Good Governance is critical, both in registered charities where the board is made up of trustees, and in other voluntary and community organisations, where a volunteer committee steers the course. VANEL works to support groups to improve their approach to governance, and this article discusses support and ideas that boards, committees and management might find helpful.
Keeping informed
If you’re a Trustee, then NCVO is a useful place to turn to each month for the latest, relevant news about trusteeship and all things governance related. They usually add a monthly roundup article to their blog, so keep an eye on the blog here, and here is the September, August and July bulletins from them. Useful for quick updates on things you should know about when guiding your organisation and carrying out your role.
Some of their most recent news includes a discussion on the five major risks for charity trustees, building boards for the digital age, feedback from the Association of Chairs on whether trustee chairs are receiving the support they need, and various news updates on legislation and rules from the Charity Commissions digested and presented in an easy format.
New Philanthropy Capital (NPC) have just published a report entitled “What make a good charity”. It’s something everyone in the sector should read and consider. And if you’re a trustee or committee member then perhaps jump straight in at page 37 where it talks about governance approaches.
We’re also trying to keep you informed ourselves about all things governance through our “View from the Top” e-newsletter. We’ve been ‘paused’ over the summer, but our next edition will be out in October. It only goes out to management, trustees and committees from our Member and Friend organisations, but it’s full of ideas, resources, news and challenging pieces to get you thinking deeper about your role as a trustee, with resources to help you.
Watch out for our next edition or contact Karl Elliott (karl@vanel.org.uk) if you’d like to subscribe.
Recruiting
One ongoing challenge for charities and non-profits is always in finding and recruiting the right people to sit on the board/committee with the right skills that can benefit the organisation. VANEL can help promote opportunities when they arise and we try to keep on the lookout for suitable, potential committee members for you.
The volunteer opportunity database Do-it can promote trustee opportunities, but often specifically focused promotion is required to find the right people. There are national schemes such as Step on Board, Trustee Bank and Trustees Unlimited, but VANEL is trying to develop these recruitment approaches more locally to benefit our Members.
This month, Carelink, a charity based in Grimsby and providing telecare support services to over 4000 people across the region, has begun a search for a couple more trustees to join their board. They are looking for keen people ready to support their organisation at board level and are interested in talking to people with an interest. Contact them (contact details on their website at www.care-link.org.uk) or contact us at VANEL and we’ll pass your details on.
A number of local groups and charities have also told us they are interested in recruiting new volunteer board members, so if you are interested please contact VANEL and we’ll get you more information. Details of opportunities are also going to be posted regularly on our www.theviewfromthetop.org.uk website here.
Induction
Once new Trustees are on board, it’s important that they understand their roles and responsibilities. The board and organisation will go through its own induction process, but to complement this VANEL offers a short, two hour training workshop entitled “Induction and Refresher Training for Trustees”. This takes place every few months or can be organised specifically for your board. Keep an eye on our calendar for dates and on the website for information here.
Younger Trustees
A national charity governance challenge remains the fact that so few trustees are aged below 30. This potentially deprives charities and groups of a demographic of people with particular skills and perceptions. At VANEL were really keen to support younger people through volunteering and leadership, and serving as a committee or board member or charity trustee is a specific example of the types of roles we are encouraging.
Through our new IGNITE programme and the complementary Young Leaders Network programme (also Big Lottery funded), we’re trying to encourage, enable and equip young people into charity leadership roles.
The new Young Leaders Network includes occasional face to face meetings, a private, online social discussion space to share ideas, mock board meetings, a micro-training programme, a mentoring scheme and more. We’re on the hunt for younger people willing to learn more and for boards and charities interested in engaging with younger leaders.
Another part of this scheme also allows us to offer our Lincolnshire Volunteer Card (LVC) scheme for free to committee/board members aged 18-25. LVC is an introduction to the skills needed to be a competent volunteer, and all trustees are volunteers, so we hope this provides another support route for engaged young people.
Ongoing Support
VANEL continues to provide a range of governance support to our member organisations, so there’s probably always something we can help you with. We can review or help you develop or improve your constitution, your trustee handbook, your recruitment and induction processes and more. We provide both lightweight briefings and workshops and in depth training at various levels. We’ve helped groups with paperwork and processes, training and skills development, take up of digital tools to support the board, reviews against the national Code of Good Governance and more. We’re experienced and able to support you in numerous ways to work towards good or better governance.
Unfortunately we’re generally not funded to subsidise this type of work, so we charge fees for the work we do, with Members and Friends receiving discounts. But if you don’t ask you won’t know how we can help you. So have a discussion with Karl Elliott at VANEL (karl@vanel.org.uk).
Trustees’ Week
Each year, early November is National Trustees’ Week, and VANEL always gets involved. So keep an eye on our website for specific support during and around that week and we’ve got some exciting new ideas coming along to be launched at the same time. This year Trustees’ Week is 7-13th November.
Trustees’ Week launches on 7th November with the NCVO/BWB Trustees Conference in London. This is a major gathering covering trusteeship and this year is entitled “Governance in the spotlight”. If you can’t make it to London yourselves then we’ll be following proceedings and share the learning with you during Trustees’ Week. We’ll also be looking at the themes being covered to see how we can tackle the same subjects more locally for the benefit of those Members and Friends that are interested.
Keep an eye on the VANEL website and the View from the Top website for information about our governance support. If in doubt, contact Karl at VANEL for a discussion (karl@vanel.org.uk / 01472 361043.