Giving trustees the warmest welcome

Joining a new organisation can be daunting even in a leadership role. That's why we're strong advocates for a clear and easy onboarding process for new trustees says Fiona McAuslan

Here's six easy but robust, inclusive and practical ways to set your new trustees - and therefore your entire board - up for success. 

Hold a welcome event

If you've followed our recruitment process in our guide: How to Recruit Trustees to your Charity you may be in the happy position of having more than one new joiner. Use the opportunity to hold a meet and greet event for trustees with staff and/or your charity’s volunteers. As well as general faces-to-names usefulness, you can use it as an opportunity to explain what it is your trustees actually do for the organisation and give a strategic overview. 

Do they have everything they need?

Before the first board meeting, either the Chair or a designated existing trustee should contact each new trustee and find out if they have any adjustments they’d like to make to the meeting to accommodate their needs. Are board papers in a form they can access? Will they be able to move about the meeting room freely, or have their camera off if that helps their focus? Be proactive in finding out and leave the Chair and Chief Executive enough time to action this before the meeting.

Help them claim their expenses

Explain how trustees can claim their expenses, what they can claim for, where they can read the full expenses policy and indicate that it's expected of them to claim if they're out of pocket. This step may seem small but claiming back their expenses such as for travel may be absolutely crucial to the finances of some board members. It’s a fundamental tenet of setting up an inclusive board culture so try not to make assumptions about who might need this and who doesn't. If everyone claims no-one is shamed. Those board members with the privilege to do so can always give the money back to the charity as a (private) donation.

Trustee twinning

Pair each new trustee with an existing board member and arrange for them to have regular check-ins for the first year. Ideally check-ins should be before and after each board meeting, to make sure they’ve understood everything in the papers, know the process for raising any other business and as a general check in. This also builds connections between board members. Never underestimate the power of a friendly face around a table or on a Zoom call. If you have a subcommittee structure, it works well if the trustees paired are on different committees as this fosters communication and knowledge sharing across the board.

Post-meeting conflab

Another very effective technique is to end every board meeting with 5-10 minutes breakout time where smaller groups discuss the meeting. Following that all return for a shared five minutes debrief to finish the meeting. This can help make sure all voices including the quieter ones are heard and helps all trustees (new and older) confirm their understanding of key events.

Watch a documentary (ok, webinar)

Finally, make sure your trustees understand the fundamentals of their responsibilities including legal responsibilities in accordance with the Charity Commission for England and Wales. You can watch a recording of our Onboarding webinar, which covers this and more.

For more excellent advice and learning, check out the session in Getting on Board's Trustee Learning Programme

Fiona McAuslan is Getting on Board's Communications Director and has been a trustee of a literacy charity for three years