David Gerard wrote:
But if I start making money *because* I am a director of a charity, I don't know what happens next. I've been meaning to get a real accountant for a while ...
Although it is widely but falsely rumored that I'm fabulously wealthy, I have for the past couple of years survived in no small part due to speaking fees. There is nothing wrong with someone getting paid as a consultant or lecturer even when they are the director of a charity.
There could be conflict-of-interest issues *of course*. *As* a member of the board of the Wikimedia Foundation, I am extremely careful to make all decisions fully in accordance with my duties to the foundation. But when the BBC needed someone to come and advise them about communities, and felt that I had expertise, it was fine for me to use that expertise and contract with the BBC for it.
I am not an expert about UK charities law, of course, and would recommend that anyone there with any questions or doubts as to what duties one incurs by becoming a director to consult with an appropriate expert. :) My guess, though, is that the law there is quite as reasonable as the American one.