Thanking trustees and keeping them engaged
11/06/2022
Trustees give many hours of their time for free. They share their expertise and take responsibility for the charities they govern. It can be a hard task, with difficult decisions to be made and complicated dynamics to manage.
We spoke to five charities about what they do to recognise the time and effort given by trustees to help them feel valued and involved.
A new board
Jude Habib, CEO of Sounddelivery Media said: "As a small charity our trustees play a key role in our organisation. We changed from being a limited company to a charity in 2021 so we had to recruit trustees for the first time. The trustees have quickly had to get to know each other, learn about our work and take decisions to drive this new phase of the organisation.
It's an exciting but daunting prospect to be a trustee of a new charity. In addition to regular meetings, they’ve supported the team on funding bids, shortlisted for roles and sat on interview panels. We wouldn’t be where we are now without them.
We regularly share the impact our charity is having, to keep them connected to the day-to-day running. I make sure I don’t take them for granted reminding them how much I appreciate what they do. I couldn’t thank them enough for this time and commitment."
A local board
Northfield Community Partnership (NCP) is a charity and Community Anchor Organisation based within Northfield Constituency in South West Birmingham. It was formed during the MJ Rover collapse, originally focussing on employment opportunities, but soon grew to do much more to support local communities.
CEO Rebecca Debenham said: “Two of our trustees have been involved since the start. Most of them are from the local area.
We do lots to keep the trustees engaged and to thank them for their involvement. For example, we regularly update them about the work of NCP, they do job shadowing with the team and we run events such as quizzes and staff / trustee socials. More than anything, having local trustees with a vested interest in the local area really helps to keep them engaged.”
A virtual board
Hanuman Dass, Founder and Chairman of Go Dharmic said: “As an international charity working across environmental projects, education, poverty alleviation, and disaster relief, we are blessed to have trustees who bring their business, strategy, life experience and expertise to the table. Trustees possess a simultaneous closeness and distance to an organisation, so they can see potential challenges and solutions clearly and logically. They are a key part of our success.
We have trustees based in the UK and others in India and the USA. As a board they meet virtually every quarter. About half of them are also hands-on and get involved in our projects, from fundraising to admin to aid work in the field.
Each time a new trustee joins Go Dharmic we publicly welcome them to our community. We write a blog post about them and introduce them via our social media accounts and in our newsletter which goes to our global network. We give them shout-outs and thank yous via social media when they have made significant contributions to projects. The board gets regular updates via email about new projects, strategy development and operational impact. Our founding philosophy is to “Love All. Feed All. Serve All." so we host quarterly get-together dinners for trustees and staff as a 'thank you' for all they do.”
A social board
Kathryn Shepherdson, is Deputy CEO of Hunts Forum of Voluntary Organisations, a registered charity supporting voluntary and community not-for-profit organisations and groups across Cambridgeshire and working in partnerships across the county.
“We currently have seven trustees and two observers from contracts we hold. They get the balance just right, understanding when to leave the work to the staff team and when to give support, advice or provide an extra pair of hands.
We try to say thank you as much as possible, collectively and individually. We understand that this role isn't easy and really value the time they give to our charity. We invite them to meals and events, and they are included in awards which we have won. As a result, they get the chance to meet the people we support in a social setting. We also involve them in our annual volunteer awards. A few of our trustees volunteer for other organisations so deserve a double pat on the back. Trustees also receive regular updates from the CEO and other senior team members.”
A creative board
Ministry of Stories helps children and young people to discover their confidence, imagination and potential through the power of their writing. They champion the writer in every child through school and community writing programmes throughout East London.
Kirsty Telford, Deputy Director said: “We currently have nine trustees and three expert advisors. We also have five directors who steer our magical shop, Hoxton Street Monster Supplies.
At the start of each board meeting, we share creative pieces from our writing programmes to bring our young writers 'into the room' and ground the decision making. These pieces can be powerful and poetic, or wild and whimsical. We have an open door policy so trustees can experience our work for themselves. They can take part in a session, join a sharing event or attend an end of term performance.
Budget allowing, we send them gifts throughout the year of our printed publications and short films, as well as Christmas and Trustee Week thank you cards and the odd monstrous gift from our shop.
Our most coveted thank you is the gift of joining our Official Ministerial Cabinet, where a trustee is issued a personalised and utterly unique Official Ministerial Appointment by Nick Hornby, our founder. Our retiring Chair recently became our Diplomatic Attaché for French Optimism, Tickled Imaginings, and Controversial Commas.”
