Guest Blog: Tips for smaller charities that may have very limited resources - Reach

By Luke Strachan, TrusteeWorks Manager, Reach Skilled Volunteering. 

 These days, the phrase “limited resources” is being used in abundance. It’s been a hard couple of years for the third sector, no doubt about it. As big business plugged the gaps in their profits by scaling down their CSR programmes, competition for grant givers increased in tandem. In short, fundraising has never been so competitive, nor, forgive me, have resources been so limited.

So, perhaps it’s no surprise that governance is one of the first things to be affected by a tempestuous financial climate. From our experiences at Reach, it’s clear that demand for both treasurers, trustees with fundraising expertise and general trustees has increased exponentially. Ultimately, when the chips are down, charities need, more than ever, a chance to arm their boards with the skills needed to survive and, dare I say it, flourish.

Well, fear not! There are solutions out there to those who are willing to put in a bit of leg work! First and foremost: register your role with Reach’s TrusteeWorks! As of the 1^st of November we are proud to be making our TrusteeWorks Matching service completely free of charge to organisations with less than £1M turnover. Since 2009, TrusteeWorks has placed more trustees than any other organisation in the UK and we are confident we can help you, no matter what your board’s requirements!

But we aren’t the only source of free trustees. If you seek a treasurer/bookkeeper or finance professional, register a role with both the ICAEW and the Honorary Treasurers Forum. They post voluntary roles free of charge and you will be reaching out to exactly the kind of candidate you are looking for. Similarly, Charityjob listings are free to post, as are roles registered with Indeed. That’s not to mention dedicated volunteering websites such as Do-It, Timebank, Trusteefinder, Trusteebank and, of course, your local volunteer centre.

Of course, these are your external advertising options. Don’t hesitate to look into your organisation’s network of contacts: donors, service users, friends, ex-staff, volunteers and, of course, the connections your board members might have. These are all invaluable leads to your next trustee, just remember that the wider you spread your bets, the more likely you are to find the perfect match for your role. With all these options to hand as well as our very own free trustee recruitment service, we hope that “limited resources” with regards to trustee recruitment may soon be a thing of the past. Happy hunting!

Reach is doing a live Twitter Q&A on Monday 11th November for Trustees' Week, on the topic of the best (and most cost effective) ways of recruiting trustees - join in at @ReachSkills, using #trusteesweek.