Best Practice for Trustees
Explore trustee roles, responsibilities, and legal duties. Get expert guidance on becoming a trustee or selecting the right one for your organisation’s success.
What is a Trustee?
A trustee role is an opportunity to use your professional skills and life experiences to make a difference to a cause you believe in. Trustees work collectively to make decisions of behalf of their charity. Trustees are elected or appointed, usually for a fixed period (usually three years) - this will be outlined in the governance documents of the charity. Some organisations may use other term, such as ‘Governors’, for trustee roles.
Preparing to Recruit Trustees
Following good guidelines, organisations can confidently recruit the right trustees and cultivate a diverse and effective leadership team with transparency and inclusivity. Getting trustee recruitment right will ensure the ongoing success of your organisation and its activities.
Top Tips for being a Great Trustee!
So, you’ve just been accepted as a trustee on the board of a charity, or maybe you’ve been a trustee for a little while already. What can you do to ensure that you’re not just a trustee, but a great trustee? Here are our top tips to give you some food for thought!
Legal Duties of Trustees
Trustees have a legal responsibility under charity law. The Charity Commission sets out rules around governance and conduct for trustees.
Understanding Trusteeship - 2024 research
Given the pivotal role trustees play, better understanding who they are – their skills, experiences and demographic characteristics – is essential. To better understand today’s charity boards, the Charity Commission for England and Wales worked with Pro Bono Economics in 2024 to conduct a new national survey of charity trustees.