NPC report critical of management at UK charities
A report looking into management boards of charities has highlighted a host of problems with the recruitment , management and directorship of charities' boards and trustees.
The new study by London-based charity consultancy, New Philanthropy Capital, reveals that Britain’s charities are failing to achieve their potential through poor governance.
"We’ve seen the high cost of poor governance in the commercial sector and the charity sector needs to take heed," says Eleanor Stringer, co-author of the report. "Charities are part and parcel of UK life and to allow haphazard governance is potentially very damaging, especially in these difficult times."
The report showed that recruiting a pro-active trustee on the board is essential.
Many boards face two key issues which hamper their efforts to perform their roles effectively: a lack of awareness among trustees about their role and responsibilities; and difficulties in finding new trustees, said NPC.
There are an estimated 820,000 trustees of active general charities in the UK. However, research suggests that 48% of charities have at least one vacancy.
Recruitment is insular. Only 6% of charities use press advertising to recruit new trustees. Charity Commission research suggests that 81% of charities still rely on their existing networks to find new trustees, and even very large charities rely on this approach.
The UK’s charity sector consists of 170,000 charities and has an income of £33bn, managing assets of £86bn. .
click here to read the report
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