the trustees accept it. We agree the terms in writing and report back to the donor.

Refunds of donations

• We don't usually refund a donation.
• We refund automatically a gift taken in error, a duplicate, a wrong amount or a fraudulent payment.
• We may refund a gift if you ask within 24 hours, if your circumstances change a lot, if we find the source conflicts with this policy, or if the law requires it. Ask through our contact page.
• We decide within 5 working days, and pay any refund within 14 days of approval, to the way you paid where possible. We adjust any Gift Aid claim.
• We don't refund in-kind gifts already used, grants under contract, money already committed to a project, or legacies in probate.

How long we keep donation records: Data and Privacy Policy, Annex (rows M1 and M2).

A6. Gift Aid

If you pay tax in the UK, we can claim Gift Aid on your donations. The government adds 25% to your donation at no cost to you. For example, if you donate £10, we can claim an extra £2.50.

We can claim Gift Aid only on donations. We can't claim it on payments for lessons, including any amount you choose to pay above your Fund amount, and we never have.

By agreeing to Gift Aid, you confirm that you are a UK taxpayer and understand that if you pay less Income Tax and/or Capital Gains Tax than the amount of Gift Aid claimed on all your donations in that tax year, it is your responsibility to pay any difference.

Tell us if you want to cancel your declaration, change your name or home address, or no longer pay enough tax. Higher or additional-rate taxpayers can claim more relief through Self Assessment or from HMRC.

A7. Reporting fraud

If you suspect fraud, bribery or corruption involving NSEMM, tell us straight away through the contact page on our website. If there is an immediate risk of serious loss, use the urgent contact routes on our website. Reports are handled in confidence.

If you work or volunteer with us, you are protected when you report honestly (Whistleblowing Policy, section B1).

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Part B. Audience: Staff and volunteers

B1. Pay

We pay at least the Real Living Wage, whatever your age.

• Tutors are paid from the pay scale set in the system: the Real Living Wage, £13.45 an hour.
• Holiday pay is 12.07% on top of each hour worked, shown as its own line on your payslip. The 12.07% is set by law and is not changed without legal advice. We keep a record of every worker's holiday.
• Sessional rates are set per hour or per session in your engagement letter or contract.
• Salary scales are set by the trustees on the CEO's recommendation.
• Pay reviews happen each year, with changes from April. They look at the budget, the cost of living, performance and similar charities. Changes are confirmed in writing.
• Overtime is not usually paid. Time off in lieu may be offered.
• Deductions. Tax, National Insurance and pension contributions are deducted as HMRC requires. We run workplace pension auto-enrolment.
• Equal pay. We pay equally for equal work, whatever your sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion or any other protected characteristic.

Sick pay is in the People Policy, section B4. Volunteers are not paid, but can claim expenses (B3).

B2. Timesheets and pay dates

For work done in a month:

1. Submit your timesheet by the 12th of the next month, for approval before pay.
2. Payroll is filed and payslips are issued on the 24th.
3. Pay reaches your bank on the last working day of that month.

If a date falls on a weekend or bank holiday, timesheets are due the next working day, and payslips and pay come the working day before.

When you leave. Your final pay comes in the normal pay run. Your P45 is issued within 14 days.

B3. Expenses

You can claim reasonable expenses you pay while doing NSEMM work:

• travel (fares and mileage, B4);
• teaching materials and stationery;
• approved equipment;
• pre-approved overnight stays, and meals during approved travel;
• training fees.

How to claim

• Claim in the HR app (Expenses, New Claim) or the staff app, which can photograph your receipt.
• Every claim needs a receipt or invoice. Photos and scans are fine.
• External partners can claim through the public expenses form.

Approval and payment

• A member of staff with the admin or HR admin role reviews and approves claims.
• No one approves their own claim (C7).
• Approved claims are paid through a payment order (PAO).

Trustees can claim reasonable expenses properly incurred for NSEMM, as the constitution allows.

B4. Mileage and travel

• Claim in the HR app (Expenses, Mileage Claim) or with the staff app's mileage calculator. Choose your vehicle, enter each leg (from, to, miles) and add any tolls or parking.
• For public transport, enter the ticket cost and upload the ticket.
• Claim within a reasonable time. Journeys must be accurate and checkable.

These are HMRC's fuel-only rates. The CEO reviews them.

B5. Buying things

• Every purchase for NSEMM is approved before it is made, within the limits in C7.
• Get more than one quote where you can, and weigh value for money, quality and ethical sourcing.
• Use preferred suppliers where there are any, and NSEMM payment methods only.
• Send invoices to be paid through a payment order (PAO).

Budgets are watched on the finance dashboard.

B6. Fraud: your part

• Follow the money rules and look after NSEMM's property.
• Report anything that worries you (A7). Don't assume someone else has.
• Complete the online anti-fraud training every year.

Your login is covered by the Data and Privacy Policy, section B2. Gifts and hospitality are covered by the People Policy, section B5.6.

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Part D. Audience: Everyone (reference)

D1. Law and guidance

• Charities Act 2011
• Charities SORP (FRS 102)
• Trustee Act 2000, and the Charity Commission's guidance on investing charity money (CC14)
• Fraud Act 2006
• Bribery Act 2010
• Proceeds of Crime Act 2002
• Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998
• Consumer Rights Act 2015 (refunds when a service isn't provided as agreed)
• HMRC Gift Aid rules
• HMRC VAT Notice 701/30 (education and vocational training)