What does the word “governance” mean to you?

Governance has been defined as ‘the systems and processes concerned with ensuring the overall direction, effectiveness, supervision and accountability of an organisation.’ (The Governance of Voluntary Organisations, Comforth, 2003).

Governance is about leadership and ensuring that an organisation is effectively and properly run. It is distinct from day-to-day management and operations that are delegated to staff and volunteers. Governance is not necessarily about doing; it is about ensuring things are done.

Trustees:

1. create a clear, shared vision
2. take the big decisions about the future
3. formulate plans and policies to bring about the organisation’s objectives
4. ensure everything is legal and safe
5. ensure the work of the charity is carried out
6. support the senior staff member (if there is one)
7. ensure the Trustee Board is up-to-date and skilled
8. ensure the organisation is solvent and operates within budget.

In fulfilling their governance role, Trustees are obliged in law to act in the best interests of the charity’s beneficiaries, to act together as a group rather than as individuals, to set aside their personal interests, to take legal responsibility for the organisation and to exercise the duty of care that a prudent business person would exercise in looking after the affairs of the organisation.

There are many resources available with suggested lists of roles and responsibilities of trustees, including three important documents; the Charity Governance Code, the Trustee and Management Committee National Occupational Standards (NOS) now known as the Trustee Standards (TS) and the Hallmarks of an Effective Charity. You will get an overview of these documents later in this section.

With so many resources available it is understandable if you are confused and find it difficult to clarify exactly what the roles and responsibilities of Trustees are. This is especially true for small organisations, who may think that much of the detail about trustee roles and responsibilities is not relevant to them.

In the case of the Charity Governance Code, a version of the Code for smaller organisations was introduced in 2011. This simplifies the language contained within the standard Code and makes the criteria more relevant and achievable for small groups.

However, the Charity Governance Code, the Trustee Standards and The Hallmarks are useful for organisations of all types and sizes, as they set out important principles for good governance. For this reason, they are covered in more detail in Modules 3, 4, 6 and 7 of this TrusteElearning programme.