The majority of members of the public would not consider becoming a charity trustee, according to research published this week.
The survey of 1,000 nationally representative UK adults, by market research agency nfpResearch, found only 6% would definitely consider being a trustee. Meanwhile 53% said they would definitely (30%) or probably (24%) not.
Those attitudes appeared by influenced by low understanding of what charity trustees do, with only around a third (35%) of respondents correctly identifying them as unpaid volunteers and fewer than one in five (19%) believing that they know a trustee.
Both those figures were higher among people from the AB social grade, such as highly educated professionals and managers on higher incomes.
Earlier this week, Priscilla Tomaz, from the Young Trustees Movement, told a roundtable that trustee recruitment processes needed to become more transparent and inclusive, to avoid hindering applications from people “without contacts and connections”.
While awareness of trustees’ status was low, most members of the public said they believe such roles should be remunerated – a longstanding source of debate in the sector – with only one in five saying they should remain unpaid.
Just over a third (35%) backed paying trustees where specialised professional skills are needed to perform the role, with 28% supporting paying them if they had lost other income to fulfil trustee duties.
Training and support main barriers to becoming a trustee
Despite those findings, the lack of pay was not cited by most respondents as a barrier to becoming a charity trustee, with only 17% saying they could not afford to volunteer.
Just under a third (32%) of people said they were too time-poor, while similar proportions said they did not feel they had the necessary skills or experience (31%), or worried about being legally responsible (28%).
Additional training and support, said 32% of members of the public who contributed to the research, would provide a motivating factor for considering becoming a trustee. Among younger respondents in the 25 to 34 age group, this figure rose to 42%.
A clear description of duties and the time they were likely to take were cited as encouraging factors by 24% of respondents, while 19% mentioned expenses and 18% being paid for time.
Findings ‘both disappointing and encouraging’
Responding to the findings, Liz Lowther, CEO of the Association of Chairs, described them as “both disappointing and encouraging” and providing “food for thought” for her organisation and the sector.
She noted the low awareness figures as being discouraging, as well as the finding that people who did know what trustees did are more likely to be “the usual suspects” – people who earn more and have greater social capital.
But Lowther said the findings around training and support being the biggest barriers to becoming a trustee presented a more optimistic picture.
“These are all factors a board can respond to: holding meetings online, emphasising the value of both lived and learned experience and potential, and providing reassurance that the legal responsibility is not as burdensome as it sounds,” she said.
Lowther added that it was “particularly encouraging” that younger people’s interest could be piqued if more support was made available, since they “are one of the groups least likely to be a trustee, and training and support is within the power of any board”.
“It is crucial we keep on working together to support boards to turn the disappointing results into genuine progress for our sector, to the benefit of boards, organisations, and communities,” she said.
