However, there is no such clarity about the roles of Patrons and Presidents or the differences between them. Among the top fifty charities by voluntary income, there are some that have one Patron, others that have well over a hundred; some have a President or Presidents but no Patron; others have a list of Vice-Presidents but no President. There are still other charities that function perfectly well without Patrons and/or Presidents. At first sight this seems a bewildering maze of inconsistency badly in need of some standardisation. Yet it works. The charity world has never subscribed to the principle of conformity; indeed, every charity was brought into existence to make changes to the existing order of things in order to right a wrong or to meet a need. And they do that, not by conforming to a norm but by taking innovative measures relevant to their own particular objectives. So this diversity of practice regarding Patrons and Presidents should be seen as an aspect of the freedom each charitable organisation has to organise its affairs in the way it deems most effective in the achievement of its aims.
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Patrons
The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines a patron as (among other things) ‘a distinguished person who takes an honorary position in a charity’. Unliketrustees, patrons have no legal status or binding obligations. Neither do they have any responsibility for the management of the organisation or the manner in which funds are spent. Their role is, in most cases, that of a ‘figurehead’ or ‘flag bearer’, a leader whose example people are willing to follow and whose name can lend credibility and status to the organisation which, in turn, can increase the effectiveness of its fundraising, campaigning and public relations activities.
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Presidents
'The Head of a Society, council or other organisation.’ This definition (again taken from the Concise Oxford Dictionary)makes clear that the role of a president is a more ‘hands-on’ role than that of a patron. Because of this, it is important that the person appointed should have credibility and relevance within the area of the charity’s core activity, thus enhancing the charity’s profile among appropriate audiences.
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It would seem that in practice the roles of patron and president can be very similar – it is down to the individual charity to decide whether they have a patron or a president or sometimes both. The majority of charities have patrons and rather fewer have presidents.
but the Duchess of Cambridge's parents - Carole and Michael Middleton - and her sister Pippa with husband James attended day 11 today, July 9:
