One of the biggest challenges for small charities and social enterprises is governance. Many start out with good intentions, inviting friends and interested parties to join the board. Yet at Pilotlight we have seen that this good intention can drift as the organisation develops – direction sometimes gets muddled and things can become political.
Experience suggests there is a whole spectrum of engagement when it comes to trustee boards. At one end there is little or no engagement – trustees turn up to a board meeting once every two months and do little else. At the other end of the spectrum, board members are actively involved in the charity; they become its ambassadors, meet with the CEO and staff regularly and play an active part in the organisations development. Working with charities every day, we have seen that these different approaches can either leave charity chief execs feeling alone, with very little support and feedback, or they can end up with very little delegated authority (often feeling like a project manager rather than a chief exec).
Of course, what is needed is a balance of the two approaches. So how do organisations achieve that, especially when they are often going through change?
Charity CEOs can sometimes get buried in the day to day and struggle with seeing the way forward or don’t have time to consider the bigger picture. On top of that, when board agendas are fixed and only monitor daily activity by routine, the original purpose of the organisation can drift.
Developing a strategy will help give focus and direction to any organisation. Once agreed by the board, a strategy can serve many purposes:
- It gives a platform for delegated authority
- it gives clarity to staff
- it sends out a clear message
- it becomes a platform for decision making
The strategy can also become something which the board can use as a tool to monitor that the organisation is going in the right direction. It is also a good way of engaging trustees and allows everyone to agree key actions or goals.
Another problem many organisations have to deal with is that over time they need trustees with different skills, so reviewing governance arrangements should be carried out on a regular basis (possibly annually). This helps organisations get the balance right in terms of board contribution and makeup, ensuring that the board is fit for purpose.
As many charities face changes to the ways their services are contracted or funded there has never been a better time to reflect and ensure that they have a skilled and talented board to give them the support and leadership they need.
by David King, Head of Programme Development, Pilotlight
