Recruiting for your charity’s board and reaching the right talent starts with a well-crafted job advert.
Your advert is often the first impression a potential board member will have of your organisation. Think of it as your shop window – it should be clear, concise, and engaging enough for the reader to want to learn more.
A strong advert doesn’t just list responsibilities; it tells a story about your mission, your impact, and the kind of leadership you’re looking for. Done well, it can be the difference between someone scrolling past your post or clicking through to apply.
So, what should you consider when writing your board role advert?
Our Recruitment Advertising and in-house Design team specialise in creating high-impact, innovative campaigns that attract top-tier talent. Here are our top tips to help you get started.
1. What to put in your advert
- The purpose of your organisation and what the impact is.
- The skills, experience and qualities that you’re looking for and why they are needed.
- Representation, say how and why you want and value board diversity.
- Summarise what the role involves and the time commitment.
- Talk about the current board, culture and working relationship.
- Be authentic.
2. Practical things to consider when crafting your job advert:
- Avoid internal jargon, this will not mean anything outside your organisation.
- Keep your advert length between 300 to 700 words max – no more than a sheet of A4.
- Use keywords that are searchable such as the job titles: Trustee, Chair, Board, Governance. In addition, you should include your charity’s cause, such as: environment, poverty relief, etc.
- Avoid writing a long list of requirements, the advert doesn’t have to be the Job Description and Person Specification, it is just the initial tool to engage.
- Where possible allow your visual brand to do some of the heavy lifting for you through creative content.
3. Call to action
Once you’ve successfully attracted the interest of a potential applicant, the next step is just as important: keeping them interested and engaged throughout the process.
- Ensure your deadlines are realistic and not too far into the future, people can lose interest.
- Keep candidates engaged throughout the process with updates.
- Make time to notify unsuccessful applicants, with feedback, if possible, this can be time consuming but will help you build a good reputation.
- Be flexible with appointments, board applicants are willing to give up their time for your cause, allow them the same courtesy.
