Subject: Board renewal
I'm a member of the Board of Trustees of a small/medium London-based charity (£500k turnover). Although I'm new to the Board, having previously been involved in a volunatary consultancy role, most of the other members have been Trustees since the charity started in the late 1990s. There's a sense now that, having seen the organisation through a period of rapid growth, the Board needs to increase its professionalism to match the charity's size and current challenges, while retaining its members' personal commitment to the charity's mission and its Executive Directors. I've therefore been asked by the Board to carry out a review and come up with some proposals.
I'd like to hear from anyone who could share any learning from a similar position. Specific questions:
1. In terms of what directors bring to the Board, is there a minimum skills mix that we should be aiming for - for example, finance, fund-raising, knowledge of the field in question/strong network, access to waelthy individuals or institutions....?
2. What are the "dos and don'ts" in terms of identifying a suitable candidate who will play a constructive role in the team and be a "believer" in terms of the charity's mission?
3. What are the best sources of potential Board members?
But I'm open to any thoughts, on these or other points.
Hi Jeremy,
From my experience of being a Trustee for different charities over the years I think skills mix is very important.
At 1 level there are the knowledge skills that you mention. Knowledge of the field is important in enabling the Board to analyse the context & environment of your field and set strategic direction and also to act as ambassadors. Other essential skills in my experience are financial, developing funding strategy (including contracts, fundraising etc), HR/people management/development, developing strategy & planning, reviewing performance, communication.
As well as this there are other skills/qualities mixes that enable a Board to work well - a good Chair who knows how to include and engage everyone in discussions, arrive at decisions, follow through with actions is essential. A Chair who wants to talk a lot isn't always the most effective! It's important to have people who come up with ideas, others who can think ideas through and 'critique' them, others who are doers and will help put ideas into action.
A 3rd dimension is getting a good 'social' mix on your Board bringing different perspectives - eg Board members from beneficiaries you serve; your locality; a cross section of the population in terms of age, ethnicity, gender, disability, sexual orientation etc.
It can be helpful to write a short job description of Board roles and the skills/qualities wanted in new Board members as part of your recruitment process.
There are a lot of resources that can help you with your questions including:
The leadership & governance section of this website - see 'find a trustee' section which takes you to a Trustee network - www.trusteenet.org.uk; there are also sections on having the right people on board, identifying attributes, assessing Board's skills, and recruiting Trustees.
NCVO also have a Trustee & Governance Information Centre & resources such as the Good Trustee Guide, Developing Trustee Boards, Good Practice in Recruiting Trustees, Tending Your Board. There is also a link to a Trustee recruitment service - www.trustees-unlimited.co.uk who match organisation's needs with people volunteering to become Trustees. Trustee & volunteer positions are often advertised in Society Guardian (though I don't know whether there is a cost for this). Local press and specialist (to your organisation's field) journals may be good sources. Some local CVS's keep lists of potential Trustees as well.
Hope this helps - good luck, would be nice to hear how you get on.
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