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“I need to find board members for my organisation. Where do I start?”
“How do I recruit trustees for my new charity?”
“How do I convince people to become a director for my CIC?”
The headlines
If you’re a charity then you need a voluntary board of trustees. While a CIC can pay their directors, if you’re applying for funding there’s often a requirement for having at least three unconnected directors (i.e. not family members or business partners) and for the majority of them to be voluntary.
If you ask how to recruit board members people will just tell you to post it on Reach or jobs listing sites. It’s worth chucking it up there, but alongside that, here are some other ideas to get some different people round the table.
Five tips for recruiting a board that can help your organisation fly
1. Define What You Need
There’s often a pokemon approach to assembling a board- you need a marketing person and a finance person and a legal person etc etc. You don’t have to catch them all. It may be that those skills are exactly right for your board, but before you start searching, get clear on what your organisation needs over the next few years.
If you’re looking to significantly develop your income from trading then you might want people with expertise in that area. If you’re building an education programme then a teacher or someone who works with a more established education organisation could be a huge asset. If you’re just starting out and there’s a lot to do to get everything properly up and running, then you’ll want people with operational, management or charity admin knowledge. If they have gone through this process they can advise and be a sounding board and support to you.
The board’s role should be strategic: “noses in, fingers out!” They should be nosy about what’s going on: have a good understanding of your organisation’s finances, what the risks might be as you develop your work and an overview of the direction you’re going in. But they shouldn’t be hands-on meddling, making suggestions about which colour to use on the signage for an event.
Think about the team you want in your corner- what skills and knowledge do you want them to have if you’re turning to them for advice or collaborating with them on a masterplan for your organisation?
2. Date before you propose
This isn’t going to be welcome advice if you just need to find enough board members asap to get up and running, but it works so much better if you can play the long game.
The general principle is you don't ask someone to marry you on a first date. What you're asking is a big commitment. It's about supporting and taking ultimate legal responsibility for an organisation, and putting a decent whack of their time in, usually voluntarily. It's very unusual that you could just ask someone to do that and they would say yes without thinking about it.
So your main focus should be on how you can build a relationship, how you can show the importance of your work and make them want to support it. And that makes it better on both sides because it gives you a chance to make sure they're the right person for you and your organisation before you’re stuck with them, and vice versa.
Building that relationship might be about inviting them to events to see your work in action or asking them to support in a much easier, shorter term way. They could become someone that you check in with or ask for advice, before later down the line asking them to join the board. You could also invite them to join an existing board meeting as a one off to observe or contribute to a particular discussion.
If you do need to speed this process up, then start with existing, warm contacts. Who already supports you or your organisation in some way?
3. Beyond the usual suspects
Many people don’t know what being a board member means, or whether they would be able to do it. Those who end up being on boards are usually people who have been involved in that world for years, and statistically are most likely to be white, male and over 60. If you want to make sure a range of people, views and experiences are contributing to the development of your organisation then offering different ways to get involved and then introducing people to the idea of being on the board from there can be really effective.
It can often work well to have a non-legal board alongside, a kind of advisory board or a steering group for your main project. It can be a bit broader, a bit more informal and something that's easier for people to commit to. I know an organisation that runs this on Whatsapp for example.
Or you could run a planning day or open day for your organisation. You can then encourage people who have experience of what your organisation tackles, or are part of the community you support, can get involved.
You can make these things low key so they’re not loads of extra work- it doesn’t have to be an extravaganza- just a drop in session with some post-its and some Tesco value bourbon biscuits.
You can then get stuck into relationship building and use this as a springboard (appropriate) to becoming a director or a trustee.
4. Shmooze away
If the idea of going to a networking event makes you want to hide then welcome to the club. But if you are more comfortable chatting about your organisation than writing recruitment packs it could work well for you to build those relationships.
(Going back to point 2- ask them if you can go for a coffee to pick their brains about something first, rather than cornering them by the teas and coffees and inviting them onto your board.)
Look at your local Federation of Small Businesses group or Chamber of Commerce for events. Your area may also have a business development or enterprise board, or similar, who often host free training and networking events. Check our your nearest Voluntary and Community Sector support organisation or try umbrella organisations for your sector (some places have meet ups for organisations working with young people or on environmental projects for example.)
5. Go digital
Shout outs on social can often work well. Be specific about what you’re looking for- “do you know someone brilliant with X skills or knowledge? Tag them below.” You can also tag established organisations who do similar things to you and ask them to share or track them down on LinkedIn. Your local Voluntary and Community Sector support organisation might have an opportunities board on their website or a newsletter you can share through. Contact people who have the skillset you need and ask them if they have suggestions or can make an email introduction for you. The bonus of most organisations being able to host their board meetings online now is that your directors or trustees could be anywhere in the country so do some digital detective work and woo your dream board members.
What Next?
Once you have your new board members, spend some time on getting them up to speed with the organisation, the budgets and your plans. If they, or you, need training on how a board works and the responsibilities, try Getting on Board for resources. Although it’s aimed at trustees, a lot of it applies to voluntary CIC directors too.
If you want help with other aspects of running your organisation, join the squad and get a monthly dose of free support.
If you want to work with your board to put together a plan for your organisation, my programme- Sticky-note Strategy- will give you the tools and activities you need to do that in a visual, creative and action-focused way.