Recruiting Great Trustees

Organisations

Here is a quick introduction to recruiting great trustees. There are four basic stages that will help you recruit great trustees. This extended information section from TrusteeWorks aims to take you and your charity Board through a simple but strong process for recruitment.

The links below go to different sections on this page

Prepare the charity board

Recruit

Induct

Review

1. Prepare the charity board

Plan the process,laying out the timetable for recruitment, the preparatory activities, who is going to be involved, what budget is available to support the process, the closing date for applications, date for interviews etc.
Carry out a skills audit to understand the current skills and experience within your board, identify gaps and look at what skills you may be losing if a trustee is stepping down or retiring.
Consider the diversity of your Board and whether it is broadly representative of the community, users and members your organisation serves. An effective board will have an understanding of the needs and wishes of the groups of people that form it, support it and benefit from it.
Check the legal restrictions to see what you can and cannot do. This may include a limit on the number of trustees, the process for nomination, terms of office, special provisions. There are also specific restrictions in law about who can and can not be a trustee, payments to trustees etc.

There are further suggestions on preparing the charity Board for recruiting new charity trustees in the Recruit a Trustee Pocket Guide published by the Governance Hub.

2. Recruit

Develop an information pack to give to potential trustees who want to consider the vacant position with your organisation. This should include a role description covering the duties of a charity trustee and the specific skills and experience being sought, an outline of the organisation and its priorities for the next 2-5 years, how to apply for the role and details on the appointments process being used.
Agree your shortlist and interview criteria for selection and make sure these will be drawn out in the application and interview process
Document your induction process and pull together the relevant information into an induction pack
Consider where the people you want to attract to the trustee role are and how to promote the vacancy to catch their attention. Make use of all avenues available to you including free advertising, brokerage agencies, on-line promotion, volunteer agencies, press advertising, local notice boards, your website, word of mouth etc. More suggestions on how to promote your vacancy
Appoint a main point of contact for enquiries, which may be a website, backed up by an internal person or a representative at a recruitment or volunteer brokerage agency depending on the promotion approach you are using
Review applications to create a shortlist and then meet prospective candidates to sell your organisation, establish their capability and fit to your needs. You can then select your trustee
Write to your preferred new trustee with an invitation to join the board, subject to references and attendance at a trustee meeting

The final part of the recruitment stage is to complete the processes for joining the charity board:

take up references and carry out appropriate check
arrange a visit to the organisation to meet the people
arrange for the potential trustee to observe at a Board meeting
confirm the formal appointment at the appropriate Board meeting and register with the Charity Commission, if appropriate
issue a press release
complete the induction and carry out a review with new trustee after 3-6 months

3. Induct

New trustees need to feel welcomed and informed. Giving them some time to learn about the organisation and some key information will help them become a contributing and effective member of the board more quickly. A good induction is often reported as one of the main reasons charity trustees become engaged with the organisation and stay as a trustee. Poor induction and limited time given to helping trustees learn about the organisation and build their skills is one of the most cited reasons for individuals stepping down prematurely.

A good induction will include the following:

Information pack of key documents

the governing documents
latest annual report and accounts
statement of Trustee liability
frequency/timings of board meetings and committees
minutes of previous year’s board meetings
list of current trustees plus short biographies
organisational structure and senior staff biographies
background history of the organisation
the current organisation strategy/operating plans
applicable policy documents including
- expenses policy
- conflict of interest declaration
- volunteering policy etc
summary of funding and projects
outline of main relationships with other organisations
information about trustee training and development

Examples of organisation's marketing literature, business cards, publications the organisation may have issued may also be useful to include as part of the induction pack.

Organisation Induction

New trustees should be invited to the organisation's main office and meet the chief executive and members of the staff and volunteer team.

An introduction to the organisation's main services/activities and visits/introductions to key projects will be a critical element of the induction.

New trustees should be encouraged to meet at least the Chair, Vice Chair and Honorary Treasurer as part of their induction.

Some useful resources:

Recruit a charity Trustee - pocket guide
Governance Hub resource summarising the key stages in recruiting trustees successfully

Trustee Recruitment Toolkit
Governance Hub resource providing tools to support the trustee recruitment process

Induction Planner
Governance Hub Support Resource

Induction Pack Checklist
Governance Hub Support Resource

4. Review

Review the process for recruiting your new trustee. What worked well, what could have worked better? What will you change next time? How well is the new Board working? Are there changes that are needed? Are the skills and experience of each trustee being used effectively?

Some useful resources to support you in recruiting great trustees

Recruit a charity Trustee - pocket guide
Governance Hub resource

Trustee Recruitment Toolkit
Governance Hub resource

The Essential Trustee – what you need to know
Charity Commission publication CC3 - pdf

Finding New Trustees – what charities need to know
Charity Commission Publication – section E1

New Trustee Declaration of Eligibility
Charity Commission Model Declaration Form

Skills Audit and Skills Register