Trustee Troubleshooter: we really struggle to recruit trustees. What can we do?
In our September Matters Arising newsletter, Penny Wilson, Inclusive charity governance consultant, shares advice on a query from one of our readers
“We really struggle to recruit trustees. We’re down to just three of us now and we just don’t seem to be able to attract any more. When we do persuade people, they don’t stay. What can we do?”
Penny responds below:
That’s difficult. It puts extra pressure on the three of you who are left and it’s frustrating when people agree to be a trustee and then don’t stay.
You’re certainly not alone in finding trustee recruitment tricky.
NCVO research in 2024 found that:
• 85% of charities find it difficult to fill vacancies on their board;
• 79% of charities have at least one vacant board position;
• 60% of charities say board vacancies are preventing them from developing as an organisation.
How trustees are usually recruited is problematic.
Your first problem might be in how you recruit. 2025 research from PBE and the Charity Commission for England and Wales reported that:
• 29% of trustees were asked to join the board by the chair;
• 24% were asked to join by another board member;
• Just 6% responded to an advert.
So, more than half of trustees are recruited through word-of-mouth rather than the kind of open recruitment process we take for granted with paid jobs. There’s a good reason we advertise staff vacancies: it gives us the best chance of finding skilled, committed people. Trustees are no different.
If you are persuading people to become trustees without any kind of selection or interview process, you’ve bypassed some fairly essential checks: do they have the time, interest, skills and experience you need?
That check works both ways. If someone is volunteering their time, you should give them the chance to find out about the charity, meet the people involved and decide whether this is a board they actually want to spend their Tuesday evenings with.
Some practical tips for successful trustee recruitment
Be really specific about what you’re looking for. The “anyone with a pulse will do” approach, somewhat counter-intuitively, doesn’t actually work.
Make your advert welcoming and accessible. Explain your work and give potential trustees a reason to join. What difference could they make?
Work out where to advertise based on who you need. Need someone who understands social work? Ask the local authority. Finance skills? Try local employers or accountancy firms. Lived experience of mental health problems? Ask relevant charities and community organisations to send round your advert.
Advertise beyond your existing networks. Otherwise, you’re likely to recruit more people who look, sound and think rather like the trustees you already have.
Why trustees don’t always stay
That word “persuade” in your question jumped out at me. It’s much better to recruit people who actively want the role.
Below are some common reasons trustees leave — and what you can do about them.
Finally, with only three trustees left, I’d resist the temptation to panic-recruit. Work out who you need, what you’re offering them and whether anything about the way the board currently operates might be making it difficult to retain people.
Otherwise, you risk solving the vacancy problem for six months and then finding yourselves back at the drawing board.
Good luck, and may your next trustee recruitment round involve considerably less arm-twisting.
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