Last year, the Missing People Choir reached the final of Britain’s Got Talent. Made up of the families and friends of those who are missing, their stunning performances, viewed by millions, had a real-world impact in helping to bring a number of those missing home again. This is how good charity governance can end up changing lives, and it’s the kind of impact that all charities, big or small, can achieve.
“Good governance is engaged, informed and inspired – and directly affects a charity’s ability to ‘do good’ and achieve its aims,” says Michael Jarvis, ex-master of The Clothworkers’ Company, which sponsors and hosts the Charity Governance Awards. “Effective trusteeship can be transformational.”
At Missing People, the choir is just one of the ways in which the charity engages with the families of a missing loved one – and one reason why it won the Charity Governance Award for Embracing Opportunity and Harnessing Risk 2018. “We developed our approach to families with a missing loved one, shaping new services, and giving them a greater public voice,” says chair of trustees Kate Adam.
“We also ensured that the board includes at least one trustee with a missing family member, and created an annual event where families could find hope and reciprocal support from one another. Each of these moved us forward and brought some of our key beneficiaries into the charity for the first time.”
This kind of forward-looking governance is also helping charities make the most of the opportunities afforded by a rapidly changing technological landscape. At Bliss, the charity that champions the right for every baby born premature or sick to receive the best care, good governance has been key to strategy development. Last year, they won the Embracing Digital award at the same governance awards.
“We are now in the final year of a three-year strategy, of which digital first has been a key element,” says chief executive Caroline Lee-Davey. “When we were doing that strategy development process, the trustees encouraged us to explore and think hard about digital. And a number of trustees who have specific skills and experience in digital continue to be involved. That varies from supporting particular projects, putting us in touch with their contacts who had different digital skills and expertise, and even presenting on their areas of expertise.”
With charities under scrutiny as never before, formal structures and processes of governance are hugely important, she says – but it’s about so much more than that. “It’s also about having a group of trustees who understand and engage with the work of the organisation in a meaningful and very hands-on way, while respecting the difference between their role as trustees and our role as members of staff. And it’s about trustees bringing their whole selves and their whole set of skills and expertise into the organisation. They didn’t just say: ‘We think you should be digital first. Come back in three years and tell us how you’ve done it.’ They came on the journey with us.”
And good governance can also have a powerful effect on an organisation’s culture and values, says Girish Menon, chief executive of ActionAid UK. The charity supports women and girls around the world to claim their rights, and works with about 15 million of the world’s poorest and most excluded people.
ActionAid UK won in the Board Diversity and Inclusivity category at last year’s Charity Governance Awards for initiatives including increasing female representation on the board to 69%, bringing two young people under 25 on to the board, and including representatives from countries where the charity works. The board is also working to ensure that every member feels comfortable to discuss and debate, placing an emphasis on respectful listening.
“We very clearly put in our strategy that we want to be an organisation that supports women and girls in all that we do,” says Menon. Having diversity, inclusion, trust, listening and self-care on the board helps these practices to embed into the organisation, he points out. “We want to make sure that the culture we have in the organisation is all that we wish to achieve in the external space, and that they are mutually reinforcing. Having people feel more comfortable to say what they really think goes to the heart of good governance, and people being able to participate and engage fully.”
A board’s ability to influence, drive change and make things better should be celebrated, says Jarvis. “When we do hear about governance, it’s often because it’s going wrong,” he says. “One way to inspire and support the third sector is to shine a light on the often unnoticed and hidden work that trustees do to safeguard their organisations and enable staff and volunteers to succeed in delivering projects and services.
“Nearly half of the charities in the UK have vacancies on their boards – and we know there are passionate and talented people out there who could fill them (more than 33% of our own company’s members serve as trustees, school governors or volunteers). We hope that by championing good governance and trusteeship with these awards, and with our other projects, we can create positive changes in communities throughout Britain. And we know our partners – NPC, Prospectus and Reach Volunteering – feel the same.
Adam agrees. “By caring about your charity’s governance, you will not only improve your organisation but be part of rebuilding that wider public trust in the voluntary sector,” she says. “Together, all the charities that won at the Charity Governance Awards sent a powerful message that charities can be trusted and are delivering great services to some of the most vulnerable people in our society. This message is more important than ever.”
Does your charity have a great example of governance that deserves rewarding? Entries for the Charity Governance Awards 2019 are open now. To find out more and to enter, visit charitygovernanceawards.co.uk
