Your questions, answered clearly

Book a Charity Performance Audit through the link in our navigation, or take the short employer diagnostic first for a quick picture. Either route is free and carries no obligation. The Audit is two short conversations, typically a week apart, and produces a written summary suitable for your senior team or trustees.

No. The Charity Performance Audit is always provided at no cost, regardless of whether further work follows. Many engagements end at the Audit stage with a clearer picture and no further action needed. That is a legitimate outcome.

Two short conversations, typically a week apart. The first is a structured discussion of your organisation, your team, and your current pension and benefits arrangements. The second presents findings and, where appropriate, what a proportionate response would look like with the relevant numbers attached.

No. If the Audit finds that your team is not currently carrying meaningful financial pressure, or that the cost of intervention would not justify the return, we will tell you that directly. The whole proposition relies on doing the right work — not on selling work for its own sake.

A structured diagnostic and improvement service designed specifically for UK charities and not-for-profit organisations. It identifies whether financial pressure is affecting your organisation — in staff retention, focus, absence, engagement and leadership capacity — and produces a written assessment with proportionate next steps.

It is delivered by Aetas for Charities, the charity proposition of Aetas in the Workplace. It covers three pillars: benefits and pension review (Clarity), education and one-to-one guidance (Confidence), and ongoing support (Stability). Where regulated financial advice is required, this is provided separately by Aetas Wealth (FCA registration 458421).

The programme is designed for charities with between 10 and 250 staff. Below that, the engagement typically focuses on benefits review and the senior team. Above 250, a more extensive programme is coordinated across multiple sites or service lines. The Audit identifies what is proportionate to your specific organisation.

An EAP is a reactive support service — a helpline or counselling resource that employees access when something has gone wrong. Most include a financial element but uptake is typically low and impact on retention or performance is difficult to measure.

The Charity Performance Audit is proactive and consultancy-led. We start with the employer, design a structured response, and deliver it in a coordinated way. Many charities retain their EAP alongside our programme; the two serve different purposes.

Financial pressure among charity staff reduces concentration, decision quality, engagement and retention — all of which translate directly into reduced mission delivery and organisational resilience. It also increases leadership time spent on people-related issues rather than strategic priorities. The Charity Performance Audit identifies where this is happening and what a proportionate response looks like.

Engagement is one of the things we explicitly measure and manage. Workshops are run at times and in formats that fit your team. One-to-one guidance is opt-in and confidential. Communications are drafted for your approval and reflect your brand and tone. Typical engagement rates in charity engagements run between 50% and 70% of staff in the first year.

Per-employee, agreed in writing before any delivery work begins. No flat corporate minimums. The Charity Performance Audit is always provided at no cost regardless of whether further work follows.

Indicative full programme rates for charities range from around £140 to £165 per employee per year depending on size. Individual pillars can be engaged separately at lower rates. Exact figures are confirmed in writing alongside the savings the Audit identifies, so trustees see the net position before approving.

Real. A typical Audit identifies recurring annual savings in pension charges and benefits efficiencies that exceed the full programme fee in year one. In an 85-employee engagement recently completed, we identified £45,000 of annual pension savings against a programme cost roughly a third of that — savings the charity redirected to programme delivery.

Yes. Clarity (the benefits and pension review) is available as a standalone. Confidence and Stability can be added later as the engagement develops. The full programme rate is lower than the sum of individual pillars engaged separately, but a phased approach is genuinely available for charities that want to start small.

The initial programme runs for twelve months. Annual renewal is reviewed and agreed at the end of each term, with scope adjustments up or down based on what has been delivered and what your charity needs going forward. There are no long lock-ins.

A written summary of the Charity Performance Audit at the outset, suitable for board discussion. Quarterly engagement updates throughout the programme. An annual impact review with reporting designed for trustee meetings and major funder updates: aggregate engagement, financial savings identified and realised, and workforce indicators where they are measured.

Yes. The Charity Governance Code places explicit weight on organisational culture, people management, and the wellbeing of the workforce as components of good governance. Trustees increasingly recognise that financial pressure among staff is a risk to mission delivery — and that a structured, evidence-led response is a stronger governance position than an informal or ad hoc one. The Audit provides the evidence; the programme provides the response.

The workplace consultancy and education work is not regulated. Where regulated financial advice is provided to individual staff, this is delivered by Aetas Wealth, a trading style of Insight Financial Associates Ltd (FCA registration 458421). The two engagements are clearly separated and the regulated work sits confidentially with the adviser.

Through three categories: financial outcomes (pension savings identified, benefits efficiencies, employee uptake of guidance), workforce outcomes (engagement scores, retention, absence levels), and qualitative feedback. Reporting cadence is agreed at the outset and built into the engagement.

Matthew Steiner leads every Audit and most of the consultancy work directly. Workshops and one-to-one regulated guidance are delivered by Daniel Cottam (IFA) and Peter Rose APFS (Chartered Financial Planner, Pension Specialist). Where specialist support is needed beyond the core programme, this is drawn from the Aetas Collective with your approval.