Tag Archives: trustee competency pathway

Launching Committee Pathways, June 2018

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For those of you who have been following #trusteehour on twitter, you’ll know that Miles Weaver and I are pretty motivated by supporting others to take on a charity trustee role with confidence.  We’re both involved in a range of projects connected with this end in mind.

There is, however, a reality check sometimes.   When I was speaking about charity trustee roles with an audience from a Young Person’s Network, I was left with a sense of a roomful of 20-somethings keen to have come along to find out more, but some of whom were daunted by the prospect of what might be involved.  Some young people do indeed take on charity trustee roles, and talk positively about that experience.  These contributions to #trusteehour prove the point:

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For others, it may feel like too much too soon.

If only there could be a way to gain experience, without being exposed to the full legal duties and responsibilities involved……

At the ‘Unconference’ session during the Trustees’ Week 2017 event in Edinburgh, I facilitated a workshop group exploring ideas around how to encourage a pipeline of new (and younger) trustees.  The concept of an apprenticeship was discussed. A charity would however need to have time and resources to support the creation of this kind of temporary role.  For busy and stretched charities, this might not always be easy.

Since the Unconference session, we’ve been thinking about how to help fill this gap.  After some discussions with umbrella groups to test the concept, we’re now ready to rollout Committee Pathways.

Committee Pathways is intended to be an enabling online platform where committee role vacancies can be shared.  It lives on twitter @Pathways_C

For those following the competency pathway for trustees in use at Edinburgh Napier University, a committee role would be one way to gain some governance-related experience.  At the same time, a committee role might be exactly the right ‘fit’ for someone of any age happy to share their expertise with a charity in a non-trustee role, finding that the time commitment better reflects what they’re able to take on.

Here’s the first selection of committee roles shared:

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Now, to turn to the supply side.  Does your charity’s governing document allow non-trustees to be co-opted onto committees?  Could your charity do with a few extra pairs of hands on one or more of your committees?  If the answers are ‘yes’, then we can help to publicise your vacancies.

If your charity is on twitter, tweet about your vacancy, with a role profile and closing date.  Use the handle @Pathways_C and we’ll spot and share your vacancy online.  If you’re not on twitter, could someone else help to post your vacancy online?

The second half of 2018 will be a pilot to gauge how this approach might help to support attracting new entrants into future trustee roles.  It’s entirely possible that a committee role could later lead to a board role opportunity.   Taking on a committee role enables someone to get to know a charity, find out more about how it operates ‘on the inside’ and get to know others involved in running the charity.  It could be a positive volunteering experience in itself and a great confidence-builder and pathway towards a future trustee role.

The supply and demand side both need to emerge for Committee Pathways to have impact.  Time will tell.  We’re offering this as a pilot for the second half of the year, and we’ll see how it goes.  It’s the theme for July’s #trusteehour on Thursday 19th July 8-9pm – join the conversation online @trusteehour to explore more.

Julie Hutchison, 13 June 2018

Founder @InformedTrustee

Co-Founder @trusteehour and @Pathways_C

 

Get on Board – a seminar summary (guest blog by Julie Hutchison)

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This is a guest blog by Julie Hutchison, Charities Specialist, Standard Life Wealth.

On 14th February 2018, RSM hosted an afternoon seminar in their Edinburgh offices, for the first cohort of Get on Board candidates from Edinburgh Napier University and the University of Edinburgh.  This blog summarises the topics covered, as a further reference point for those who attended on the day and a resource to support those who could not join the session.

Victoria Simpson of Anderson Strathern began the seminar by going through the various charity trustee duties which apply in Scotland.  This brings in the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, and a good summary of what you need to know is contained in OSCR’s Guidance here.

The main duties to keep in mind as a charity trustee are:

* you must act in the best interests of the charity
* you must act with due care and diligence

Victoria spoke about ‘conflict of interest’ situations, and the need for a trustee to declare an interest, and for this to be recorded in the Minutes and a Register of Interests.  The key thing for a trustee is to put the interests of the charity first, and declare their personal interest in the matter concerned.  It may be necessary for a trustee to not participate in part of a meeting where something is being discussed, should that be necessary in order to manage the conflicting interests.

Moving onto the theme of charity accounts, Janet Hamblin of RSM ran through some of the financial points trustees need to be aware of. A Statement of Financial Activity was reviewed, looking at income and expenditure, and drawing out the difference between restricted funds (which must only be spent on certain things) and unrestricted funds (which are available to support general charity expenditure).  Janet emphasised the need for good internal financial controls, and the need to monitor cashflow.

From a charity investment perspective, I then gave an overview of why a charity might take the step of investing, moving from having cash only, to having a mixture of cash and investments.  This tends to happen when a charity has built-up a large sum of cash and is looking for the opportunity to gain better returns over a long term timescale, accepting the ups and downs of the stockmarket in doing so.  Ethical screening was introduced as a topic, to show how some charities avoid investing in certain sectors which conflict with their charitable purposes.  I mentioned #trusteehour as a means for the Get on Board participants to engage in an online community of trustees on twitter, to further develop their awareness and knowledge of charity sector issues.

The final speaker was Elaine Crichton of Inspiring Scotland. Elaine looked at board dynamics and the kinds of behaviours encouraged around the board table.  Key to this was the importance of asking questions as a trustee – and there’s no such thing as a daft question!  Trustees can be positive ambassadors for their charity, and Elaine spoke positively about what younger trustees can bring to the role.  The group dynamic was an important point, as trustees take decisions together on a collective basis.  Being an active listener and respecting other viewpoints was also discussed.  Finally, enthusiasm is valued!

For more information about the Get on Board programme and the competency pathway associated with it, see this blog by Dr Miles Weaver of Edinburgh Napier University.