Subject: What I wish I'd known - Trustees

I think the biggest thing is that you do have more to contribute from the outset than you think.

Many of your first impressions and things that you hold back from saying are precisely the things that the board need to take on, so if you are surprised that something seems to be being done in a particular way then have the confidence to say so. If it really isn't appropriate in the meeting then take it to the Chair  outside of the meeting - perhaps by email / phone.

If you don't do this then it is easy to lose that perspective, and even to begin to accept the limitations of how the organsiation runs as being acceptable / inevitable.

I wish I had known that I was not alone in failing to grasp some of the information/details in theboard  reports presented by the senior staff. It took me a a while to start asking the 'idiot questions' ,but when I did ,others were clearly helped by the answers. 

It  therefore seems to me likely, that any (geniune) question sitting in your head has a fair chance of being useful to other new trustees..... 

Ruth Lesirge

I wish I'd known that you need to be engaged with what the organisation does to be an effective trustee.   My first experience as a trustee was more about wanting to be one rather than the organisation itself.   I used to get reams of papers to read before meetings which because I wasn't that interested, were just a chore and I left them to the last minute.  Luckily I decided to leave and let someone else have my place on the board.  I'm now a trustee for an organisation that really engages me and I love attending meetings - and reading those papers are no longer a chore!

I remember someone telling me that it was best just to keep quiet for the first  two years until I understood how things worked!  I was quite happy to ignore this advice, but I wish I had known that I should have requested a proper induction so that I felt confident about contributing to meetings.

Context

Since retirement 5 years ago I have been involved as a Trustee in 3 charitable trusts. In that period of time I have seen the economic climate for charities harden up considerably. Changes have included:

• Local Authorities reducing their planning horizons from 3 years to 1, and with much more scrutiny of value for money (what outputs/outcomes are being achieved for what money) and downward pressure on spend
• A greater proportion of funding coming from competitive quasi-commercial contracts with government and other agencies
• Greater pressure form funders to combine/coalesce to generate larger bidding units with greater economies of scale

As a Trustee I have seen a new charitable organisation set up, and expanded aggressively to just under 50 staff to compete successfully for an £8m contract over 3 years with the Legal Services Commission. This contract was output based (we were paid for so many hours of telephone advice), and very demanding. In the event we could not sustain the level of productivity required and we started to lose money. We had to transfer the contract to another organisation, but we lost a significant sum in the process.

Learning Points

As a result of this experience I have learned that:

1. The duties of the Trustee must explicitly include:
1. Recruit, support, monitor/assess and reward the CEO and key officers of the charity. The review period in these volatile times may need to be at least quarterly
2. Review all significant bids made by the charity before the bid is submitted and in particular the benefits, workload, costs, profits/surpluses, cash flow, resources and risks. Be prepared to insist on modifications to the bid/offer or, in extremis, decline to bid
3. Review the performance on key contracts/grants at least quarterly, and for high risk contracts/grants monthly.
4. In particular review past and projected performance and cash flow, and insist that at least one version of projected performance
2. The Trustees must understand the reports submitted to them by the staff. If need be the format of reports may need to be changed to be more accessible and the CEO asked to explain anything that is not clear
3. If time does not permit proper scrutiny in complex areas, then sub-committees of competent Trustees must be set up to input the time needed to review key agenda items. Such committees may be needed on Strategy, Fund Raising, Finance, Contracts, HR/Staff Relations, External Relations etc
4. Trustees should not accept assurances of improving performance if the historical facts do not support the optimism. The Trustees should insist on a version of forecast performance being based on extrapolation of past performance.
5. Contingency plans should be in place covering what has to be done in the event of serious risks occurring (eg failing to meet contract conditions, significant under-performance etc). The trustees must insist on such contingency plans being put into effect when the situation demands it.
6. Trustees should be actively involved in “big picture” strategies designed to ensure the ongoing success of the charity, especially where the future may require substantial changes from the past. Issues to be explored may well include:
1. Entering new areas of funding/work
2. Combining with other organisations to achieve critical mass or economies of scale
3. Bidding for new types of quasi-commercial contracts
4. Delivering charitable outputs through new channels such as phone or internet

There is a great list of 15 questions trustees need to ask to ensure their charity will survive the economic downturn.  The file is too big to be uploaded here.

One thing that surprised me when I became a trustee was how long it takes to understand the organisation you have joined.  It's quite different to being inducted as an employee.  As an employee you are suddenly immersed and you have lots of opportunities to learn about the organisation.  Consequently you learn very fast.  For a trustee you have a few hours exposure, limited contact time with your fellow trustees and a lot of reading material. So insist on an induction - preferably over a period of time - not just one big information dump.  Ask for a buddy or mentor to chat to on the board.  And definitely ask lots of questions. Questions are a source of learning not just for those who ask but for those who answer.  

Thanks for all your contributions so far. In summary here are some common themes:

• ask for an induction and / or Trustee buddy
  
• ask 'idiot questions' - don't be frightened for asking for clarity, it will help others
• ask difficult questions - you are there to challenge the status quo and bring a new perspective
• before you sign up make sure the organisation is one you care / are passionate about
• be clear about what is expected of you. 

For those who haven't yet commented - what are the things you wish you'd known or done when you first became a Trustee?

This is really useful - interesting insight into how our Council members might be feeling, and how we could inform them better....

Thanks.

Before becoming a Trustee make sure you undertand the Charity's financial position.  Have the annual accounts been prepared and filed with the Charity Commission?

Is the charity complying fully with all financial reporting obligations as prescribed by the Charity Commission?  What is the present financial position?

I have been trustee with couple of charities (Anti-Slavery International, Sutton CVS, London Voluntary Service Council etc). The first thing I always focused on, to understand the charity e.g its history, the mission and the people (e.g supporter, trustees. staff, volunteer) associated with the charity. Once I got reasonable understanding of the charity then I concentrate on how best I can make my contribution. Having a financial background, I took treasurer role in few situation. I am always mindful not to spend on too details on accounting but to act as a bridge between the board/trustee and the management team to improve everyone's understanding from a financial perspective. I often guided by the question "are we making the best of charity income/fund ?".

Golam Morshed

Charity Accounting Services

I used to be a trustee until last year (on a board of 13 people). I was the youngest member on the board (and I'm over 35!). I quickly realised that whatever new ideas I had were not going to be very easy to implement. I soon ended up wondering at the end of almost every (endless!) board meeting what we had actually achieved. So I started talking individually to the other trustees to find the like-minded ones as well as those that knew more about comms/branding/PR which was why I had been recruited.

I then suggested to the board that we also form sub-committees depending on each other's expertise. They were rather reluctant at first but I kept pressing them on this. Eventually they said we could do it on a trial period. My comms sub-committee was made up of only three people but we managed to work very effectively together and produced results a lot faster than if we had been battling every single comms decision in the larger committee. Once the three of us were in agreement about any important change we were proposing we would make the case in front of the board. And in most cases it worked. We got approval, for instance, to change the organisation's logo and website (which they had been trying to do for two years but hardly ever agreed on any decision) without going through endless discussions with the whole board (it did help that the chief exec was very supportive. 

I left the organisation but I hear they still have four sub-committees so they must work.

I guess I'm echoing @paulwinnan's words - questioning the status quo is never a bad idea. As he says many of your first impressions and things that you hold back are precisely the things that the board need to take on. And it always helps if you can get a few other trustees to support your view. But no one should be under any illusions that it isn't hard work, it can be very time-consuming and very frustrating at times, too. It's so important to keep reminding yourself why you do it.

All in all, working as a trustee has been an incredibly useful experience and as long as you can find some like-minded people you can work with, there'a a lot you can achieve. Has anyone else had a similar experience to mine and if so, how did you handle it? Is there a better way to get decisions made more quickly and more efficiently when you work with an older, more traditional board? 

And yes, I'm asking because I might want to work as a trustee again.