How to recruit young trustees

The findings of two recent reports suggest there is a significant disconnect between young people’s willingness to volunteer and contribute to charities and the number of young trustees who serve on charity boards. Charities need to address why they are failing to tap into this young talent and recruit it to their boards.

The More to Give: London Millennials Working Towards a Better World report from City Philanthropy and Cass Business School, published in July 2015, highlighted that there is a strong motivation amongst younger City employees to support the work of charities and community groups through giving and volunteering.

The report highlighted that 53% of under-35s working full time in London want to volunteer more than they do, and this figure rose to 60% amongst 18-24 year olds.

High expectations

It also found that many Millennial employees have high expectations of how they, their employers and the wealthy could make a bigger contribution towards building a more equitable and sustainable society.

The report also stated that young employees are not just looking for opportunities to give money, but also to apply their professional or business skills to help charitable organisations, understanding that they in turn will gain experience which will benefit their working and personal lives.

However, in spite of this enthusiasm, charities are failing to successfully reach out to engage this talent, particularly to recruit it to board positions. The Young Trustees Guide report launched by the Charities Aid Foundation in September 2015 found that fewer than 2% of charities in the UK have a person under 24 serving as a trustee and the average age of a board member is 57.

There are several reasons for this disconnect. Although charities recognise they need to have trustees from different backgrounds with more diverse skills, many aren’t promoting trustee vacancies outside their own networks and so are failing to attract younger trustees.

Last November, research conducted amongst trustee candidates found that 42% of charities are still recruiting trustees through their own networks and 16% use word of mouth, with only 8% advertising their trustee vacancies.

There is also the perception by many younger people that it will be difficult to get a trustee role and that charities wouldn’t want them because they don’t have enough business experience.

By failing to address these issues and engage young people, charities are missing out on a huge pool of young talent who could contribute significantly to their work. The future of many charities will depend on them finding better ways of harnessing the enthusiasm and skills of young volunteers in all guises and in particular, in leadership and governance positions.

Tide turning

However, there are some signs the tide could be turning. Several charities are now specifically seeking to recruit young trustees.

I was also recently speaking with Justin Davis Smith, executive director of volunteering and development at NCVO, who told me he has noticed a greater number of charities reaching out to younger people. He believes the sector is finally recognising it is missing out on the fresh perspectives and the challenges that young people can bring and some charities are now adapting their strategies to attract them.

He says that one of the key skills Millennials bring is social media. They have grown up in a technical era and so can harness social media to engage their own generation in social activism or fundraising. They also bring energy, enthusiasm and represent our future generation of business leaders and pioneers, so it is vital the sector gets them on board.

LHA London, a provider of high quality affordable accommodation for students and young people starting out in London, is one charity which has reviewed and changed its trustee recruitment strategy.

Trustees at LHA London seek re-election or retirement by rotation every three years. At the start of the year, the board reflected on its charitable objectives of providing accommodation to young people in the heart of London and realised it needed younger trustees on its board who better understood the housing issues facing its young beneficiaries.

The charity recruited a young lawyer in her 30s. LHA London was concerned about finding someone able to commit time to attend both board and subcommittee meetings which can be difficult if they are working full time. Fortunately, the trustee selected works for a law firm which actively encourages staff to volunteer as part of their working lives.

LHA London has found the experience so successful that it is currently recruiting another young trustee with social housing skills and has plans to recruit again in the New Year.

Indeed, there are increasing examples of young trustees being appointed by charities. One is 32 year old Phil Adams, a corporate tax manager from Liverpool who recently became treasurer at Emmaus Merseyside, part of the national charity Emmaus UK, which provides accommodation, training and work opportunities for homeless people. Although Phil has 10 years’ experience working as a tax manager he was initially worried that he wouldn’t have enough experience for the treasurer’s role.

Wrong perceptions

This kind of preconception about trusteeship is common and can deter young people from applying for roles. Phil was quickly reassured at the interview stage that the charity not only wanted him for his skills and enthusiasm for its cause but also because he could relate well to the beneficiaries.

Phil has gained new skills and grown in confidence since taking on the role. He is working hard to ensure the charity’s social enterprise superstore is profitable and relishing the commercial aspects of the role.

Another young trustee is Sean Rodwell who is 27 years old and has been a trustee for Cyclopar, a charity which operates Cyclopark on behalf of Kent County Council and its partners, for six months.

Sean wanted to become a trustee because his day to day job as a corporate senior auditor and charity specialist at accountants Kreston Reeves involves him working with charities and he wanted to get a better understanding of how they operated.

He believes that more charities should take on younger people but says there is stigma amongst younger people about trustees and that young people think boards are full of retired people with time on their hands, and that the role will take up too much time, when in reality it probably takes up one to two evenings per month.

Sean really enjoys the experience of being on a board, something which he wouldn’t otherwise have the experience of at this stage in his career. The main challenge for him is having confidence to speak up at meetings and not be intimidated to challenge older and more experienced trustees. He believes however, this is why younger people are needed on boards and that young trustees need to be brave.

He also says the role can look great on a CV and it enhances employability. However, he also feels that charities need to make better use of LinkedIn and twitter to recruit younger people and engage businesses to help recruit new trustees.

So how can charities reach out to young people successfully? Charities will need to do more to proactively promote trustee vacancies through channels such as social media.

Communication and education is important too in order to help younger people understand the role better and the benefits of trusteeships, such as the skills and experience they can gain, as well as the networking opportunities that might open doors for them.

Workplace initiatives

Businesses also could play a bigger role in making it easier for people to volunteer. The More to Give report, mentioned at the beginning of this article, highlighted the importance of workplace schemes and initiatives in encouraging younger people to volunteer, with over one quarter (26%) of those under-35s surveyed mentioning it as a positive influence. And over three fifths of under-35s agree opportunities at work to get involved in supporting charities help employees to develop work related skills (62%).

Businesses have much to gain from encouraging charity volunteering and giving as it can help them attract the best talent to their organisation. The report found that over two fifths (42%) of under-35s say that whether companies offer opportunities to get involved in supporting charities and community groups is important to them, compared with 29% in the 35 and over group.

Recruiting younger trustees will make charity boards stronger, improve the quality of the decision making and make for greater innovation – ultimately helping to future proof the charity for many years to come.

Practical tips

Here are some practical tips when recruiting younger trustees:

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