Purpose and scope
- A guide for volunteers to follow when claiming back any reasonable expenses that they have incurred in the course of their Limmud voluntary work.
- Limmud recognises the effort that volunteers go to in laying out their own money on behalf of the organisation. Limmud aims to minimise inconvenience by reimbursing expenses quickly and in an easy manner.
- Any expenditure undertaken should already have been planned for, under the relevant project or organisational budget.
- Volunteers should carefully consider the appropriateness of every expense, large or small, before committing the money.
- Limmud asks that volunteers note that as a charity, the organisation has legal responsibilities to ensure that all expenditures are fully accountable – and may be queried by the Charity Commission, Auditors or indeed donors.
Applies to
- This policy applies to all Limmud volunteers in all activities they carry out for Limmud.
- This policy also applies to presenters who have been asked to attend Limmud events or projects. It is the responsibility of the volunteer or staff member with the role of communication with the presenter, to ensure that all relevant parts of this expense policy are shared with them. This is particularly expected to apply to travel – see sections 6 and 7.
- In the rest of this policy where the word “volunteer” is used, it should be assumed to apply equally to presenters, unless otherwise stated.
Claiming
- Volunteers must make any claim for reimbursement of expenses within 30 days of the earliest expense incurring.
- In additional all expenses which occur before the end of the Limmud’s financial year on 30 June must be submitted by 10 July, to enable the speedy and accurate production of the annual accounts.
- Any claims submitted late will not be paid, unless discretion is given by Director of Operations.
- Expenses must be submitted on Limmud’s official expenses form. Please contact the Limmud Office for the expenses form, or for event team volunteers, please download from the finance folder on your team sharepoint.
- Any claim for expenses must be denominated in pounds sterling. Any expenses incurred in another currency should be claimed back using the exchange rate, as incurred on the date of the expense. If this is not available, the rate to use will be based on the day the expense was incurred, taken from http://www.xe.com
- Receipts must be submitted with all expenses, with the exception of mileage claims.
- If receipts are not available, please liaise with Limmud’s Director of Operations, who may approve repayment on a one-off basis, with the presentation of other evidence.
- All submitted expense forms must be countersigned for approval – see section 4.
Approval
- All spending, even if budgeted, must be approved by the team chair or the team finance chair prior to any commitments being entered into. Any spending outside the budget must be approved by the Director of Operations or Executive Director
- Expenses that fall outside an individual team must be approved by the Executive Director or Director of Operations.
- Individuals approving expenses should only sign off after a thorough inspection to see that all costs are reasonable and supported by valid evidence.
Repayment
- Limmud will aim to reimburse expenses within 1 month (30 days) of the receipt of claims.
- Expenses will be reimbursed by bank transfer
- Payments to claimants outside of the UK will be made through TTT Moneycorp, Limmud’s international payment providers, and sent to the individual in their local currency.
Travel – cars
- Car travel will be reimbursed only where there is no alternative method e.g. public transport or Limmud coaches, or driving is cheaper than the alternative e.g. car-pooling, or car travel is required for the purpose of transporting equipment
- Car travel will not be reimbursed for volunteer travel, where volunteers are part of team for Limmud Festival or Limmud Day events, unless your car travel is required for transporting equipment, as agreed with event chairs. This does not include presenters of events, where their car travel to attend will be reimbursed.
- Mileage will be reimbursed at 45p/mile. This rate will be reviewed annually, with the new rate taking effect from 01 July, as per Limmud’s financial year.
- London Congestion Charge will be reimbursed only with prior approval. Any penalties for late payment of the London Congestion Charge will not be covered by Limmud.
- All low emission charges for cities around the UK will be reimbursed only with prior approval. Please check in advance which cities have these charges and if your car meets their low emission criteria. https://www.gov.uk/clean-air-zones
- Where possible, volunteers should seek to minimize any car toll charges and use non toll roads, unless this will increase travel time significantly.
- Where possible, volunteers should seek to minimize any car parking charges and use free parking options where possible.
- Limmud will not be liable for payment of a parking or speeding fines incurred for any reason.
Travel – other
- Travel by public transport (including air travel) will only be reimbursed for standard / economy class travel, unless travel by business/first class is cheaper.
- Travel should be booked as far in advance as possible to obtain the lowest fares.
- Volunteers are requested to use railcards to lower fares on train or coach travel (e.g. Senior/Young Person/Family). If the difference between the full and discounted fare is greater than the cost of the railcard, Limmud will on request contribute up to 50% of the cost of the railcard.
- Taxis should only be used where other forms of public transport are unavailable or impractical. Where possible, volunteers should arrange to share taxis to reduce cost. Taxi transport for presenters to events should be authorised by an appropriate programming team member or in the case of Festival by the person leading on arranging presenter travel.
- Taxi transport for presenters to events should be authorised by an appropriate programming team member or in the case of Limmud Festival by the person leading on arranging presenter’s air travel. Limmud does not cover taxi transport for presenters travelling from their city of origin to the airport. All taxi travel costs must be from a UK location going directly to the Limmud event.
- Volunteer travel to or from Festival or Day events will not be reimbursed, where volunteer is part of the team. The event chairs should be contacted if the cost of travel to an event is financially prohibitive.
Telephone
- As a Limmud volunteer, you should expect to be incurring some costs on phone calls. This expenses policy is intended to cover especially large or exceptional items. If in doubt, you should obtain guidance in advance as to what is covered.
- Telephone expenses should be kept to a minimum. Where possible, internet telecommunications (e.g. Teams) should be used to allow free calls.
- Phone costs will be reimbursed on production of an appropriately highlighted itemised phone bill. The use of free/inclusive minutes on Limmud phone calls will not be refunded, nor will non itemised items even if some proportion of them was used for Limmud purposes.
- International phone calls to Israel, the EU, and the USA will be reimbursed at a maximum of 30p per minute to landlines or mobiles. Many discount service providers give rates well within these limits; these providers should also be used to minimise the cost of calls to other destinations and the Limmud Office can provide suggestions on which providers to use.
- Limmud Office has an internet phone system and volunteers that need access to a phone line as part of their role, please liaise with the Director of Operations for access.
- Limmud will not reimburse line rental costs that would otherwise have been incurred by the volunteer.
Other expenses
- External venues should not be hired for meetings without prior approval of the Director of Operations. Limmud Office is available for meetings.
- Limmud will reimburse the following amounts depending on meeting refreshments (inclusive of drinks, snacks and meals dependent). If costs are looking higher than the breakdown below, please liaise with the Director of Operations.
- Meeting with a max of 5 people (not including lunch or dinner): up to £5 per person for light refreshments
- Meeting with 5+ people (not including lunch or dinner): up to £2 per person for light refreshments
- Lunch or Dinner: £15 per person
- Meeting of 6hours + including lunch or dinner: £20 per person
- Residential Event (two or more days): £35 per person per day
Clarifications
- If there are any questions around this policy, please first liaise with the Director of Operations, who will be able to answer your queries.
- Should there be further clarification needed, they will forward your questions onto the Executive Director and Limmud Treasurer.
Policy Review
- Limmud Treasurer has overall responsibility for the effective operation of this policy, and for reviewing the effectiveness of actions taken in response to concerns raised under this policy. The Treasurer will keep the Board of Trustees informed of all actions and changes.
- Director of Operations has day-to-day operational responsibility for this policy, and individuals should refer any questions about this policy to them in the first instance.
- This policy is due for review
- Every 12 months, or;
- following any legislative changes, or;
- following any learning by Limmud, or;
- as required by the Charity Commission, or;
- any change in jurisdictional guidance, whichever comes first.
- The policy will be reviewed annual by the Director of Operations with the support of the Limmud Treasurer, before final approval by the Board of Trustees.
| POLICY MONITORING | |
| Person responsible for policy | Director of Operations |
| Committee/Person responsible for reviewing | Treasurer |
| Policy Approved | August 2025 |
| Frequency of review | Annual review |
| Date of next review | August 2026 |