I'm sure I can't be the only person to be a Board Member/Trustee of a Charity who spends more than half of their time trying to work out two things. Firstly how do we engage with more volunteers to become Trustees so we can spread the load and become more effective. Secondly how come all of my colleagues, friends, associates, neighbours and latterly even people I don't even know start to back away slowly when they see me coming towards them fresh from my latest Board meeting.

I'd like to say that I'd been successful recruiting new Trustees by appealing to their sense of affinity with our Charity's objectives. Or perhaps that they are a professional looking to offer their skills to a Board that might desperately need some legal or financial advice to hand. Even that I'd bought another round to seal the deal after a positive but perhaps initially non committal evening out with a lead we'd been made aware of. But I'd be lying. If I'm honest, believe me I'm way past sugar coating this, the last Trustees I managed to recruit to our Board did so out of a sense of duty that no one else was even considering the role!

We've done the skills audit, we've analysed the Charities objectives, publicised the work we do yet we've consistently failed to manage to make the role of Trustee appealing to anyone it seems. Yet we still persevere and continue to do so with a dogged determination that someone, somewhere will suddenly either get a stab of conscience or just get fed up saying no?

The strangest thing is the Board we have is actually very good. I'm not just singing its praises for the sake of it. It is, its very good. Small, perfectly formed?maybe not, after all we still have gaps such as no female representation which can't be a good thing. But it does its job, very well and largely has the respect of all of its users and staff. 

So what is the problem?

Well I believe its actually very simple. Fear. 

A fear that liability is unlimited when you make that common sense decision that suddenly backfires when some one slips at the jumble sale and everyone's suddenly running to check on the public liability insurance. A fear that they don't have the time needed to contribute to every matter on every meeting. A fear that they don't have the skills necessary to be a Director or Trustee. A fear that simply they can't do what you want.

Yet the really funny thing is. All we really want is someone, anyone, who has a passion for the cause and some common sense. The legal expertise, the financial expertise, I've always found them the easiest elements to fill. The hardest are the common sense elements, the user elements, the Board members who simply ask the question why? Why are we doing this? Why can't we try this? Why do we have to do it that way? Why can't we support this idea?

We're all scared these days of the legal and financial responsibilities required of a Trustee, that's a given. But perhaps we should be more scared that less and less of us have Boards that have those members who are there for no other reason than they want to be and can. I know I've stopped trying to work out who to ask and how to approach and am now simply concentrating on making sure everyone understands what we do and why we do it. Surprisingly I've got my first approach in two years from someone who began the conversation 'I'm sure I wouldn't be any good but....' Unsurprisingly I know they're going to be a great fit and very positive addition to our Board. Once I get past my fear of looking a gift horse in the mouth.....