Looking for Trustees?
93% of organisations have between one and five vacancies on their board, so chances are you’re amongst them. In fact 43% of boards report that they are finding it harder to recruit trustees now, than they did five years ago.
Get on Board is a high profile English campaign, which launched on 23 January 2006 to promote trusteeship to new audiences. The campaign partners – Governance Hub, Charity Commission and Volunteering England – are urging boards to take full advantage of the campaign by getting their vacancies registered and undergoing proper preparations to induct new recruits.
You can register vacancies one of two ways:
- Go through your local Volunteer Centre – find details of yours at www.volunteering.org.uk/finder
- Go direct to Do-It at www.do-it.org.uk/needvolunteers
If you operate in the UK, but outside of England, we suggest you try to contact one of the following organisations for help:
- Northern Ireland – Volunteer Development Agency for Northern Ireland
- Scotland – Volunteer Centre Network Scotland
- Wales – Wales Council for Voluntary Action
You may also find it useful to consult the Governance Hub’s downloadable Trustee Recruitment Toolkit, which sets out good practice for seeking the best people to govern voluntary and community organisations. Vital steps in the trustee recruitment process include:
- Reviewing your board to identify gaps in skills, experience and perspective
- Writing a trustee role description
- Promoting your vacancy via open recruitment methods
- Planning induction and support for new recruits
The Toolkit is a practical resource which addresses these, and other, important considerations. It’s actually just one of hundreds of resources for boards which the Governance Hub has collated in its Resource Finder.
"I’m a trustee at CAN, the national social enterprise that supports socialbusinesses. In my day job I help organisations turn themselves around, and increase their revenue and productivity. As a trustee, I take that experience and offer financial guidance to CAN. It’s important not to do the work for them; it’s an overseeing role, which is vital to the organisation. I’m always urging people with similar skills to ‘get on board’ and become trustees."