How to become a charity trustee
With many of the UK’s 170,000 charities struggling to raise awareness, they’re seeking trustees from PR and comms backgrounds. Here’s how to get involved…
There are around a million people working as charity trustees in the UK. Yet, the role is often shrouded in ambiguity: few people know what a trustee does, or how to become one. Many people believe that trustees need a C-suite-studded CV (false!) or decades of experience (false again: trusteeships are open to anybody over 16 or 18, and from any background/skillsets).
For those working in PR/comms, working as a charity trustee can bring some real benefits. Firstly, your skills are needed: there are some 170,000 charities in the UK, standing out and raising awareness is something they regularly need help with. It’s also a brilliant way to acquire strategic and leadership skills, as well as a perfect launchpad for becoming a non-executive director (NED).
Twenty-five years ago, Margaret Casely-Hayford was a “City lawyer making lots of money for people who already had it, so I wanted to do more”. She became a trustee at Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital and London’s Geffrye Museum, where she says she acquired a raft of new skills.
“The biggest difference of being a trustee is that it’s a much more strategic role; you’re no longer being just operational,” says Casely-Hayford.
“It’s a fantastic starting-point to gaining more strategic and financial skills – you’ll learn how to read balance sheets or P&L accounts: something you’re unlikely to have done in law or PR unless you’ve run your own business. As a trustee, you’ll find yourself sitting next to people who have huge amounts of experience from other boards, so it’s a great way of building your network too… Above all, it’ll give you a huge feeling of accomplishment knowing you’re adding something to a great cause.”
But how do you find a trusteeship and start the journey? We explain all here…
What is a trustee?
A trustee is a volunteer who – along with their fellow trustees – have overall responsibility for everything a charity does. It’s best to think of trustees as being like the charity’s board of directors: their role is largely strategic and can involve making key decisions, ensuring it has the finances to run effectively and is complying with legal requirements.
Charity boards usually have around five to 12 trustees, who are appointed for a term of two-four years (which might be extended).
All trustees are unpaid volunteers and you’ll be expected to give your time and expertise free of charge. Trustees can also be held legally accountable if anything goes wrong (more later).
Who can become a trustee?
Anybody over 18 can serve as a charity trustee, while anybody over 16 can become one if the charity is incorporated (also known as a charitable incorporated organisation; CIO). No formal qualifications are needed; people can apply to join charity boards irrespective of their level of experience.
A handful of people are automatically disqualified from being charity trustees: those who have unspent convictions for criminal offences, or who have a debt relief or bankruptcy order.
Why do charities need trustees from the PR/comms world?
Most of the UK’s 170,000 charities are small organisations, meaning they often lack the financial resources to employ PR/comms staff to help amplify their voice.
PRs can bring their experience to a trustee role in many ways:
Developing a PR strategy for the charity and raising awareness in the media.
Providing media training to senior charity staff.
Crisis management: identifying reputational risks to the charity and developing an emergency response plan.
Using creativity to develop eye-catching fundraising strategies and organising events.
Acting as a sounding board/sense-check for the charity’s content marketing: its website, social media, brochures and pamphlets, newsletters and email communication.
Organising photoshoots for the charity.
Writing blogs for the charity, making/contributing to podcasts, preparing biographies of senior staff.
Monitoring conversations about the charity online and in the press.
Casely-Hayford also points out PRs can be instrumental in building chatter about the charity within their own networks.
“Charities find it useful if people/trustees can extend the story on social platforms,” she says. “If 10% of your network share your charity’s story, it can suddenly become greatly amplified. You can’t underestimate the importance of that. Advocating for the enterprise is an important part of being a trustee.”
What else can trustees bring to the role?
Trustees with professional skills and knowledge in sectors such as accountancy, marketing, law, PR/comms and HR are much sought-after by charities. Leadership skills are also prized.
Because many charities are currently undergoing digital transformations they need people with tech skills, to help them update IT systems, redesign websites and safeguard against the growing risk of cybercrime (almost a third of charities experienced a cybersecurity breach/attack in 2023 according to the Cyber Security Breaches Survey).
It’s also important for charities to reflect the communities they serve. Charity boards are under increasing pressure to appoint trustees with ‘lived experience’, such as people with experience of homelessness working for a homeless charity, or somebody who has lived with cancer (or cared for a relative with the disease) at a cancer charity.
There’s a chronic lack of diversity among trustees too: men outnumber women on charity boards by 2:1, the average age is 57, while only 8% of trustees are people of colour.
When Casely-Hayford was chair of ActionAid, she appointed two under-25-year-olds as trustees – who quickly changed boardroom dynamics for the better.
“One of the things about any board is that you should be forward-thinking – and that means setting up a strategy that anticipates the future in a right way,” she says. “We looked at our board – and like many – it was people of a certain age. The two people we appointed under-25 were fantastic. One even challenged me saying that I allowed men to speak more than women in meetings! She’d even recorded me on an app! It was a good lesson for all of us about how we’ve become so habituated to men commandeering conversation.”
Why should I become a trustee?
Aside from the soul-nourishing feelings that come with giving something back to society (various studies have shown that volunteering can help manage stress and combat depression), being a trustee can also boost professional development too.
Trustees learn new skills such as decision-making, negotiation and strategic abilities – which you can directly utilise within your day job. According to the initiative Getting on Board, 96% of trustees say they learned new skills, with 22% getting a promotion directly as a result.
The role has also long-been recognised as a springboard to a non-executive director (NED) position.
Says Casely-Hayford: “As a trustee, you’re increasing your network of people operating at board level. It also gives you the discipline of scanning the horizon for risks and challenging the executive. Along with that, you’ve got the pressures of delivering reports/accounts and looking at the strength of the business. These skills are all a great step to becoming a NED.”
Where to find a trusteeship
Research shows there are an estimated 100,000 trustee vacancies, but 90% of charities still recruit through word-of-mouth or existing networks. Despite this, positions can be found advertised on the following websites.
Other resources include Action for Trustee Racial Diversity, the Young Trustees Movement and Beyond Suffrage.
Trustees’ Week has free events, training and toolkits.
The sheer volume of charities might seem daunting, but Casely-Hayford suggests “finding something you’re passionate about. It could be a charity related to a member of your family with a medical condition, or a passion such as music, sport, the environment or local communities. This’ll help you bring your whole self to the role, and will result in you being a better brand ambassador.”
You can search for these charities via the Charity Commission’s register of charities (England and Wales), the Scottish Charity Register or the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland. Once you’ve found a charity that aligns with your interests, subscribe to their social media posts/newsletters and follow their trustees on LinkedIn.
After you’ve got to grips with what the charity is about, try applying for a trustee role by sending an on spec message to the CEO/charity manager/chair of trustees (you should find their email addresses on the charity website), detailing how you’d use your PR skills to support the charity.
Before approaching your chosen charity, it’s worth doing some due diligence on them first to assess what challenges they face.
Companies House should tell you if the charity is incorporated (see liability below).
The Register of Charities has details of charities’ financial history (steer clear of any charity with a red cross next to it for filing its accounts late).
Try to arrange an informal chat with charity staff and its other trustees.
What’s the application process like?
If you apply for a trustee role via a trustee finder website (see above), there usually will be an online form to complete. If you apply for a role on spec, the charity may ask you for a CV and covering letter.
In both cases, it’s worth tailoring your CV and LinkedIn profile towards the charity, emphasising the skills/experience most relevant to the trustee role.
Trustee applications tend to be more personal than other professions. In your covering letter, outline why the charity’s cause matters to you and how your PR skills can help solve any publicity/awareness problems they face. If you have lived experience of the charity, then feel free to mention this here too. This is also a chance to include the volunteering/hobbies section you may have slashed from your CV to save space.
If you’re shortlisted, you might be asked to attend an interview with two or three trustees, plus the CEO or charity manager. If you need training on charity finance or governance, don’t be afraid of flagging this up in the interview.
The recruitment process may take some months: for example, you may need to be elected by other trustees at their next meeting, which could be their AGM.
How much of my free time will I need to give up as a trustee?
Trustees are unpaid, so you will have to do any tasks outside of your day-job.
Trustees Unlimited estimates the minimum time commitment to be 45 hours per year, which includes preparing and attending four board meetings a year, attending four sub-committee meetings plus an annual board away day. Aside from that, there’ll be emails with staff and other trustees, attending fundraising events and ambassadorial roles for the charity.
This shouldn’t be too onerous, says Casely-Hayford. “These meetings are set at a regular beat, so you can plan your life around it. They’re also mostly virtual: on Zoom and Teams, so you can attend them around having your supper in the evenings.”
Is it true that trustees have to pay money from their own funds if anything goes wrong?
Being a charity trustee involves some major legal liabilities but it depends on the type of charity you work for.
Trustees who work for an unincorporated charity (charities that aren’t run as companies or CIOs), could be held personally liable for meeting those financial obligations – even if they have acted in good faith.
If you’re a trustee of an incorporated charity and it gets into financial trouble, then the amount individual trustees need to contribute is usually restricted to £1 or £10.
Trustees can get indemnity insurance, which would cover them from having to personally pay legal claims made against them (the cost can usually be paid using the charity’s funds).
You can check if a charity is incorporated by searching Companies House.
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Christian Koch is an award-winning journalist, editor, content strategist and brand consultant.