When a volunteer leaves: handing over your charity’s online accounts

28 October 2026

Charities & Not-for-Profits Hub

Before a volunteer leaves, agree who will take over their work, check that the charity can still access its accounts and arrange to remove access that is no longer needed. NCVO’s leaving guidance brings these jobs together: plan the handover, recover charity data and equipment, then remove access to internal systems.^[7]

For a small charity, this can be a friendly conversation alongside returning the keys. The practical aim is to leave the next volunteer able to do their job without relying on someone who has moved on. The suggestions below are a starting point for an agreed handover, not a substitute for your charity’s safeguarding, records or IT procedures.

Start with the work they actually do

Ask the volunteer to walk through an ordinary shift. Where do enquiries arrive? Which shared folders do they open? Who updates the website or sends the newsletter? Build a short handover note around those tasks rather than asking for a list of passwords.

Include occasional jobs, such as renewing an online subscription or uploading a funder report. Ask which deadlines fall after the leaving date and who will pick them up. A useful note names the task, the system and the next person responsible. Keep beneficiary details and login secrets out of that general document.

NCVO recommends planning how ongoing activities will pass to others and asking volunteers to return data or equipment.^[7] Offer time to do that properly. A demonstration with a fictional enquiry can make the handover easier to follow without bringing a real person’s circumstances into it.

Check who controls the important accounts

Ask your IT contact to identify the people who can manage email, shared files, the website and other essential services. Include whoever can change permissions or help someone recover access. Do not assume that being able to read the inbox means the charity can administer the account.

The NCSC explains that administrator accounts can change important settings and manage other users. It recommends more than one admin account, managed by separate people, so another can help if one is lost or compromised.^[1] Ask your IT contact how that should work for your charity’s services rather than giving everybody extra permissions.

Check the recovery arrangements too. The NCSC advises keeping account contact details up to date so the organisation can verify ownership and recover access.^[1] Ask whether the relevant email address or phone number will still be available after the volunteer leaves. Arrange any change through the service’s proper process.

Agree the access change with your IT contact

Write down the leaving date and who will make the account changes. If the volunteer is moving to another role within the charity, agree what access the new role actually needs. The NCSC recommends a process for joiners, role changes and leavers, with access revoked when it is no longer needed.^[6]

Ask your IT contact to explain the difference between blocking access, transferring responsibility and deleting information in each service. Request a plan that follows your existing records procedures. Avoid experimenting with unfamiliar settings during a busy reception shift, especially if you cannot explain what a change will remove.

The NCSC also recommends multi-factor authentication for online accounts.^[6] When setting up the next person’s access, ask them to test their own sign-in and verification method. Do not make borrowing the departing volunteer’s login the normal way to keep the service running.

Finish the practical handover without guessing

Set aside a short appointment to return charity equipment and check that the new contact can find what they need. NCVO specifically includes laptops and building passes in its leaving guidance.^[7] For your charity, that conversation might also cover a reception phone, charger or storage key.

If someone used a personal device, ask your IT contact what the agreed procedure requires. Do not ask to browse their private accounts or guess how to remove charity information yourself. Put unresolved questions against a named person and a follow-up date.

Give the volunteer a clear contact for anything discovered afterwards. Thank them for the work they have done, and ask whether they want to stay in touch in another way, as NCVO suggests.^[7] A careful access handover need not make a positive departure feel suspicious.

Test the next shift

Before calling the handover finished, ask the next person to try the essential tasks using their own authorised access. Can they find the rota, respond to an enquiry and reach the right colleague if something goes wrong? Use a test message rather than personal information.

Record what worked and what remains open. If a task still depends on calling the former volunteer, give that dependency an owner and arrange a supported fix. Keep the note somewhere the next coordinator can find it.

This week, choose the next planned departure and book a handover conversation before the final shift. For wider information about running your organisation, explore MH360’s charities and not-for-profits hub. Start with one real handover, then use what you learn to improve the next one.