Reflections on being a Trustee

After 6 years, I recently stood down from being a Trustee of a great charity, Penny Brohn UK. The Trustee role and charity governance is under a huge amount of scrutiny at the moment and hardly a day goes by without some challenge (e.g. about whether Trustees should stay volunteers) or some direction (e.g. questions Trustees should ask about fundraising). I did not stop being a Trustee for any negative reason or because of the pressures of the role. It seemed like the right time to stop after many years and due to other time commitments. Would I be a Trustee again? Yes. Would I recommend being a Trustee? Absolutely.

Any ending is a time for reflection, so here is what I gained from being a Trustee:

Emotional connection – I have talked before that as a funder you are slightly detached and miss out on the shared energy of working for a common cause. Having a more engaged role with just one charity meant I could really connect with the cause, our clients and supporters.

Perspective – just as travelling reminds you that ‘the way we do things’ is not the only way things have to be done, so being a Trustee allowed me to experience and be part of an organisation that is managed differently. I could take that learning to other charities I met and vice versa.

Reality check – in my day job I read and assess lots of plans and funding strategies. Reviewing these and forming an opinion is one thing, being responsible for the income flow quite another. I felt the risk, the worry about cashflow, the disappointment when a bid is turned down. This helped me to remember the importance, as a funder, of things like prompt payments, constructive feedback, the need for diverse income streams and the difficulty of planning in uncertainty.

New experiences – as a Trustee I have been involved in decisions and experiences I would not normally get to do. I have walked on hot coals, asked major donors for support, met Prince Charles, had to decide about cutting down lovely old trees, learn about pension auto-enrolment and the details of loan agreements.

Being valued – the charitable sector has a long history of supporting volunteers. The prime motivation of volunteers is to give something back or make a difference. As a volunteer Trustee I was no different – it is a good feeling when you give your time and expertise to something that matters and are recognised for doing so.

Being a Trustee is an important role. You are responsible for making progress towards a vital aim and caretaker of staff, volunteers, buildings and hopes. It is great to do this as part of a team and it really is incredibly rewarding. I recommend it to you all.

Emma Beeston Consultancy advises funders and philanthropists on giving strategies and processes; researching and scoping options; selecting causes and charities; assessments and impact monitoring. www.emmabeeston.co.uk ; emma@emmabeeston.co.uk; @emmabeeston01

Let's be more "charity-like"

I noticed at a recent meeting that the term “being business-like” was used as a shorthand for a well-managed charity. Now I do agree that charities and other non-profits can learn from the best of business practice and the increased attention on getting the financial and business model right to try and secure sustainability for vital services is a good thing.

There is a welcome increase in businesses giving time for employees to share their expertise with charities and providing pro bono help – for example, Business in The Community has over 400 professional firms in its ProHelp network; LawWorks helps smaller groups find free legal advice and The Whitehouse Consultancy run an annual pro-bono scheme providing support from their political consultants to a charity without the means to get involved in the political debate (see links below).

However, not all businesses are well run and not all practices are appropriate to the charitable sector. How well would a business manage when all its ‘customers’ are experiencing severe trauma? How well would they cope with a doubling of demand, but with no additional resources and providing a service that is free?

It got me thinking about the reverse situation. What would “being charity-like” mean for businesses?

Here was the list I came up with for what for-profits can learn from not-for-profits:

1.       How to motivate people – when you can’t do so through large salaries and bonuses

2.       How to be lean – this may be one of the latest buzzwords for companies but charities have been delivering quality services on limited resources for years

3.       How to stay positive – these are tough times and I am always struck by the optimistic outlook most charity leaders hold despite the odds

4.       Embedding values at the heart of delivery – charities often live and breathe their values in ways corporates can only wonder at

So while we are quick to look to business to fill some gaps in charitable practice, we should also remember that we have approaches and expertise to exchange.

http://www.bitc.org.uk/programmes/prohelp

https://www.lawworks.org.uk/legal-advice-not-profits

http://www.whitehouseconsulting.co.uk/about-us/corporate-social-responsibility/

Emma Beeston Consultancy advises funders and philanthropists on giving strategies and processes; researching and scoping options; selecting causes and charities; assessments and impact monitoring. www.emmabeeston.co.uk ; emma@emmabeeston.co.uk; emmabeeston01

Do you give enough?

There are plenty of opportunities to give to good causes and there is also great scope in the UK for philanthropists to give more. NPC’s recent report into ways to increase and improve philanthropy (see link) reminded me that donors are not always motivated to give by the impact they can make but often are encouraged to give by their peers. “Whether giving a large one-time charitable donation or deciding on one’s annual giving level, most people want to give in line with the perceived average amount.”

If you search giving on Google, then the questions that come up such as ‘How much to give as pocket money?’ ‘How much to spend on a wedding present?’ confirm that there are strong social norms at play that mean we want to know what other people give. No charity is going to be offended (or know) if you give too much or too little yet many donors still want to make sure they are in line with the average.

So how much do other people give?

Well, if you are rich enough to take the Giving Pledge then you are asked to commit ‘the majority of your wealth’. For the rest of us, the expectation is that we give somewhere between 1% and 10%.

In Christianity the faithful are supposed to give a tithe, which means a tenth of their earnings. In Islam, the required charitable contribution is called Zakat and is 2.5% of your wealth each year. In the Jewish faith, tzedakah, means giving away 10% of your income.

The Life You Can Save has a calculator to help you work out 1% of your annual income (see link) and this is the minimum amount we should all give suggested by effective altruist, Peter Singer. There are other organisations promoting giving 1% including Philanthropy Ireland’s ‘The One Percent Difference’ campaign. Their idea is that anyone can afford 1% and the aim is to double the giving levels in Ireland. “The idea is simple, it doesn’t matter who you are or what you do, we all give the same – 1%.”

So to increase philanthropy some role models giving more than 10% could be really helpful – especially when unlocking the wealth of high-net-worth individuals whose giving in 2015 equated to just 0.1% of their wealth (see link). But in the meantime, check your annual giving and see if you can increase it. Because rather than fitting in with the average, we should all seek to stand out in our giving.

http://www.thinknpc.org/publications/giving-more-and-better/

https://www.thelifeyoucansave.org/Take-the-Pledge

http://www.onepercentdifference.ie/

http://www.philanthropy-impact.org/sites/default/files/pdf/pi_magazine_12_final_web.pdf

Emma Beeston Consultancy advises funders and philanthropists on giving strategies and processes; selecting causes and charities; assessments and impact monitoring. Tell what social change you want to see and I will help you find organisations already working to achieve this, who will make great use of your financial support. www.emmabeeston.co.uk ; emma@emmabeeston.co.uk; emmabeeston01