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Shantha Appano, Trustee, The Bear, Deptford.

Recruitment


This page details the information on how to become a trustee or how to register your trustee vacancies, specifically in relationship to the Governance Hub’s ‘Get on Board’ campaign.

'Get on Board' trustee recruitment campaign

The main aims of the ‘Get on Board’ campaign are to increase awareness of trusteeship and to inspire people with the right skills such as business and experience from a range of backgrounds to consider becoming a trustee. The campaign responds to a Governance Hub survey that found 93% of boards have between one and five vacancies, and that 43% find it more difficult to recruit trustees now, the Organisations supporting the 'Get on Board' campaign

How to become a trustee

To register your interest in becoming a trustee:
- Submit the on-line registration form


More information on trusteeship and the 'Get on Board' campaign.

How to register vacancies

To register trustee vacancies, voluntary and community organisations can either:

Contact their local Volunteer Centre. Their details can be found at www.volunteering.org.uk/finder, or go direct to www.do-it.org.uk/needvolunteers

Alternatively, there are a number of other organisations that maintain registers of potential trustees, or offer varying levels of a trustee brokerage service, matching potential trustees with vacancies on the boards of charities. Please click here for the list of other trustee recruitment providers.

How the Governance Hub can give support

The Governance Hub has a range of resources to help voluntary and community organisations in their trustee recruitment process:

The downloadable Trustee Recruitment Toolkit sets out good practice for seeking the best people to govern a community or voluntary organisation. It covers a 10 step process to recruit trustees and highlights a number of best practice case studies.

The Hub also runs a number of workshops and events about trustee recruitment. A full list is shown in our events section

The hub has more resources available on more specific trustee recruitment issues, which can be found on the Hub’s Governance Resource Library.

There are a number of other key publications that can help in trustee recruitment. The Charity Commissions report ‘CC30 – Finding New Trustees - What charities need to know' examines how charities select, recruit and induct new trustees. It draws on studies of Charity Commission cases and an NFP survey of the trustee recruitment, selection and induction practices in selected charities.

The NCVO's guide ‘Recruiting and Supporting Black and Minority Ethnic Trustees' has useful information and advice. This guide follows the launch of the Black and Minority Ethnic Voluntary and Community Sector Code of Good Practice.

National services to advertise for and / or recruit trustees

The following voluntary organisations provide advertising space for trustee opportunities on their websites, which may provide a useful means of publicising opportunities for organisations with a limited budget:

OrganisationTarget AudienceCharges
Charity Finance Directors' Group

Encourages its members to reinvest their skills by becoming trustees and treasurers for other organisations and offers a free advertising service to organisations seeking a new trustee or treasurer.

Finance staff of charitiesNo
Charity Job

Works in partnership with 550 UK charities and 8 leading specialist recruitment agencies to provide a recruitment advertising service.

AllYes
Common Purpose

Runs educational programmes, campaigns, websites and awards for leaders. Provides information and opportunities for people who want to take a lead in public life.

LeadersNo
do-it.org

do-it is the UK 's national volunteering database with 450,000 volunteering opportunities supplied by Volunteer Bureaux and national/regional organisations and UKcompanies. The database includes a trustee category and they have recently set up a new editorial section promoting trusteeships which includes a trustee specific vacancy search facility.

AllLocal No and National Yes
Governance Journal

governance is the first publication aimed at charity trustees together with their chief executives and company secretaries. Organisations can post their upcoming trustee vacancies online for free here.

Trustees, Chief Executives and Company secretaries. No
Trustee Bank

NCVO’s advertises trustee vacancies on its website.

AllNo
The following publications advertise trustee vacancies in print, usually alongside paid for positions:

OrganisationTarget AudienceCharges
Charity Times

A popular journal specialising in information, news and features for VCOs

AllYes
Guardian

The Society section of the Guardian advertises trustee (and volunteering) opportunities on a Wednesday

AllYes
Third Sector Magazine

A popular journal specialising in information, news and features for VCOs; extensive recruitment section in weekly magazine

AllYes
The following agencies provide introduction services, where they issue a list of individuals who are interested in trusteeship and it is up to you to interview candidates and select them. Note, lists may be publically available or provided as a service to members of the organisation.

OrganisationTarget AudienceCharges
Bar in the Community

Introduces barristers who are interested in becoming trustees to suitable VCOs with a board vacancy.

BarristersNo
Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA)

The Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators provides a board placement service as part of the professional support it offers to its members. VCOs can advertise vacancies in its trustee database.

Chartered SecretariesNo
National Housing Federation

Get on Board is a scheme that aims at matching skilled and experienced candidates to board vacancies within our member housing associations.

AllNo
REACH

Recruits people with professional, business, managerial or technical career experience, and places them with voluntary organisations who need their expertise.

Professional, managerial, business No
Specislist agencies, operating generally from the private sector, provide a full trustee recruitment service. Levels of involvement can be as detailed as is required, for example from a 'headhunting process' to consultancy and advice on advertising.

OrganisationTarget AudienceCharges
Arts and Business

Provides a Board Bank service giving arts organisations and museums free access to potential board members.

Middle and senior business managersYes
CF Appointments Ltd.

Offers a trustee appointment service, finding trustees to fill trustee vacancies identified by the VCO, including needs analysis, register search, individual search, advertising and interviewing.

All sections of society, experienced managerial-levelYes
Charity people

A specialist jobs broker in the not for profit sector; provides trustee recruitment, induction and training service.

AllYes
City Women's Network

A support network for senior executive women working in London; maintains its own register for trustee appointments, which is available to organisations who contact the network for trustees.

Senior executive women No
CR Search and Selection

Provides recruitment solutions in the not-for-profit sector, including for trustee roles.

AllYes
JMR Consultants

Provides a specialist, independent consultancy service for Board recruitment, development and support in the not-for-profit sector.

Experienced board membersYes
Odgers

Provides recruitment services to find high board level positions

Chairs, Non executive directorsYes
Veredus

Provides Non-executive director\board appointments in both the public and private sectors.

Senior executivesYes

Support with trustee recruitment is available from infrastructure agencies in the voluntary and community sector, including:

  • Local councils for voluntary service, or equivalent organisations, provide guidance and advice to local VCOs and may be able to provide locally relevant information on finding trustees or support you in working through the recruitment process. Find your local CVS via the National Association for Voluntary and Community Action, www.navca.org.uk
  • Volunteer Centres, or equivalent organisations, often maintain a register of local volunteering opportunities, including trustee vacancies. Find your local Volunteer Centre via Volunteering England, http://www.volunteering.org.uk/finder
  • Specialist umbrella groups or sub-sector infrastructure organisations will provide bespoke services to their members, which may include support with trustee recruitment. Contact the network you are part of and see if they can help. E.g. the advertisement bulletin service provided by BOND (British Overseas NGOs for Development) carries volunteering/trustee vacancies www.bond.org.uk/jobs/unpaid