Over the past few months, Richard Gutch, an Associate at Prospectus, the third sector recruitment agency, has interviewed 100 chief executives about the challenges and opportunities they are facing. Governance issues were one of the areas he explored.
In 1999 I chaired an ACEVO working group on ‘Involving Users in the Running of Voluntary Organisations’, which led to the publication of guidelines for chief executives on this topic. Ten years on, my interviews with chief executives suggest this theme is now a central concern in the sector, but the approaches being adopted for putting it into practice are many and varied.
Elected or appointed?
One factor accounting for much of this variety is the distinction between elected and appointed boards of trustees. The challenge facing membership organisations, where the members elect the boards, is how best to square the circle between democratic elections and the right mix of skills for effective governance. Cooptions are the usual device for this; sometimes, as in the case of Mind, as many as half the board are coopted. This is particularly important as a way of securing more business, financial, legal and public sector expertise onto the board, but can mean the board is larger than optimum for effective operation.
Many organisations have a constitutional requirement that a proportion of the trustees should have personal experience of the condition, which the organisation is addressing (50% in the case of Mind and RNIB). With user led organisations, like Norfolk Coalition of Disabled People, 100% of the board will be service users.
Mencap uses a variety of mechanisms for involving users, including having at least one board member with a learning disability. S/he is elected by the Members National Assembly of parents, carers and people with learning disabilities, which meets to discuss current policy issues, such as personalisation and individual budgets. The user trustee has a supporter, who helps them prepare for, and contribute to, meetings. ‘It is a learning experience for all of us’, said Jo Williams, chief executive, ‘but hearing directly from service users about their hopes and aspirations, as well as their fears and anxieties, is a powerful contribution to the work of the Board.’
Where trustees are appointed, rather than elected, encouragement will also often be given to applications from those with personal experience, provided they also have the necessary skills for being a trustee. For example, the chairs of Scope, Rethink and Terrence Higgins Trust all have personal experience of their organisations’ conditions. Attracting people with relevant personal experience gives a strong message externally, as well as bringing a valuable perspective internally. A majority of RNID’s board are either deaf or hard of hearing themselves or have a close relative with this experience, and five of the 12 trustees of Changing Faces have a facial disfigurement. Trustee positions are increasingly being advertised, for example by organisations like Leonard Cheshire Disability, which increases the chances of being able to attract people with personal experience through the wording of the advert.
Nomination Committees
Increasing numbers of third sector organisations now have Nomination Committees (= a sub-committee of the board), which can play a mediating role in helping achieve the balance between representativeness and skills on the board. The Committee’s role normally includes developing a list of the skills the board needs for effective governance and then auditing the current trustees against this template; they can then identify gaps and publicise the skills required by new trustees. Their role also includes vetting the skills of members standing for election before deciding whether to allow them to stand for election or before recommending them to the wider electorate. Provided the Committee performs its role in an objective and transparent way, it can help resolve some of the potential sensitivities and conflicts which can arise in these situations.
Other forms of involvement
Direct involvement of users on the board may not always be possible, eg with young people below the age of 18, or appropriate, given the demands on time it involves or the complexity of the role. Tokenism can be far worse than not involving users in the first place. However, there are many other ways in which users can be productively involved in the running of the organisation.
United Response involve their service users throughout the organisation, for example, in interviewing prospective trustees They give their views on applicants’ understanding of the issues they face and on their ability to relate well to service users. There have been occasions where they have recommended against appointing candidates who, in other respects, were very well qualified- and their recommendations have been acted on.
Keeping up to date with young people and their use of technology is of vital importance to a charity like Youthnet, which operates in a fast moving field. An interactive, participative approach is fundamental to how Youthnet involves young people, both as service users and as partners. One of the key mechanisms for this is panels and advisory groups of young people to help them develop their work and get feedback on their existing services and internet sites. Letting them know whether and how their views have been taken into account is also a crucial part of the process.
The National Childrens Bureau is in the process of establishing a Membership Forum for their 50 institutional members, so they can reduce the size of their board ( to improve governance), whilst not losing the benefits of member involvement. Rathbone are committed to becoming a youth led charity and will be exploring structures for making this possible over the next three years.
Many organisations, like Independent Age and Thames Reach, attach great importance to finding out their users views; they therefore, conduct regular surveys to help them improve their services and inform future planning and development. For Changemakers, asking young people for their views and ideas- and then helping them realise them- is fundamental to their philosophy of encouraging youth leadership. Others will also try and ensure the voices of their service users are directly heard by opinion formers and decision makers by, for example, taking them on to the Today Programme (Barnardo’s and Mind) or involving them in meetings with Ministers (Arthritis Care).
One of the most effective ways of involving users is to employ them in your workforce. Organisations like St Giles Trust, Thames Reach and Tomorrows People have significant numbers of ex-offenders and former addicts working for them- not surprisingly, they are amongst the organisations’ most effective advocates.
Variety
My interviews have identified a wide variety of different ways of involving users and members. There is no single formula for everyone; different approaches will be appropriate depending on the nature of the organisation and the client group. What is important is that the aim of ensuring users and members are appropriately involved, is shared across the sector.
Richard Gutch is an Associate at the third sector recruitment agency, Prospectus.(Tel 020 7691 1925). He is a trustee of the National Council for Voluntary and Community Action (NAVCA).
