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Has anyone had experience in appointing co-opted trustees to their board?

Governance

Karen Robertson Trustee at Home Start Wandsworth Posted 1 year ago

We have been  recruiting new trustees to fill 5/6 trustee vacancies and have had an excellent response. Our new Chair is very keen to appoint more as co opted trustees but the maximum we can have is 12 - - is there anyway this is possible ?? 
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Kim Mullard

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Director of Finance & Operations at Action on Postpartum Psychosis 1 year ago

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As Mike says it is down to what your governing document says.  I would personally caution against having a board of more than 12 people.  In my experience this becomes unworkable - there isn't the opportunity for people to become meaningfully engaged in board  discussions, or even to get to know each other and work effectively together.  The most effective boards that I've worked for (or served on) have had less than ten members and have only co-opted additional trustees to fill very specific skills/knowledge/experience gaps.
It's great that you have so many people interested in becoming trustees, but I would think of another way of involving them in the work of the charity (e.g. specific projects, advisory groups) that address their particular interests in the charity's work and help the organisation move forward.  Also, if your charity has term limits for trustees, it would be good to have some people lined up and keen to serve as trustees for when the trustees you're appointing now reach the end of their term.

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Karen Robertson

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Trustee at Home Start Wandsworth 1 year ago

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Kim Mullard
Thank - that is my thinking but very useful to have your perspective on this. 
Karen  

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Jon Benjamin

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Charity consultant and lawyer advising on governance, compliance and related issues at MJB Consulting 1 year ago

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Exactly as Kim Mullard and Mike have said; the numbers and method of appointment will all be set out in your governing document. 12 is already a lot of trustees, but you can set up subcommittees dealing with, for example, audit and risk, marketing, fundraising or whatever, and populate those with additional people. This is a good way of involving useful people who may prove themselves to be trustee material in future.

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Brian Seaton

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Lead Trustee at Small Charity Support 1 year ago

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Hi Karen,
A very "interesting" question.   I totally agree with Kim Mullar's reply.
But - to my mind - the interesting "elephant in the room" question that it provokes is "why would the charity want (or need) more than 12 trustees?"
Are you confusing "trustees" with "volunteers/supporters"?
Although it is often the case that the trustees of "smaller" charities are also the "coal face workers" doing all the charity's "dirty hands-on jobs", that is NOT their role under the charities act.   Right back to the first Charities Act in 1601, the role of trustees is primarily about ensuring that donor's money is being properly spent on the purposes for which it was given.   Or to put that rather more bluntly - their role is to act as the Charity Commissions "bobbies on the beat policemen" - keeping a watchful eye on what is going on and "steering people in the right direction" if things look like they might be going wrong.
This is a somewhat overlooked area that, by coincidence, I have currently been working on.   Section 9.3 of the Charity Commission's guidance CC3 "The Essential Trustee:  What you need to know;  what you need to do" says explicitly:
" Trustees might be told that they should not interfere in day to day operations.   You should allow staff and volunteers to carry out any functions that have been delegated to them.   But you and your co-trustees must be able to ensure that delegated authority is being properly exercised, through appropriate monitoring and reporting procedures (and, where appropriate and possible, independent checking)."   In other words - the primary function of trustees - as set out in the official guidance - is to ensure that the governance of the charity is in good order while leaving the management of the charity to other volunteers and paid staff.   Unfortunately, the fact that the substantial majority - ie: ca.85% - of "smaller" charities have annual incomes less than £250K and, therefore, most can't afford a CEO and lots of paid admin staff doesn't seem to have come to the attention of the bureaucrats who write the guidance primarily for the minority 15% of charities who can.
If you want to get volunteers/supporters more involved in, and contributing to, the running/management of the charity, why not arrange your trustees meetings to include an open "public" element - either before or after the main (in camera - "confidential") element.   We did that very successfully when I worked in the NHS - board meetings started off with an open "public gallery" where the local community could come, listen and contribute (albeit to a limited extent).   And I've seen it work well in the charity sector, too.   And that also avoids the "herding cats" scenario.   People appointed as trustees have a legal obligation to be informed of - and turn up at - trustees' meetings.   People who want to come and contribute to public meetings have greater "flexibility" - on both sides.
Just a thought.   But I hope you find it useful (and a helpful way to keep your charity buoyant - I've always been an enthusiast for "Home Start" so I'm hoping that its future will look a bit more "rosy" now).
Regards,   BrianS

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Karen Robertson

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Trustee at Home Start Wandsworth 1 year ago

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Brian Seaton   
Thank Brian - very helpful comments to take into consideration as we think about our structure going forwards. 
Regards
Karen 

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Mike Preston

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Between Roles at Between Roles 1 year ago

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All comes down to your organisations governing documents 

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