Is your Board right for you?
Over the summer, I was asked to speak at a conference curated especially for my favourite kind of charities, small charities, organised by some of my favourite people, the inspirational Fundraising Everywhere team, so of course I was all in.
I have broken down my prep notes from my session into five short blogs, coming over the next five weeks. They are part top tips, part rallying cry for a sub-section of the charity sector that I love and admire so much, the so-called ‘small charities’.
A love letter to small charities
I’ve worked in charities or with charities for over 25 years. Twelve of them in senior leadership roles in small charities - as trustee, committee member, board chair, fundraising director and CEO, so I have seen and heard and failed and succeeded a lot.
Make no mistake, you are heroic. Fundraising at small charities is heroic, you have to do so much with very little, right? Or is that statement right, let’s dig into that a bit.
My greatest successes (and my greatest sense of achievement and joy) have been in small charities, where we have very little or thought we did. The greatest transformational successes, the most impactful changes that served the organisation’s beneficiaries in the deepest way, have been during my roles at small charities. That for me is why I work in this sector.
Here are my top tips to bring that transformational change to your organisation.
By recognising and activating what you have, making changes and small adjustments, you will ensure that your strengths are maximised and focused on, bringing about that transformational change.
First, let’s look at your Board
The seats of power in your organisation, whether they are prepared to say it or not, your trustees do have so much power. So that group of people have it in their gift to make or break your organisation. Unfortunately, I have heard and seen and experienced myself when it has all too often gone very wrong. We didn’t prioritise enough or invest enough time into the recruitment, retention and development of this critical group of people at the very top of the organisation.
Thoughts to share and discuss…
Have the right people round the table at the right time for the task in hand – not a seat for life!
Don’t devalue those seats, don’t just look around you and be grateful for whoever raises their hand. Covid has made geography irrelevant. Your board seats are like gold, treasure them.
Do your Board understand their roles and responsibilities? What they are and are not responsible for according to the Charity Commission, and what the boundaries are according to your policies and procedures, what is delegated to senior staff and what are trustee duties.
Do your Board respect your expertise? Do they show it in their actions not just words?
Do you invest time in relationships and building trust with your Board. Really engaging them in what’s important and why, and really listening to their ideas and feedback and responding, so your trustees know they’ve been heard, even if you don’t agree.
The CEO and the Chair have to have a shared, evangelised, unerring commitment to the same vision for the organisation. When they don’t, whether in the short term or longer term, one is probably going to have to go. This doesn’t mean they won’t, and probably quite often, disagree. Disagreement is healthy and part of a respectful, transparent relationship of senior leaders. But if they can’t come back to a shared vision for the organisation, we have a problem. This is fundamental.
If any of this resonates, then email us on hello@rootsandwings.studio to have a chat. Or read more about how we can help your organisation grow Roots + Wings.
Look out for Part 2: Your People coming soon