Building knowledge and networks

Perspectives

Board members bring insight from diverse organisations, sectors, work and life experience. They can help an organisation to understand the wider environment in which it  operates; perhaps to inform the response to a change in the funding or policy environment or to bring the experience of how a similar challenge is tackled by a different organisation. These contributions can help the organisation to exploit the situation or survive it!

Contacts

A well-connected board helps the organisation to access resources: knowledge, people and money. A diverse board will enrich the network of resources you can draw on.  Some charity trustees feel guilty that they do not “know anyone rich who can donate cash” but this is only one limited way to help - knowing a good caterer may be equally important. 

Knowledge

Much of the available guidance on creating an effective Board includes advice about ensuring it has people with specialist areas of  knowledge. This is undoubtedly true but needs to be informed by realism. So financial skills are important but a good book-keeper may be a lot more useful to you than a chief accountant for a retail group who may know nothing about charity finances! Help your board to choose its areas of knowledge carefully. If there is specialist knowledge that you need only occasionally identify where you can access it when you need it rather than seeking a specialist for the board. 

Managing overlapping interests

One of the challenges of an interconnected world is that members of your board may have interests (financial and non-financial) that could conflict with their role as a board member. It’s important to manage conflicts in an open and transparent way, for example by having a conflict of interest policy and a register of interests.

Further information

Many accountancy, legal, insurance and HR firms are a good source of free information. Some offer free newsletters or updates on their websites and through free or low-cost seminars. See for example:

• Bates Wells and Braithwaite
• Sayer Vincent
• Saffery Champness
• Kingston Smith.

The Charity Commission has produced guidance on Conflicts of Interest For Charity Trustees as well as specific guidance for trustees of arts charities.

Learning from your experience

• Have you had stunning good fortune in a trustee who has specialist knowledge? What was it and how was it useful?
• Did your organisation benefit from board member contacts in an unexpected way? How did that happen and what was the benefit?
• Tell us your tale of expectations misunderstood between board and staff.
• Recount your story of a Board decision that was taken as the result of insufficient or wrong information.

Either add your comments here or talk with others on the governance forum.