PROMOTING
BOARD OF TRUSTEE DIVERSITY
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Trustees
According to the Charity Commission, a charity Trustee is responsible for the overall
management and decision making within a charity.
Often, ‘Trustee’ will be called by different names, including: member of the board,
management committee members, directors or governors. For the purpose of this fact sheet,
the term “trustee” and Board of Trustees will be used.
Key principle of being a trustee:
The Board of Trustees of every organisation should ensure strategic direction of that
organisation while simultaneously upholding its values. Trustees have overall control of a
charity and are responsible for ensuring that it’s doing what it was set up to do.
Trustees and Governance.
Good governance is a priority for all organisations, from the public, private or voluntary
sector. As voluntary and community organisations working for public benefit, charities are
increasingly expected to demonstrate how well they are governed. Good governance is a
vital part of how voluntary and community organisations operate and are held accountable.
The Code of Good Governance (developed by several national charities led by NCVO) has
identified 7 principles of Good Governance. These are:
1. Board Leadership:
Every organisation should be led and controlled by an effective Board of Trustees
which collectively ensures delivery of its objects, sets its strategic direction and
upholds its values
2. The Board in control
The Trustees as a Board should collectively be responsible and accountable for
ensuring and monitoring that the organisation is performing well, is solvent and
complies with all its obligations
3. The High Performance Board
The Board should have clear responsibilities and functions, and should compose
itself to discharge them effectively
4. Board review and renewal
The Board should periodically review its own and the organisation’s effectiveness,
and take any necessary steps to ensure that both continue to work well.
5. Board Delegation
The Board should set out the functions of sub-committees, officers, the director and
other staff in clear delegated authorities and should monitor their performance
6. Board and trustee integrity
The Board and individual trustees should act according to high ethical standards, and
ensure that conflicts of interest are properly dealt with
7. Board Openness
The Board should be open, responsive and accountable to its users, beneficiaries,
members, partners and others with an interest in its work
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The Importance of Board of Trustee Diversity
The recruitment, selection and induction of one or more new trustees into a charity
can significantly influence how effective the charity is in the future.
Recruiting a diverse board of trustees can lead to an organisation having a balanced
and effective trustee board and a well governed and effective organisation.
According to the Charity Commission, “ensuring the diversity of the board of trustees
is a way to increase the likelihood of it containing a broader range of skills,
knowledge and experience than one which is more narrowly based”1
Board of trustee diversity can also contribute to openness and fairness of the
charities dealings, for instance, when giving a grant or delivering a service. At the
same time, it can contribute to improve public confidence in the organisation, while
increasing its accountability.
It is important to include trustees from sections of the community which have
traditionally not taken active part in charities. Also, it is important that the board of
trustee reflects the client base that the organisation aims to serve. For instance,
BME organisations should not only ensure that board members are BME. In order to
comply with equality requirements, board of trustees should reflect the diversity of
age, sexuality, ability, religion and ethnicity amongst the organisations serviceusers2.
In this sense, it is important to understand that
'Diverse' does not mean having one of everything you can think of: it means
having a board that fully reflects the 'constituency' it is working with and
reasonably reflects the community it is working in3.
Promoting board of trustee diversity should not be a token measure. You need to
evaluate whether your existing management committee structure and membership
provides a welcoming and encouraging environment for all stakeholders as well as
the resources to meet any of the specific needs of individuals. This may range from
being able to produce documents in alternative formats, provide childcare facilities /
costs or ensure accessibility for wheelchair users.
The methods you use to recruit new board members impact on the diversity of your
organisation’s board of trustees. Recruiting from personal contacts rather than
through an open and objective process can perpetuate the problem of poor
diversity4.
1
http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/publications/cc30.aspx#sthash.5Q9kAXug.dpuf
2
http://web.ayaproject.org.uk/a-quick-guide-to-good-governance/
3
http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/publications/cc30.aspx#sthash.5Q9kAXug.dpuf
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ACEVO (2013) Realising the Potential of Governance: The Report of the ACEVO Governance
Commission
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For this reason, when recruiting new board members, it is important to consider:
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where and how you advertise
the language and images you use in any promotion and marketing
the time you have open days/evenings and cultural and religious dietary
needs if offering refreshments
According to the Equality Act 2010, ‘public authorities’ have a general duty to
eliminate discrimination and advance equality of opportunity. A person or
organisation which is not a public authority but which exercises public functions must
also have due regard to these matters. The services provided by some charities are
included within this definition, and the legislation is something which an effectivelyrun charity should want to work towards.
However, evidence from a recent survey carried out by ACEVO’s Governance
Commission (2013) revealed that the overwhelming majority of charity boards still fail
to represent or reflect the diversity of backgrounds of their beneficiaries and
supporters. The same survey revealed that, however, that more organisations are
now actively working to redress the low levels of diversity on their boards, with
39.7% of survey respondents and several contributors to consultation sessions
stating that their organisation had taken steps to improve its ability to recruit trustees
from underrepresented backgrounds.
Identifying barriers to participation
It is important to identify and understand the issues that stop people taking part in
Board meetings or attending meetings. What these barriers are will depend on
specific organisations and how they operate. Some of these barriers are:
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Meetings may be held too far away
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Meetings are at a time which is not suitable
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There may be no childcare facilities
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There may be a charge for being a member
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The building may not be accessible for people with disabilities
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The meetings may be badly organised
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Notice of meetings may be sent out too late
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There may be too much jargon that is difficult to understand
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You may not be given the opportunity to express your opinions
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There may be personal dislikes or a clique that run the meetings
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Questions:
1. Do any of these barriers apply to your group?
2. Can you identify anything different that might affect people attending your
meetings?
3. What would you do to remove any barriers?
How to promote board of trustee diversity?
In order to promote diversity, charities must reach out to communities that are not
presently represented in the organisation’s board of trustee. Also, charities must
make specific efforts to assist people, who might otherwise have difficulties, in
attending board meetings.
Some practical ways of increasing board of trustee diversity include5:
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making use of more active, open and inclusive methods of recruitment, such
as advertising or using trustee brokerage services;
organising trustee board meetings at the most convenient times, or at different
times so that people who cannot attend at a particular time are not excluded;
holding trustee board meetings in a venue which is accessible for people with
disabilities;
having a policy in place for paying childcare expenses or providing childcare
arrangements;
considering people's needs for translators or sign language interpreters, or for
documents available in large print, tape, CD or Braille;
offering expenses (where practicable). Travelling to and from meetings can be
expensive especially where members are on low incomes.
It is fundamental to offer support and guidance to new trustees, as this will familiarise
them with the organisation; provide them with knowledge of the Board and how it
works; provide an opportunity to learn about and discuss strategic plans; and identify
areas for development to structure a training plan for the Board as a whole.
5
http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/publications/cc30.aspx#5.5
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References
ACEVO (2013) Realising the Potential of Governance: The Report of the ACEVO
Governance Commission.
Available: http://www.acevo.org.uk/document.doc?id=2561
Links
Charity governance: despite some good practice, a way to go. Guardian
Professional, Wednesday 27 March 2013. http://www.theguardian.com/voluntarysector-network/2013/mar/27/charity-governance-good-practice
Best bits: how to recruit a diverse group of charity trustees. Guardian Professional,
Friday 8 November 2013. http://www.theguardian.com/voluntary-sectornetwork/2013/nov/08/recruit-diverse-charity-trustees
Women on board –The importance of a Diverse Board of Trustees. Hilary Sears
Chairman, MS Society.
http://www.acevo.org.uk/document.doc?id=2061
Charity Commission. Finding new trustees.
http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/detailed-guidance/trustees-staff-andvolunteers/finding-new-trustees-cc30/
Knowhow Nonprofit.Celebrating trustee diversity.
http://knowhownonprofit.org/leadership/governance/trustee-diversity
Citizens Advice Bureau. Making a difference through trustee diversity.
http://www.southwarkcabservice.org.uk/docs/trustee_diversity_leaflet1.pdf
National
Code
of
Good
Governance
for
the
Voluntary
Sector
http://www.governancepages.org.uk/sample-documents/codes-ofconductgovernance-codes/national-code-of-good-governance-for-the-voluntarysector/
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ASCENT - Support services to organisations
This second tier support project aims to address the long term sustainability needs of
organisations providing services to those affected by sexual and domestic violence.
The project seeks to improve the quality of such services across London by
providing a range of training and support.
This includes:
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Borough Surgeries
BME Network
Sustainability training
Accredited training
1:1 sessions
Expert-led training
Policy consultations
Good practise briefings
Newsletters
The project also provides a range of web-based events and online resources to
ensure accessibility to organisations throughout London.
Lead organisation: Women’s Resource Centre
To find out more, please visit our website:
www.thelondonvawgconsortium.org.uk
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