Executive Grapevine, November 2006

Betty Thayer is Chief Executive of exec-appointments.com.

Do you sit on a charity or not-for-profit board? This sector relies on thousands of volunteers to fill important and responsible roles. While each charity that wants to pay its Trustees has to ask permission from the Charity Commission, it is increasingly clear that in order to attract the kind of talent and skills they need many charities are going to have to provide some level of remuneration.

But how will they find the candidates? The fees paid to Trustees are likely to be small so therefore not an attractive proposition for many recruitment consultants. The answer is the internet.

exec-appointments.com has been advertising charity board roles at reduced rates since we launched. We want to help not-for-profits reach the best people in the market - and the following testimonials make it clear that our web-based proposition serves this need very well - for less than the cost of an ad in the local paper.

Gillian Walnes, Executive Director of the Anne Frank Trust UK, wanted to attract a diverse range of Trustees and particularly a Chair, to ensure that the Trust’s remit covered all excluded groups, not just those affected by the Holocaust. "We are delighted to have appointed a new Chair. She chaired her first meeting in September and attended the party conferences as our Chair. You will also be pleased to hear that another of your candidates will also be joining the board as a Trustee. We are all very grateful to you for finding us Grade A people who will move us forward leaps and bounds."

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For eighteen months the Dementia Care Trust, a Bristol-based charity, searched for a treasurer trustee. They had advertised in the local paper, on radio, and on their own notice boards. But they were struggling to fill the position. The charity’s CEO Louise Chambers said: "Charities need to recruit people of high calibre, but can’t afford the high cost of headhunting. The main benefits of using exec-appointments.com were that it was quick and easy." Very quickly the Trust found the right trustee. Jennifer Bereska, a member of The Non-Executive Director, spent many years in financial services. Through the service she found this role local to her home in Bristol. This first role in the not-for-profit sector gave her both confidence and experience and she has since taken on another role for a major regional museum.

For small rural charities the challenge to find Trustees willing to commit time and expertise is particularly daunting. The Hospice of St Mary of Furness in Cumbria was able to appoint two new Trustees for the first time in eight years by using the service. Carol Campbell, Bursar, said “In a rural, fairly isolated area like Cumbria it is extremely difficult to attract new skills. Our new Trustees have brought a range of skills to the Trustee Board that we could only dream of.”

If an organisation you are involved with would like to discuss how our Non-Executive and Trustee service works call Ian Harvey on +44 (0)845 458 9850.

Reprinted from Executive Grapevine, November 2006