W hether driven by a passion for the cause, the desire to put their professional skills to different use or simple altruism, modern Trustees carry out an essential role, in many organisations dealing with complex issues and without remuneration. In addition to this, trustees do not work alone, and can often have their fellow Board members and Executive team to contend with too. So what are the common problems facing either an individual Trustee, or the Board as a whole in the governance of their organisation? • The charismatic Chief Exec This is perhaps the biggest risk faced by Trustees. The Chief Exec is an employee, taking on the day to day running of the charity but is not ultimately responsible. They should be reporting to the Trustees, working within the framework they have been set and following the strategic direction formulated by the Board. Too often a charismatic Chief Exec will bend and shift the strategy to one that suits them as they gently lead the board along. Suddenly the activities and outcomes can be different from those intended and the Trustees are left exposed. The clearest example of this can be seen in the downfall of Kids Company, but that is replicated in smaller and less destructive ways in many other charities. The responsibility needs to sit with the risk, which leads us on to… • Group risk appetite The Board must be satisfied that they understand the key risks faced by the charity, the mitigations in place and whether they are happy to take these risks. The risk a Board is willing to take is not necessarily the sum of the risk appetite of the individual members. In reality it will tend to edge towards the more risk averse end of the scale as it is usually more comfortable for someone to accept less risk rather than more.
It is important for a Board to spend time understanding their risk appetite and fitting this into their strategy accordingly. This then needs to be clearly communicated to the Chief Executive and the appropriate parameters for operation and risk set. A formal Risk Register can be a very powerful document, useful for the Board as well as the Executive and very helpful for potential new Trustees who want to know what they are letting themselves in for. There have been charities that have taken a bolder approach, setting the risk appetite needed to deliver the purpose and recruiting Trustees that are willing to accept this risk. This is potentially a very effective approach but it does assume a large pool of willing candidates to become a Trustee, which may not be the case. How can you get involved? You need to be able to commit time to being a Trustee and bring knowledge, experience and skills to the table. This does tend to lend itself to a certain age demographic, whose input is invaluable, but can give issues around succession and sustainability. Charities need to explore if they need to widen the representation of Trustees around the Board table and if so how they can encourage this. This is not just about age, but also groups that are perhaps under represented. Some charities have made claiming expenses mandatory for Trustees as it is felt that this can be a barrier for the less financially independent. The Trustee can then donate the expenses back if they so desire, but it removes the stigma of making the claim. Whatever the approach, there needs to be a steady stream of new volunteers willing to become Trustees and innovation may be needed. New blood with different ideas is a very positive way of making sure a charity continues to deliver the desired outcomes.
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