Your Trustees (or committee members) are very valuable to you. They give their time and efforts for the benefit of the charity or organisation. So does your organisation give them back the support they need to do that role properly?
When they join you, do they get a full and useful induction?
Do you give them a clear indication of what is required from them in their role (a job description?).
Do they get a copy of your governing documents to read? – after all, they need to uphold them.
Do you support them properly when they ask questions, need training etc?
A survey back in 2013 by NCVO indicated some worrying national statistics on this. I quote:
The main difficulties cited by trustees in taking up a trustee role were time commitments, the difficulty in understanding financial management issues and governance as well as their role and their responsibilities. We were surprised to find that one in ten respondents said they hadn’t been given the charities’ governing documents to read when they started as a trustee.
43% said they hadn’t received an induction and 46% hadn’t seen any job description outlining their remit and responsibilities. Over half wanted more training in governance, in managing risks and liabilities and in finance.
So how does your organisation stack up on this? Do you have role descriptions or an induction process?
Please take a good look at how you look after your volunteer trustees. Put yourself if their shoes and make sure you give them the support you might want yourself. It will reap you rewards.
And if you need any advice about getting this right, contact Karl Elliott at VANEL who can support you further.