Factsheet

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Board-level Volunteering

Revised August 2009

In this factsheet

What is involved in board-level volunteering?
What are the benefits of board-level volunteering?
How can board-level volunteering help employers and employees?
How to go about finding board-level volunteering opportunities
Comments from an employee who has become a board-level volunteer
References
Further reading

What is involved in board-level volunteering?

People who volunteer as charity trustees, school governors or members of boards of public bodies such as NHS trusts are board-level volunteers. Board-level volunteering is volunteering to become a member of the board of one of these organisations.

See our Charity Trustees guide

Do I have what it takes to become a board-level volunteer?

One of the first obstacles that individuals need to overcome is to stop thinking that they do not have anything to offer. Board-level volunteering is not just for those who have retired.

Boards need to be diverse and should consist of a wide range of people with different skills and attributes. Certain skills (and HR is definitely one of them) are much in demand on boards and people with those skills will be much sought after. People with no professional skills will also be able to make a significant contribution to the boards they join.

Attending (and preparing for) board meetings regularly is the basic requirement. Frequency of board meetings varies between different organisations but a number of charities, for example, meet between four and six times a year. Meetings are usually arranged at times convenient for the board members. Additionally board members may be asked to serve on sub-committees (for example HR) and their presence at the organisation’s events is always much appreciated. Board members can be very effective 'champions' of their organisations.

It is becoming more common for employers in all sectors to allow their staff time off to volunteer. A report¹ published in 2009 recommends that civil servants should have five days off a year to volunteer.

The recruitment process varies a great deal depending on the type of organisation involved. Some are more formal than others and can feel no different from the recruitment process for a job. For many small charities it may involve simply completing a short form and meeting the chair of the board, then other trustees and staff members if there are any.

Following induction further training is available but again this varies.

What are the benefits of board-level volunteering?

Board-level volunteering is a very rewarding experience. It is tremendously satisfying to see how an individual's efforts on the board can have an impact on the effectiveness of the organisation.

More specifically board-level volunteering benefits a range of stakeholders in various ways.

Benefits to employers

Board-level volunteering:

is a very effective and low-cost way of developing employees’ skills, particularly leadership skills
enables employers to become 'employers of choice' as a growing number of employees are wanting to work for organisations that are ethical and provide evidence that they are 'doing something for the community'
raises the corporate responsibility profile of employers and enables them to 'tick the box' about community engagement in their annual reports.

We see this (board-level volunteering) as a great opportunity for our talent to develop a breadth of experience and skills that are also highly relevant within the workplace.

Katherine Thomas, Group Talent Director, BT

Benefits to employees

Board-level volunteering:

provides an opportunity to acquire and further develop a range of skills
improves employees' CVs and may well improve their self-confidence.

In addition:

research shows that board-level volunteering might improve work-life balance and reduce stress.
employees derive personal satisfaction and enjoyment from board-level volunteering.
for senior and middle ranking employees made redundant in a downturn it can help to plug the CV gap and maintain their skills and confidence.
it enables employees whose hours are being reduced as an alternative to redundancy to use their additional time away from work constructively.

Benefits to society

The governance of voluntary organisations, schools and public bodies is strengthened by people with skills (particularly in business, management, HR, finance, law and IT) joining their boards.
The understanding between the third sector, the public sector and the private sector is increased by greater interaction between people working in them.
Greater understanding of, and participation in, philanthropy cannot but help improve the social fabric of society.

Board membership is a great way for people to make a difference in their communities. The fundamental need in civil society for high quality boards can be addressed by encouraging employees to volunteer as trustees.

Stuart Etherington, Chief Executive, National Council for Voluntary Organisations

How can board-level volunteering help employers and employees?

Employers

Board-level volunteering can be an effective tool in recruitment and retention, particularly of talent pools, for the following reasons:

Increasingly, potential employees, especially young people, are looking to work for employers who contribute to the community as they are looking for the opportunity to 'put something back' into the community.
Board-level volunteering can contribute to personal development.
Board-level volunteering can help to build an employer’s brand and enable it to become an 'employer of choice'.

Board-level volunteering can be integrated into leadership development programmes. Forward-looking employers may wish to consider including volunteering as part of their appraisal process, a practice that is becoming more widely accepted. The learning and development resulting from board-level volunteering can also contribute to annual continuing professional development requirements.

Encouraging board-level volunteering will help organisations to develop the talent pool for senior level roles where the stubborn problem of the under-representation of women persists despite serious commitments to make progress.

Dianah Worman, OBE, Chartered FCIPD; Public Policy Adviser, Diversity, CIPD

Employees

In today’s relatively flat organisations it can be difficult for aspiring NEDs to develop the experience at board-level within their workplaces to prepare them for this role. Volunteering for the board of a charity, school or public body can provide the experience which will enable them to apply for such roles. In particular it is an excellent way to develop 'soft' skills such as influencing (it is more challenging to influence volunteers than people in your workplace) and to learn how boards work. There may be opportunities for chairing meetings and for becoming involved in activities such as budget-setting, developing a marketing strategy and so on.

For more information on NEDs see our guide to the NED role.

Go to our guide on the NED role

Progressing through various volunteering roles taking on more responsibility with each move may be considered to be a volunteering career, comparable to a professional career. A board-level volunteering career is one that consists of a sequence of various board-level roles. Typically individuals initially join the boards of small charities or primary schools then move to larger charities or secondary schools and perhaps ultimately join the board of a public body (such as an NHS trust) or of a large national charity. Not everyone wishes to follow such a pattern but it is an option and is a clear board-level volunteering career path. Experience as a charity trustee or a school governor can be helpful when applying for public appointments.

How to go about finding board-level volunteering opportunities

Finding an appropriate board-level volunteering opportunity can be a real challenge. Most people do not know where to start looking and they do not know how they should approach any organisation that they might be interested in joining.

To find out more about joining the board of a charity see our Charity Trustee guide.

Go to our Charity Trustee guide

The School Governors’ One Stop Shop (SGOSS) provides information for those interested in becoming a school governor.

Go to the SGOSS website

The Appointments Commission provides information about joining the board of a public body. All public appointments have to be advertised in the media.

Go to the Appointments Commission website

Getting on Board, a registered charity, offers a brokerage service tailored to the competencies and interests of each individual.

Visit the Getting on Board website

For further links to organisations involved in recruiting at board-level in the public and not-for-profit sectors see our page on finding a role.

Go to Finding a Role

Comments from an employee who has become a board-level volunteer

As part of my personal career development I was asked if I’d be interested in attending a seminar on board-level volunteering. I went along and it sounded very interesting, so I completed a short form indicating my areas of interest which was followed up later with a more detailed conversation.

A number of possible opportunities that seemed to fit with my strengths and aspirations were identified. I chose one which looked the best fit for me which happened to be my local Citizens Advice Bureau charity who were looking for new trustees. After an initial introduction, I went along to the bureau’s Annual General Meeting to observe and ended up participating in some very lively discussions about their future direction. I was invited to the next trustee board meeting where I volunteered to help find ways of reducing their telecommunications costs.

Since then I’ve been involved in a number of areas, including the development of the bureau’s operating strategy which is proving interesting given that funding is constrained whilst demand for its services is increasing due to the current economic climate. We are looking at various ways to reduce costs whilst identifying new sources of income as well as ensuring we continue to offer the highest quality advice to residents in the local area.

I am thoroughly enjoying the experience and very pleased to be matched with such an interesting and challenging role. I really feel like I’m putting something back into the local community.

David Mulholland, Member of BT’s Talent Pool, Head of Monitoring, Equality of Access Office, Group Operations, BT. Trustee of CAB branch.

References

1. NEUBERGER, J. B. S. (2009) Employer-supported volunteering in the civil service. London: COI Communications.
Online version also available at: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/
20090709130418/http://cabinetoffice.gov.uk/media/218600/
neuberger%20civil%20service.pdf
[Accessed 17 June 2011].