‘I’d recommend looking beyond your usual networks and being clear about why you want people to join your board’

Gloucestershire Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre (GRASAC) have recently tripled the size of their trustee board – and increased its diversity and experience. Susanna Morris, Volunteer and Participation Co-ordinator, explains how they achieved this

When I started working on our trustee recruitment, I’d not recruited to a board before, and if I’m honest, felt a little out of my depth! I was relatively new to my role, coming from a predominantly clinical and training background, so I approached the task from what I know - encouraging involvement and making individuals feel welcome.

GRASAC had recently been through significant organisational changes in our staffing and management, funding and service model. Several trustees had also moved on, leaving us with a board of just four. Our relatively new Chair, who had originally agreed to share the role as co-Chair, was now carrying it alone.

We were also concerned that our board didn't reflect the diversity of the communities we wanted to reach.

1 - Reaching people who hadn’t considered trusteeship

Rather than relying solely on traditional vacancy listings, we created a social media campaign for Trustee Week in November to introduce the idea of trusteeship before opening applications. We aimed to reach people who may never have considered joining a board, so were deliberate about our imagery as we wanted people to see a range of backgrounds represented without relying on overly corporate stock photography.

We ran a series of colourful social media posts celebrating our trustees and exploring what trusteeship could mean. Each post focussed on a different distinct message. We connected the role to our grassroots history, our mission and values, particularly putting survivor voice at the heart of our work, and highlighted the tangible impact trustees can have, such as helping reduce waiting times for survivors. Whilst we stated some of the specific skills we were looking for, we also made clear that previous trustee experience wasn’t necessary.

2 - Make the process more accessible

We refreshed our recruitment pack to make it welcoming and easier to understand. We also put the pack on our website, so people could find out more without having to contact us first.

The pack explained what trustees do and what support new trustees could expect. We specifically welcomed people with lived experience and outlined the support available, including a buddy system for new trustees and additional support where needed.

As well as offering an informal conversation with an existing trustee or our CEO prior to applying, we initially offered the opportunity to shadow a board meeting, so people could see trusteeship in practice before committing to the role.

This approach worked well, until we had more applicants than we could realistically accommodate at our bimonthly board meetings. We didn’t want applicants to become frustrated and lose interest, so we adapted the process and invited all applicants to meet together with the board and CEO instead, and this generated some fresh energy and excitement.

3 - Make space for new voices

We used a skills matrix to consider what each applicant could bring to the board and, collectively, what we needed. In around eight months, our board grew from four to 12 trustees. Their fresh insight, skills and enthusiasm have brought renewed energy and hope to a charity facing the resource challenges experienced by so many organisations across our sector.

One new board member recently said:

“The campaign made me stop and think about how I could use my experience to make a positive contribution to work that supports people who have experienced deeply traumatic and often life-changing experiences.

“I believe that everyone deserves to feel safe, listened to, and treated with dignity, and I wanted to be part of an organisation that helps make this possible.”

We’ve welcomed trustees with different health and access needs, and offering online meetings has helped make participation possible for more people. The new board is now more representative of the communities we want to reach.

We are mindful that tripling the size of a board in a short period also brings changes to relationships, communication and how decisions are made, so we're conscious that creating space for new voices is as important as recruiting them.

For other charities thinking about trustee recruitment, I'd recommend looking beyond your usual networks and being clear about why you want people to join your board. Explain what trusteeship actually involves, rather than assuming people understand it, and don't make previous trustee experience a barrier if it isn't essential.

Most of all, think about the whole experience: the way you advertise, the visuals and language you use, the application process and how you welcome people all send a message about who belongs on your board.