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Guidance and Resources for Trustees and their Recruitment
Jo Ash, the Vice Chair of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) has recently drawn our attention to ‘all things trustees’. She writes “Many of you will know how difficult it is to recruit trustees to your board. With over 48% of charities having trustee vacancies and lots of you having experienced difficulty in finding trustees, we need to work together to crack the trustee recruitment challenge. We also need to get better at reaching out and involving more people, especially those under the age of 34 and those from a BME background”
You will find plenty of resources below to make your organisation’s governance and trustee board more effective and help you to recruit trustees. This is geared to meet the needs of both existing trustees and those who wish to become trustees. In addition to the NCVO, there is also help available through your CVS and the Charity Commission so please don’t hesitate to either make contact with us or click on the links below.
1. FREE Trustee Recruitment Site
Trustee Bank is a free, easy-to-use service where you can advertise or view trustee vacancies. Get support with your organisation’s recruitment and induction practices to make you more successful with your trustee recruitment. Trustee Bank also features information on how to become a trustee to encourage more people to be involved and to help you in your role on a trustee board.
For more visit www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/trusteebank
You can also get help to recruit Trustees locally through the Volunteer Centre Bedford. Please contact them on Tel: 01234 354366 or email Rebecca Baber (Volunteer Centre Manager) at becs@bedfordvb.org.uk. Website: www.volunteeringbedford.org.uk
2. Want to diversify your Trustee Board?
If you are looking to diversify your trustee board then Trustees Unlimited has a bank of over 1,000 individuals interested in becoming trustees. With details of people from across the public, private and voluntary sector who have a variety of functional backgrounds, Trustees Unlimited can help you to attract a diverse pool of potential trustees.
For more visit www.trustees-unlimited.co.uk/ncvo/
3. Trustee Recruitment Guidance & Resources
The NCVO have a range of free resources to help you with your trustee recruitment:
The Good Practice in Trustee Recruitment Toolkit - This outlines the key steps in the trustee recruitment life cycle to help your organisation recruit and induct trustees and management committee members. It includes templates and tips to make the process as easy as possible for you. Download the toolkit below:
Trustee Recruitment Resources for Smaller Organisations - The NCVO have a number of resources designed specifically for the needs of smaller organisations. They include six easy steps and 10 downloadable templates to help your organisation overcome the issues associated with recruiting trustees to smaller organisations. Find out more at:
Our colleagues at Herts CVS (www.hertscvs.org.uk) have produced the following:
Trustee Information Pack - Your Essential Guide to supporting & retaining effective trustees' - this includes a number of Governance Information Sheets relating to Recruiting New Trustees. These can be downloaded below:
We are very grateful to our colleagues at Herts CVS for allowing us to reproduce these resources for your benefit.
Support for Trustees
The Good Trustee Guide - This best selling publication, now in its 5th edition, is ideal as an introductory pack for new board members or as a refresher for long-serving trustees. Get comprehensive information about your role as a trustee and guidance on developing an effective trustee board. Please be aware that the CVS holds copies of this publication and others in their Library and theses are available for loan on request. Give Mark a call on 01234 354366. You could also order a copy from www.dsc.org.uk.
Good Governance - A Guide for the Voluntary and Community Sector - The Code sets out best practice for governing a voluntary or community organisation and has been created for the sector by the sector. It is a voluntary code which your organisation is encouraged to sign up to show you are working towards a high standard of governance, and is an invaluable resource for all trustees. Download your free copy of the summary or full Code at www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/codeofgovernance
Good Governance - A Practical Guide for Boards Chairs and CEOs - This new publication highlights key governance and leadership issues your organisation needs to consider. It contains templates and real-life examples and experiences to help make your governance more effective. Written by a leading governance expert and bringing together a range of updated publications, including the best selling Good Governance: a Chair's role, and Good Governance: a Chief Executive's role, it provides practical information and tools on effective governance. To order your copy email: greg.lamyman@ncvo-vol.org.uk.
Charity Commission Guidance
The Charity Commission also publish free practical guidance for Trustees across the full range of legal and good practice issues relating to the effective running of Charities. Titles include:
- CC3a – The Essential trustee: An introduction
- CC10 – Hallmarks of an Effective Charity
- CC30 – Finding New trustees: What You Need to Know
Please access these and more at http://tinyurl.com/32acmct
Protecting Charities from Harm (the 'Compliance Toolkit')
‘Protecting charities from harm’ is an online toolkit from the Charity Commission that aims to give trustees the knowledge and tools they need to manage risks and protect their charity from harm and abuse. It comprises the following chapters:
- Chapter 1: Charities and terrorism
- Chapter 2: Due diligence, monitoring and verification of the end use of funds
- Chapter 3: Fraud and financial crime
- Chapter 4: Raising, storing and moving funds
- Chapter 5: Bribery, corruption and facilitation payments
Chapters 1 and 2 are already available from http://tinyurl.com/5twlgg9
Many charities, including those working overseas in high risk areas, already have good standards in place to minimise the risk from terrorist and other abuse. However, we know that poor governance and administration, and inadequate risk management measures, are key risk factors for charities. High standards of governance and accountability will safeguard a charity from a range of potential abuse, including terrorist abuse, and make the organisation less vulnerable.
The toolkit clarifies legal requirements rather than introducing new ones. It will help trustees to protect their charity from a range of types of harm and abuse, including terrorist abuse. In particular it aims to:
- raise awareness of the risks charities face from abuse
- explain relevant parts of the legal framework within which charities must operate
- explain charity trustees’ legal duties and responsibilities to protect their charity
- make clear what steps charity trustees must, as a matter of law, and should as good practice, take to ensure their charity is well protected from terrorist, criminal and other abuse
- ensure trustees properly and responsibly deal with incidents if they arise
- highlight examples of good practice in managing the risks and building safeguards
- encourage charity trustees to improve their charities’ transparency and accountability
- add value to charities’ work and increase public understanding of the issues.
Contact CVS
Please don’t hesitate to contact the CVS on; info@yourcvs.org or call us on Tel: 01234 354366 if you have any queries or want help.
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