What's on the horizon for charity trustees in 2022 and beyond? Jane Marshall takes a look a new report from CAF and ICAEW.
The Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) in partnership with The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) recently produced a report on the future of trusteeship and the challenges and opportunities facing charities and their boards in 2022.
The six areas of challenge highlighted in the report are:
Financial resilience
The top challenges cited by charity leaders were generating income and achieving financial sustainability (58%), followed by meeting demand for services (30%).
A fifth (21%) of charities said that they planned to use charity reserve funds to cover income shortfalls rather than for capital expenditure – this was twice as many as in 2019 (10%). Sourcing funding remains a concern.
Diversifying funding and support networks is a focus area for charities. Securing grants is also a challenging element of funding for charities – and not only because grants are competitive.
Grants application processes can be stressful for charity trustees. Charities have also been under pressure to deliver services – often whilst trying to cut costs – within the broader contexts of Covid-19 and Brexit repercussions. Increasing threats from cybercrime are also of concern.
Working together
The nature and involvement of a charity’s trustees can significantly impact the collaboration and culture within the organisation. Collaboration, including beyond the sector, is a key part of helping charities realise their potential and be innovative and effective.
Trustees can help guide their charity’s collaboration, which is why having the right trustees can greatly affect their outcomes. Each charity will have a unique relationship with its trustees. Understanding the make-up of the board of trustees can help to identify what strengths they bring to the charity and where a board may be lacking.
A trustee’s motivation will impact their ability to influence and collaborate across different spheres. The most confident trustees have a good network of other trustees and charities and benefit from the inspiration and information that network provides. The majority, however, do not appear to have access to this type of network.
A service that facilitates networking, to enable charities to connect with similar charities and learn from them, would be welcome.
Diversity
More work could be done by charities and boards to train otherwise suitable candidates in becoming trustees, rather than rejecting them for lack of experience. A system that helps to attract new trustees would be a boon for the sector.
This could help to ensure a continuation of the skills required, as well as introducing a wider range of people into trusteeship, bringing talent and new ideas.
For many charities, having the voice of a beneficiary on the board may be helpful or even essential.
Support and training
There is no one clear, credible, centralised known support or training service for charities. The sector would benefit from an accessible centralised resource platform, potentially organised by a charity umbrella organisation, that offers training and support, as well as opportunities for information sharing and networking between charities.
Trustees would also benefit from role-specific training accessible, free or cost-efficient to help them perform at the best of their abilities in their roles.
Digital
Digital technologies form an essential part of charity’s outreach toolkits and, in many cases, their service delivery. However, not all charities – or their trustees – feel confident using digital tools.
Consequently, some charities are missing out on new ways of supporting service delivery and reaching wider audiences.
Improved training and educational resources in this space would be valuable especially for charities managed by older generations.
Sustainability
While some trustees are hesitant to pursue climate initiatives because of the view that these can be costly, there is a recognition that it is an increasingly important and necessary issue to address.
Guidance on how to build climate or sustainability policies for smaller, local charities would be particularly helpful.
Download the full report to find out more about the key areas of challenge in 2022.