The Charities and Not For Profit Specialists

The longest established mainstream Interim Management provider in the UK.

Our Mission is to provide outstanding Interim Management resources to all our clients.

A Warm Welcome from: Ian Joseph, Stephen Brooker, Mike Whitlam CBE, Emma Kynoch, Olga Johnson and Melissa Baxter.

The Charities and Not For Profit Specialists For 30 years, Russam GMS has been at the forefront of providing Interim Managers into organisations including charities and not for profits. We are one of the largest suppliers of Interim Managers to the charity/not for profit sector and are trusted by our clients to consistently provide high quality management solutions, often during critical and sensitive times.

You can find out all about the Charities Practice in our Capability Statement. (pdf file)

Ian Joseph's Podcast
(click to play audio)
Ian answers some of the burning issues on the advantages of Interim Managers, how they differ from consultants and why somebody would choose to be an Interim Manager.
Transcript available here.
(Word document).

Charity Awards at the Grosvenor House Hotel

Russam GMS hosted a table at this year’s prestigious Charity Awards at the Grosvenor House Hotel. Hosted by presenter John Inverdale, the awards bought together the leading names in the sector with excited nominees and a smattering of celebrities. We were delighted to have as our guests the Chief Executives of the RSPCA, Age UK, Scope, The Scout Association and the National Autistic Society amongst others. Mike Whitlam CBE was the first ever lifetime achievement winner at the awards and he and the rest of the team were delighted to share in the success of others.

Get people to see ability not disability

...Says Mike Brace at Russam GMS event for charity leaders

Russam GMS welcomed Mike Brace CBE, Chief Executive of VISION 2020 UK & Vice President Paralympics GB as its prestigious guest speaker at its annual event for charity leaders at London’s Lanesborough Hotel.

A captivating, inspiring and at times hilarious speaker, Mike recounted how at the age of just ten he was blinded in a firework accident and how his love and involvement in sport helped him adjust to life without sight and push back barriers and change people’s perceptions about his blindness.

Mike explained that it was a monumental year for him marking the end of 40 years working and being involved in sport – both as a Paralympic athlete and more recently working in sports management. Next month, Mike retires from his Chief Executive role of VISION 2020.

Mike has not only achieved phenomenal career success in roles within the public and voluntary sectors, he competed in the six Winter Paralympic games and went on to do the role of Chef de Mission in a seventh. He then attended and acted as Head of Delegation in a further five winter and summer Paralympic Games, including Beijing 2008 - the most successful GB Paralympic Team ever! In 2003 he was appointed to the Bid Board for 2012, and led the Paralympic part of the successful submission. He that one of his best moments ever was hearing the news of the London 2012 bid success whilst in Singapore.

He described how sport has enabled him to overcome so many challenges in life. He said his biggest challenge was getting used to people’s perceptions of him as a blind child and then getting them to not to see his disability but his abilities - what he could do.

Passionate about sport from a very early age, Mike described how he used sport as a vehicle to test his abilities and push boundaries - setting himself at first small tasks and then building on them. These tests included athletics and then football, cricket and winter sports like skiing.

Mike explained that today Paralympic sports people are so good that there are many blind runners that run a sub four minute mile. He also joked that there are even co-runners that partner with the athletes who can also run sub four minute miles and talk to them whilst running.

He stressed the importance of the people in life that he termed the ‘enablers’ - people who see ability not disability and give people who are disabled great opportunities.

He also talked about the fact that more work was needed by the sector to change peoples’ views, thinking, outlook and reactions towards disabled people and how for him sport has been has enabled him to do that. He ended by saying "It is all a state of mind – it is my state which I can’t change and your mind which you can.”

Dame Suzi Leather: ‘slow charity movement’

Dame Suzi Leather advocates a ‘slow charity movement’ to solve long-term funding crises...

Russam GMS Charity Leaders’ Breakfast – Athenaeum Club, Pall Mall, London.

At a business breakfast this week for UK charity leaders hosted by award-winning recruitment company and Interim Management provider Russam GMS, guest speaker Dame Suzi Leather, Chair of the Charity Commission, led a discussion focusing on the challenges of securing charity investment in the current business climate. She also promoted the Charity Commission’s latest guidance for trustees on this subject – entitled ‘Charity and Investment matters’.

Dame Suzi highlighted the main investment challenges facing UK charities, including donors’ demanding quick wins and an immediate return on investment. She stated that many donors don’t understand the true investment needs of charities – the need for back office as well as front line investment and that it was the sector’s role to put them straight.

She suggested that trumpeting zero or minimal overheads as part of charities’ marketing messages can be counter-productive. She said donors must learn that charities need investment in running costs, operations, people and administration and that without it they won’t survive. She urged the sector to promote the benefits of ‘slow charity’ and pointed to the Commission’s new investment guidance as a tool in developing that approach. The new guidance makes clear that charities may invest their assets to achieve their aims directly – as well as to secure a financial return.

Dame Suzi said she hoped the new guidance will give trustees considering new forms of charity-to-charity social investment confidence in their own judgement. She also said it was time for charities to ‘go hunting’, to increase their investment in fund raising and approach the corporate sector not only for investment but for services and goods in-kind. She urged greater collaboration with corporates, especially where there is a good fit. She cited Network Rail’s collaboration with The Samaritans as a highly effective working partnership that is also helping to reduce suicide numbers on the railways.

The discussion sparked a lively debate amongst the audience, many senior sector leaders, and most agreed with the problems highlighted by Dame Suzi. Other key points raised in the discussions were:

The need for charities to put in place timelines for reviewing any long term investments and to communicate this to donors
Charity bonds were suggested as a way of generating funds for the sector
It was agreed that there needs to be better evaluation of return on investment of any projects to attract new donors
The importance of boards’ scrutinising not only what works well but what hasn’t worked so well was also mentioned.

Ian Joseph an expert in Interim Management and Managing Director - Charities and Not-for-Profit, Russam GMS commented, “We were delighted to welcome Dame Suzi Leather as our guest. Funding is one of the biggest challenges facing all charities in the current climate and she not only articulated these problems but provided some really useful advice on how the sector could educate donors about the benefits of long term investment. Her concept of a ‘slow charity movement’ represents a paradigm shift in the way most donors think about investment and it is one that I hope we can help to promulgate.”

To download the Charity Commission guide go here.

Top Left: Dame Suzi Leather.
Top Right: Jim Edwards - Chief Executive of Signature. Fiona Fisher - Trustee Skills Third Sector.
Bottom Left: Mark Flannagan - Chief Executive of Beating Bowel Cancer. Phil Hughes - Director of Corporate Development & Resources at Merlin. Olga Johnson - Senior Consultant, Russam GMS.
Bottom Right: Paul Farmer - Chief Executive of Mind. In background (left): Paul Jenkins - Chief Executive of Rethink. In background (right): Andrew Barnett - Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

The Morning after the Budget Breakfast

Ian Joseph, Director, Charities and Not-for-Profit Practice,
Russam GMS

We held our 'morning after the budget' breakfast at London's Athenaeum club recently. 15 top Chief Executives from the Charities Aid Foundation, WRVS, Mencap, Leonard Cheshire, The Scout Association, BTCV and others attended the event to deliver their verdict on the budget.

The consensus was that it was a 'watershed' budget because of its strong focus on the charity sector; that the government had listened to the sector finally and is clearly serious about promoting its Big Society.

We debated the main measures announced by the government. We were in general agreement that true to his word, the Chancellor had introduced "a series of substantial reforms that will support giving, from the largest donations to the coins collected in the charity bucket." It was also felt that some of new measures will simplify and improve charitable donations, at a time they are needed most.

Notably, the long overdue reform of Gift Aid will boost charity coffers. Currently £750m of gift aid is unclaimed, and the introduction of an online filing system by 2013 will play a big part in reclaiming these lost funds. Red tape will be reduced too with no form filling for donations of up to £5000. We were buoyed further by the rise in Gift Aid limits from £500 to £2500 from April 2011, and the tax relief announced for people giving 10% of their estate to charity. We welcomed the news too that the allowance for passenger payments currently in place for business employees, at 5p per passenger mile will be extended to volunteers.

We can't remember a time when the charity sector had such presence in the budget. However, it was also noted that missing from the budget was any update on the cuts at a local level which will affect the sector which meant that uncertainty still overshadowed this 'good news' budget.

Russam GMS's annual event for charity leaders

Charity Commissioner urges self-reliance and positivity in charity sector at Russam GMS event

Sam Younger, the CEO of the Charity Commission, was the guest speaker at Interim Management Provider Russam GMS's recent annual event for charity leaders at the Lanesborough Hotel in London and he explained the regulator's new focus in light of the recent funding cuts. The event was attended by over 80 senior charity executives from a range of UK organisations.

Mike Whitlam, a specialist advisor to the Charities and Not for Profit practice at Russam GMS, introduced Sam and explained their personal connection. Sam had succeeded Mike as CEO at Red Cross and had been in charge of the BBC World Service at a time when Mike was negotiating the release of the British hostage Ian Richter from Abu Ghraib after the Gulf War in 1991. Mike explained that hearing snippets of World Service broadcasts had kept Ian going during the toughest times in his captivity. Sam explained that just two weeks into his new job at the Charity Commission a 33% reduction in commission funding had been announced. However, he had disagreed with friends and family who told him he must be crazy taking on the role. He said that whilst funding is the biggest challenge facing the sector, it had never been so powerful with all the political parties in agreement about its importance.

He also said that the 'victim like' attitude being adopted by some in the sector wasn't helpful and the focus needs to be on 'the glass being half full,' with organisations looking at what can, rather than what can't be done.

He admitted however, there will be changes ahead in the way the Commission operates as a result of the funding cuts. The Commission will no longer 'hand hold' individual organisations and greater self reliance from charities will be expected. To support these changes, the Commission will create user-friendly tools for charities, publish more guidance on its website and partner with organisations that can provide additional support services.

Sam believes the future of the sector lies in collaboration and even mergers between organisations. He also stressed that the cuts wouldn't affect the way the Commission operates - it will remain focused on regulating charities of all sizes to ensure the public is protected and its best interests served.

Ian Joseph, Interim Management expert and Practice Director at Russam GMS said, "These are unprecedented times for the sector and the Charity Commission. Sam seems to really understand some of the challenges we face and his positive and constructive attitude is both reassuring and inspiring."

Top left image above, from left: Mike Whitlam CBE, Special Advisor, Russam GMS. Sam Younger CBE, Chief Executive, Charity Commission. Stephen Brooker, Chair Charities & Not for Profit & Healthcare, Russam GMS. Ian Joseph, Practice Director Charities & Not for Profit, Russam GMS

Thought Leadership

Charities and Not for Profit

If you require more information or want to request an interview with a spokesperson from Russam GMS, please contact:

Kathryn Hughes
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0208 547 4022 or 07801 823839

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More voluntary sector reflections on the 2012 Budget
HR Editorial, March 13th 2012

Sudhir Singh – chairman – not-for-profit sector, Baker Tilly LLP

Sudhir Singh, chairman of the not-for-profit sector at accountants Baker Tilly LLP said that while many previously announced changes were included in the 2012 Budget statement, there were also some welcome additions. These included an increase from £10 to £20 in the donation limit for the Gift Aid small donations scheme and technical changes to the CASC regime.

He said: "A potentially less welcome announcement in the budget was the capping of high rate tax reliefs for individuals from April 5 2013. This suggests that if a donor claims more than £50,000 in various tax reliefs, these will be capped at 25% of their income. The intention is that £50,000 is a minimum threshold so anyone claiming under £50,000 in reliefs will not be affected. But, for example, someone with income of £1m who claims £300,000 in reliefs will have their tax relief capped at £250,000. There is to be draft legislation published for consultation later this year.

"The Red Book states that, 'government will explore with philanthropists ways to ensure that this measure will not impact significantly on charities that depend on large donations'. It seems that the policy intention is for charitable giving to continue to be encouraged by the tax system. How this might work in practice is difficult to see; restricting relief could easily reduce the amount received by charities if it is handled badly. "Of more interest is that the government has clearly recognised that the charity sector has been exploring different funding models and £20m per annum will be provided in 2013/14 and 2014/15 for the "Not-for-Profit Advice Sector" to help the sector adapt to these changes. While it was already known before the Budget that this funding was going to be made available, it will be interesting to see what it will cover. As the funding is for next year, however, it may be too late for the most financially-challenged charities that need this advice now.

"It was also pleasing to see confirmation that the cost-sharing exemption will be brought into law, however we await to see if the commercial issues that lessen its attractiveness have been resolved."

Directory of Social Change (DSC)

DSC, which champions the needs of small and medium-sized voluntary sector organisations, has joined in the attack on the Budget's new cap on income tax reliefs. These will be introduced next year, with the aim of ensuring that those on higher incomes cannot use income tax reliefs excessively. DSC says that while the change may only affect a relatively small number of philanthropists who give one-off or regular gifts to UK charities, this is the group most likely to make the largest donations. It says that there could also be knock-on effects for any philanthropic foundations which benefit from a major gift when the foundation is set up, or receive large amounts of gifted annual income. This could stymie the growth of existing foundations and discourage the setting up of new ones. DSC's head of policy, Jay Kennedy, said: "We obviously need to crack down on tax avoidance and evasion, but giving money to charity clearly isn't the same as hiding it in a dodgy offshore tax haven or shell company. It is ridiculous that at a time when government is looking for ways to boost charitable income and activity, it is bringing out proposals like this without any consultation beforehand. DSC and many others in the voluntary sector have real concerns about this, and the government needs to clarify its position urgently. We think there is a strong case for excluding charitable gifts from the cap completely."

Ian Joseph – managing director – charities and not-for-profit, Russam GMS; director, Trustees Unlimited

This morning we hosted our annual post budget breakfast and charity finance directors and senior executives from the third sector. Our speaker was Ian Theodoreson, chief financial officer of the Church of England and chair of the Charity Finance Group. Guests included Tom Davies, chief executive of Computer Aid International, Kris Murali, group director of finance and resources at Sense, Bill Cottle, deputy executive director of finance and Services at Unicef UK and Fiona Fisher, trustee at Skills Third Sector.

We agreed that it was a budget for business and had very little meaningful content for the third sector, no mention of the 'big society' and 'nothing to be heard' from the minister for civil society, Nick Hurd. The budget was about 'small' rather 'big' society, with great emphasis placed on personal taxation rather than society as a whole. The big society concept had aimed to make the UK a place where 'giving' – whether through volunteering time or money – is embedded at every level in society. However, this budget did nothing to advance that.

There were a couple of announcements that will impact the sector. We welcomed the simplification of the administration of Gift Aid in charity shops – the current system is far too complex and costs many charities significant amounts of time and money to administer.

However, there were other measures that won't serve charities well. The government's announcement that it will charge VAT on improvements in listed buildings means the sector could lose £63m a year. Improvements to listed buildings are currently zero-rated for VAT. However, a consultation paper from HM Revenue & Customs (which closes on 4 May) proposes that the relief be abolished from 1 October this year. Repairs to listed buildings already attract VAT at the full rate of 20%. The Church of England, which owns around 45% of listed buildings in the UK, will be impacted most by this change. The government will extend an existing grant scheme that covers some of the VAT on repairs to places of worship – it will now also cover VAT on improvements. However, the paper does not disclose the size of the fund and we all felt that such a grant would be vulnerable to cuts in the future.

The other area of concern were the announcements about the limitation on the amount of tax relief individuals can claim.

All in all, it was felt that the sector won't suffer as a result of this budget, but it won't thrive either. With the majority of cuts still not felt and more to come, it is the third sector that picks up the pieces. However, with fewer resources and money available, things will become more difficult for the sector. This budget was a missed opportunity. The big society message has disappeared, government could have discussed the growth of social enterprises, social investment and the role of the sector in delivering more services – but it didn't. The government clearly isn't thinking charity when setting its budgets and Nick Hurd was nowhere to be seen or heard.

Charity trusteeship can benefit unemployed
Recruiter, Wednesday 4 January 2012

With roughly 40,000 charitable organisations in the UK likely to have a trustee vacancy and 22% of young people unemployed, there are opportunities for both parties in 2012.

That’s according to Ian Joseph, director of Trustees Unlimited, a trustee recruitment company run as a joint venture between the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO), legal firm Bates Wells Braithwaite and interim recruiter Russam GMS.

Joseph says: “Charities would benefit from the skills, energy, ideas and creativity that young people could bring to their boards.

“However, it is not just the charities that would benefit; with 22% of young people currently unemployed, becoming a trustee could open doors to new contacts, enable them to gain valuable work experience and pick up skills that could be transferred into any future role.”

Here are Joseph’s tips for those considering a charity trusteeship position:

• find a charity you feel passionate about
• understand who the charity’s beneficiaries are and what your responsibility and time commitments would be working for it
• check that the organisation’s strategy and objectives match.

How to get ahead in... Interim Management
Guardian Professional, Wednesday 4 January 2012

The voluntary sector is experiencing a rise in the demand for interim managers. Opportunities for interim managers to work in the not-for-profit sector are increasing, especially for those with a private sector background. Voluntary organisations and charities of all sizes and causes are bringing in outside expertise to guide them through change as they re-position themselves in the current economic climate. The interim market in the sector is so buoyant that one specialist recruitment agency says the past quarter is looking to be its best for four years. "The number of job opportunities in this final quarter are 100% more than they were this time last year. It's our best results for four years. That is significant," says Ian Joseph director of charities and not for profit practice at Russam GMS.

Other agencies also report that the demand for interims in not-for-profit organisations is higher than that compared to local and central government where opportunities have either disappeared or slowed down. There is a need for experts with a track record in mergers and acquisitions. Opportunities also exist for interims who can identify new commercial income streams as charities struggle to match the level of donations they had 18 months ago.

"We are talking about commercial directors – people who position sales and marketing of products and services who can give a charity a much broader base," says David Fielding, Attenti's head of not for profit practice and a special adviser to the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (Acevo). Charities, he says, are more willing to employ a temporary interim to identify and help them change the organisation in order to survive rather than take on somebody permanently from a commercial background. "It's a less scary option for a non-commercial organisation," he says.

Opportunities for interims at chief executive level have also emerged as charities realise they have to keep the role filled while a replacement is found. There can be a five month gap between a chief executive leaving and having a successor in place. But charities can no longer afford the luxury of relying on another senior director stepping up into the post temporarily, says Fielding. "There is such sensitivity from organisations because of reduction in public spending and major donation, that the idea of not having somebody senior at the top such as a CEO is somewhere charities are not prepared to go, so the solution is to get an interim in. This is where I have noticed an increase in appointments."

Recruiters are reluctant to predict how long the present demand will continue. Interim contracts are usually for six months but in the current climate around 70% of these are being extended, says Joseph. He says while the "mood music" is good it is too early to say whether the last quarter of 2012 will prove to be a blip or the start of an upward trend. Raj Tulsiani, chief executive of Green Park Executive Resourcing and vice chairman of the Interim Management Association, believes that the recruitment boom is temporary. Charities are bringing in interims to change the organisation to help them deliver the same level of service for less and keep front line services in tack. "Most of the big charities are already half way through that process of cost savings and increasing the efficiencies of their infrastructure. I think we are half way through an 18-month [recruitment] bubble."

If there are more interim appointments does this create a new career path for senior managers made redundant from the public sector? Not necessarily, according to the specialist agencies. While it may increase the options open to those from the private sector, a newly redundant career civil servant or local council senior manager may not be so fortunate. "What people are looking for is breadth of experience so I think if you have only worked in one sector then you will struggle as an interim," says Fielding.

This article is published by Guardian Professional. Join the Guardian Public Leaders Network free to receive regular emails on the issues at the top of the professional agenda.

Grapevine Magazine: Giving back to charity workers
Grapevine Magazine, Friday 9 September 2011

With the voluntary sector hit by funding cuts, how can charities ensure their talent management strategy doesn't fall behind?

Please click thumbnail for PDF download/view:

Interim Manager demand in charity sector remains high
Ian Joseph, Guardian Professional, Wednesday 3 August 2011

According to the latest reports, many UK charities are under intense financial pressure caused by government spending cuts, the reduced availability of government grants, falling donation numbers and the need to deliver a greater number of services with reduced budgets.

The annual charity market monitor, a survey of the top 500 charities from CaritasData published last week, revealed that charities' income levels fell in 2009 and 2010, following four years of consistent growth. Additionally, NCVO's recently published charity forecast, which is a snapshot of the views of UK charity leaders, found that the majority of leaders said their financial situation had got worse last year, with many of them suggesting it would deteriorate further over the next year. Interestingly, however, they still expect to maintain or increase the level of services they provide over the next quarter, in spite of the fact that budgets have decreased.

Many organisations are responding to these financial problems proactively and are working hard to generate additional income streams. Our not-for-profit interim management recruitment practice continues to be in constant demand; buoyed by an increase in demand for interims with strong commercial experience.

Our latest bi-annual snapshot market survey showed that interim activity in the not-for-profit/charity sector has remained stable for the past year. Pay rates were also stable, with interims commanding from £420 to £430 a day for assignments. Over the past six months, the majority of assignments have focused on helping charities improve their financial situations.

Interim managers are a popular choice for charities because they tend to have the commercial knowledge and experience that is often missing at a senior level in charities. Often interim managers can introduce smarter ways of working, and bring an independent and fresh perspective to an organisation, as well as innovative approaches to problem solving. Affordability is another key factor - interim managers charge a daily rate which means they can be very cost effective hire even for smaller charities, and this enables them to recruit these senior executives to run specific strategic projects.

Over the past 12 months, we have seen a number of charities recruiting interim managers to deliver high level strategic projects. These have included the implementation of new business processes, the delivery of short, medium and long term financial and business strategies, the introduction of new IT systems and the management of major organisational restructuring projects. We have also continued to see interim managers' contracts being extended, which has reflected their added value.

A good example of this is a recent assignment with UK mental health charity, Mind. Interim finance director Kris Murali was deployed into Mind on a three day a week project for three months. Kris was tasked with managing two urgent business projects - the implementation of a new IT system and heading up an office move and bringing together employees from Mind's two head office buildings into a new office in order to improve working relationships, collaboration and information sharing. Kris delivered both projects in time and on budget, engaging with employees at all levels to secure project backing.

However, it soon became clear to the management team at Mind that Kris could add value in other areas. He became involved in the board level meetings of Mind's trading arm and in time, he created a clear direction for the governance of the board of Mind's trading arm and also helped in the recruitment of a managing director to run the trading arm. This is a typical interim assignment and many interims like Kris also ensure they leave a lasting legacy which often involves training internal employees so they can continue their good work.

The next year is undoubtedly going to be seriously challenging for the sector. Charities are going to need to become more entrepreneurial and commercial to survive. Many will undertake collaborative partnerships to reduce costs and generate additional revenue and for these kinds of projects, hiring an experienced interim manager could pay long term dividends.

Ian Joseph is director of charities and not-for-profit practice at Russam GMS

Original article here

No stone to be left unturned, says Sam Younger
CharitiesDirect.com, Monday 23 May 2011

However, the theme of his talk at the annual Russam GMS Civil Society evening on 17 May was that the new-look regulator would look differently at the stones once lifted.

The charity sector is a small world and guests at the event were reminded of this when former Red Cross director general Mike Whitlam introduced his successor in that role as the guest speaker – Sam Younger from the Charity Commission. The pair, of course, went back a bit further. While still at the Red Cross, Whitlam was busy trying to get the British hostage, Ian Richter out of Abu Ghraib after the Gulf War in 1991 and Younger was running the BBC World Service which kept Richter going throughout some of his darkest times.

His perspective on the sector and the Commission's role within it (Whitlam calls for a 'friendly' regulator, but Younger pointed out the sector needs the regulator to regulate – whatever that takes) is set out in detail in our May 2011 of Caritas, which can be read in full here. His talk built on some of those themes and provided some new insights.

Keeping positive

Sam Younger cautioned against the sector becoming too 'woeful'. "Yes of course things are tough, and in our consultations funding concerns came up at top of the list", he said. He adds: "But behind that was also the worry about the danger of the growing gap between the needs and expectations of what the charity sector will do on the one hand and the resources available to deliver on the other. But of course if you are going to be affected in any area you have got to look at things in terms of what you can do rather than what you can't do."

He reminded guests that the sector is more powerful in its voice now than it has ever been before and must not see itself as a victim. All sectors have had to deal with cuts.

Core focus

As for the Commission's own funding cuts of around one-third, Younger confirmed that he had been looking at what the regulator must do and where it can make the most difference, for example, dealing with annual accounts returns, permissions and consents and investigations of problems. "The root of what the Commission is about is to protect public confidence and, going forward, focus on the things only we can do."

He then explained there were two themes to this:

• Self reliance. Helping the sector to become more self-reliant is critical and this means giving it excellent and user-friendly tools and guidance. It also means moving away from handholding and working with suitable bodies who can do this instead.

• Cleverer use of resource. Once resources currently dedicated to non-core functions have been freed-up, the Commission will be able to work with the sector more proactively and prevent problems before they occur. In response to one question about whether there would be any kind of threshold, below which the Commission would not investigate because fewer funds were at risk, Younger said he had 'moved away' from that option. "Any threshold is an invitation for whatever happens underneath and is not satisfactory. We have to find ways of being more selective and cleverer about whether we intervene or not.[1] So we ask ourselves: 'What are the key risks, not just in large organisations because of the quantum, but in small ones because they don't have the capacity to have the kind of governance arrangements the larger ones have got.'"

He also explained that there has sometimes been a tendency for an investigation to "take over" and dictate resources rather than a decision being taken early on when it is clear the process has reached as stage where the regulator has done as much as it can. He did admit: "Obviously, there is a danger that there are things that might not get looked at that would have come under scrutiny in less lean times, but it is possible to avoid this if you operate the risk framework sensibly."

Original article here

Does the 'big society' mean it's time to reshape the board?
Ian Joseph, Trustees Unlimited

The jury is still out on how David Cameron's vision will affect not for profit companies, says Ian Joseph
The voluntary sector must work out how and why David Cameron's 'big society' will affect their work.

At the "big society" re-launch earlier this month, David Cameron reaffirmed his commitment and passion for this ideology. However, in the not for profit sector it seems that the jury is still out in terms of what the big society is, how it will work and how it will affect them. What is clear is that boards need to adapt to the changing environment around them.

While Cameron has spent months focusing on the idea of volunteering, as well as the importance of community groups and charities getting involved in the delivery of public services, he has also confirmed that local authority spending cuts will result in serious pain for many organisations. I met with a large service provider this week and they told me they are facing up to 18% cuts in their local authority funding. This will result in new contracts for staff with many now working longer hours for the same or less money. The reality of cuts is hitting home – hard.

Cameron's intention to open up all public services to private contractors and voluntary organisations will mean opportunities and challenges to the sector in terms of winning work, and I hope that the sector will grow as it proves its ability to deliver. However, with more contracts comes increased accountability to the public for delivery. Furthermore, payment by results will be the modus operandi. Charities consistently rank near the top in terms of public trust but hard-fought reputations run the risk of exposure, as more contracts are awarded and the public demand excellence. The brave new world we are entering, whether willingly or not, means that the old world where boards were assembled in a less than robust way is, or rather, should be completely over. The sector embarked on a professionalisation journey some 20 years ago, but good governance is still very much a work in progress. As the sector docks at the quayside of the "big society" it needs to have boards in the bridge that are fit for purpose or run the risk of damage of titanic proportions.

Governance is made all the more complex when the traditional structures of organisations are changing and where we have hybrid organisations, perhaps social businesses spun off from the state. It is vital that boards reflect the interests of the beneficiaries, rather than a particular stakeholder group such as employees or financial backers.

One of the fundamental responsibilities of the board is to be the custodian of the organisation's vision, mission and values. As they adapt to the inevitable changes the big society will impose on them, boards needs to ensure they remain true to their purpose. That means that individual board members need to be engaged, attending meetings, reading reports before meetings and contributing. This sounds obvious but it's amazing how many boards are carrying dead weights. I sat in a two and a half hour board meeting recently and a fellow trustee did not say one word the whole time; what was she doing there? But having engaged board members is not enough. Not for profits should be undertaking a skills assessment to pinpoint any skills gaps regularly.

My sense is that many boards will need to start recruiting individuals with strong commercial skills. Organisations will need to attract people from both the private and public sectors, and ideally those that have worked at the nexus of all three sectors. They may also need to improve the skills of existing board members and invest in training – particularly in the areas of governance and finance. Organisations will also have to consider if their boards are diverse enough; if they are balanced and truly reflective of the people they serve. This is not about tokenism, but rather about ensuring the board is as possible close to the market it serves. Christian Aid and London-based mental health charity Community Options are two organisations which have recently used Trustees Unlimited's recruitment services to find trustees from diverse backgrounds. Christian Aid recruited Tom Hinton, a finance director of one of Centrica's businesses, because it wanted to strengthen its financial and risk management capabilities.

Community Options recruited John Schuster, a marketing communications expert with a financial background, to its board to help raise the organisation's profile and highlight its work in mental health. Both organisations and many like them have wrestled with what they need and then gone out and found them (often with a little help from a professional recruitment firm). This must be the correct way to help our organisations be relevant.

One in five charities have at least one vacancy on their boards. Given that there are gaps on boards and gaps in skills, now is the perfect time to grab hold of our boards and fill those vacant positions with top-quality people who can help us all prepare for the journey ahead.

Ian Joseph is the director of Trustees Unlimited

Original article here.

News Feature - 'People Management'
People Management

The government's policy platform places a renewed importance on the voluntary sector. So what does it take to be an interim in a not-for-profit organisation? Nic Paton reports

Source: Guide to interim management

Full article here

New Minister for Civil Society at Russam GMS event
Russam GMS Press Release

Nick Hurd, the newly announced Minister for Civil Society and Dr Daleep Mukarji, former Director of Christian Aid, were special guest speakers at Russam GMS' Third Sector event on Wednesday 18th May 2010 at the Lanesborough Hotel in London. The event, which took place the same day Mr Hurd's appointment was announced officially was one of his very first speaking engagements in his new role.

Addressing the audience of senior charity executives, Mr Hurd stressed the importance the sector will play in creating the government's 'Big Society' agenda, a role which will include the delivery of a greater number of public services. He also said that in the past 15 months working as Shadow Minister for the Third Sector he has witnessed tremendous unlocked potential in the sector.

He laid out three key government objectives for the sector:

• Making it easier to run a charity, voluntary organisation or social enterprise
• Getting more resources into the sector to strengthen its resilience and independence
• Making it easier for organisations to do business with the state – improving trust and getting rid
of bureaucracy

Stephen Brooker, Chairman of the Not for Profit division at Russam GMS said, "Last year, Nick Hurd spoke as Shadow Minister for the Third Sector and this year we were delighted to welcome him as the new Minister for Civil Society. We were inspired to learn of his vision for the sector and his plans to make it easier to run charities with greater freedom, independence and less bureaucracy from government."

Following Mr Hurd was Dr Daleep Mukarji, OBE, who served as Director of Christian Aid from 1998 to April 2010 who reflected on his time at Christian Aid. He talked about the personal and professional challenges he faced leading the orgnanisation through cultural and organisational changes to enable it to become an outstanding charity, passionate about its faith-based agenda and its mission to eradicate poverty.

The challenges he described included overcoming the resistance to introducing a marketing and communications department, maintaining the organisation's Christian ideology and, ensuring Christian Aid played a bigger role in influencing government policy.

A key learning point for him was the realisation that working with other organisations to achieve goals is critical. During his time at Christian Aid, it partnered with many organisations including Make Poverty History as well as sister organisations based in Europe.

He confessed that running a charity was tough and hard work and his advice to charity leaders in the audience was 'Don't give up as the sector makes a vital contribution to making the world a better place'. The event was attended by over 40 senior charity executives from a range of UK organisations.

New Research from the Charity Commission
Ian Joseph, Head of the Russam GMS Not for Profit Practice

New research from the Charity Commission has revealed that despite a slight increase in the number of charities being affected by the recession (56% now, compared with 52% at the beginning of the year), over two thirds (71%) of the charities surveyed by the Commission said that they felt optimistic about the outlook for the next six months. This corroborates with research conducted recently by Russam GMS of interim managers working in the sector which showed that 54% were confident about the future economic outlook.

As Stephen Brooker, Chair of the Russam GMS Not for Profit Practice expressed last week, “Charities have done some serious cost-cutting, which means they are in better shape than in April”. As a practice, we have had over twice as many assignments to deliver in the first two months of Q3 than we had in the whole of Q1, suggesting that charities are far more confident about investing in the resources they need. Whereas just six months ago, decisions were being made to have employees step up to roles made vacant in organisations or to defer projects requiring external expertise, we are now seeing a commitment by these same organisations to recruit either on an interim or permanent basis.

We are delighted that the Charity Commission is conducting this type of research because the sector cannot afford to be blind to economic reality. In our own modest way, our research suggests that whilst some organisations are considering further job cuts, overall the sector has responded well to the recession, has put the necessary measures in place, made the tough decisions required and is preparing to ride out the next few months with quiet confidence. We hope that the Charity Commission will continue to conduct this research which is so helpful in informing the sector.

Big society, needs big ideas and the right people
The Guardian - Public

While not for profit organisations are being encouraged to deliver more public services, many don't have the knowhow to cope with the new demands - could recruiting more diverse trustees be the answer?

The new coalition government has pledged to place the civil society sector at the heart of its 'Big Society' programme.

Part of its aim, as it devolves power to people, is for not for profit organisations to work more closely with the state and compete with public sector organisations to deliver a greater number of public services.

These are ambitious plans for a sector that is famously under resourced. Some charity leaders have expressed doubts already about the ability of smaller charities to cope with such pressures, questioning if they have the knowhow and resources available to adopt such a role.

There is little doubt the sector is facing an unprecedented level of change and uncertainty and many organisations are suffering still from the impact of the recession and feel threatened by the planned public sector cuts.

In this climate, strong governance and leadership is essential. Recent research from both PricewaterhouseCoopers and interim management provider, Russam GMS highlighted that better financial management and governance is now a top priority for charities and considered vital to get them through these difficult times.

Now is the time for organisations of all sizes to strengthen their boards to ensure they are led by the people who will ensure they have a sustainable future.

A diverse range of trustees

The best boards will include a diverse range of trustees – people from different industry and functional backgrounds with a range of skills, talent, knowledge and experience, which will ensure they make the best decisions about the future of the organisation.

But finding such individuals has been a long standing challenge for the sector, and consequently, there has been an over reliance on personal networks in the past, resulting in boards recruiting in their own likeness.

Some organisations have however, recently tackled this problem by investing in a trustee recruitment service, like Trustees Unlimited, to enable them to tap into a wider pool of potential trustees, ensure trustees are rigorously vetted and that their skills are assessed.

Christian Aid recently enlisted our help to find a new financial expert to join its trustee board. It needed a qualified accountant with strong risk management skills on its board and the tough economic climate, coupled with its desire to expand internationally had highlighted this skills gap.

The organisation had tried several channels to find such a trustee; including using its own network of individuals, but none had produced the right person.

Through Trustees Unlimited, it appointed Tom Hinton, the financial controller of British Gas who as well as being a Christian, is just 30 years old.

Christian Aid sees Tom as a 'breath of fresh air' and hopes that his dynamic approach and strong commercial experience will strengthen its financial and risk management capabilities.

The recruitment service is not just aimed at larger organisations with bigger budgets.

Community Options is a small London-based charity that provides services and accommodation for people with mental health needs. Through us, it recently appointed John Schuster, a marketing expert to its trustee board to raise the organisation's profile and brand and to input into its five year strategic plan.

John has a 20-year track record of delivering marketing campaigns to financial services companies and Community Options is now confident it has the right level of marketing expertise on its board to build its profile successfully.

For too long charities have struggled to recruit the best talent to their boards, and with such uncertainty and change in the sector, this problem can no longer be overlooked.

There are plenty of talented people in the market who want to serve as trustees and we are providing a cost-effective recruitment service that will bring trustee/non executive talent into small and large third civil society organisations.

In time, we hope this will help to improve the governance across the whole sector.

Ian Joseph is a board member of Trustees Unlimited.

Original article here

Problems and solutions to recruitment for small charities
The Guardian - Public

Small charities need skilled leaders to guide them through difficult economic times but finding and recruiting the right people can be problematic. A new specialist trustee recruitment service could help.

Small voluntary and community organisations never fail to impress me with their ability to instinctively know how to get more "bang for their buck" when it comes to stretching money for frontline services. Their passion and enthusiasm for their cause means they consistently deliver high quality services under the most challenging of circumstances.

While funding is obviously important, the success of any voluntary and community organisation, regardless of its size, is down to the way in which it is governed and led. Funders are increasingly expecting voluntary and community organisations to demonstrate their impact and accountability and expect to see business plans and diversity strategies as part of funding applications.

The recession and impending public sector cuts mean we are facing lean years as a sector and all organisations will need skilled leaders, more than ever, to guide us through this difficult period.

More than a million people are already charity trustees, responsible for everything their organisation does. Yet the role of charity trusteeship is sorely under recognised and many charities – particularly smaller ones – have problems finding and recruiting the right people.

Almost half of all voluntary and community organisations say they are finding it more difficult to recruit now than they did five years ago.

For smaller organisations with few or no paid staff, this can place even greater demands on individual trustees who may be expected to take on a number of roles beyond that of governing the organisation.

NCVO, together with law firm Bates, Wells Braithwaite and interim management recruitment consultancy Russam GMS, has now launched a specialist trustee recruitment service for small charities, through company Trustees Unlimited. The service enables organisations to tap into candidates with a wide range of backgrounds and experience, filling skills gaps and thereby strengthening boards.

Our advice is that voluntary and community organisations need to take trustee recruitment as seriously as they would staff recruitment. Organisations should look beyond their immediate networks and reach out to a wide group of people as potential trustees.

Historically, many organisations have relied on "word of mouth" to recruit their trustees and this obviously limits the pool of interest for trustee roles and can mean they do not recruit people with the skills and experience they require to govern effectively.

This, of course, poses particular issues for smaller organisations where budgets are extremely tight and spending money on anything other than direct delivery of services can appear to be wrong.

One London-based voluntary organisation told us: "We don't really have a budget line for governance. We've got one for trustee meetings – for sandwiches and so on – does that count?"

If as a sector we want to ensure that we speak with even greater authority when representing our most marginalised communities, we need to invest in trustee recruitment and recognise that finding and keeping trustees is a vital task for all voluntary and community organisations.

I hope that our new service is an affordable way of making this process easier for smaller charities, that have so much to gain from getting leadership right.

Ben Kernighan is deputy chief executive of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations For more information visit Trustees Unlimited

Smaller charities to benefit from new Trustees service
Recruitment International

A new trustee recruitment service to help small not for profit organisations recruit a more diverse pool of talented trustees is being launched today by Trustees Unlimited, the joint venture trustee recruitment company from NCVO, Bates Wells Braithwaite and Russam GMS set up in November 2009.

The new, cost effective service is an extension of Trustees Unlimited's existing trustee recruitment offerings. It has been set up in response to significant demand from organisations with a turnover of less than £500K who want to access the growing numbers of professional people wanting to serve as trustees who are registered with Trustees Unlimited.

This basic version of the Trustees Unlimited recruitment service will be available for a one off fee of £750. It will include a briefing conversation with the selection committee of the recruiting organisation to ensure clarity on the type of trustee required and a search of suitable candidates from the Trustees Unlimited database of around one thousand people.

Ben Kernighan, Deputy Chief Executive, NCVO says, "Leadership is a crucial area that all charities, regardless of their size, must get right if they want to ensure their long-term success so finding and recruiting the right trustees is a hugely important task. Trustees Unlimited has already successfully placed trustees in larger organisations and I'm delighted we are expanding the service so smaller charities can access high calibre candidates at affordable prices."

Ian Joseph, Head of the Not for Profit Practice at Russam GMS added, "Trustees Unlimited is committed to good governance in the sector. We want to make it easier for every not for profit organisation in the UK to recruit high quality trustees and this new inclusive and accessible service will make that possible."

Trustees Unlimited was established to help not for profit organisations solve the difficult challenge of trustee recruitment and recruit talented and professional trustees more easily. Research from NCVO highlighted that 43% of boards find it more difficult to recruit trustees today than five years ago; 81% of charities rely on word of mouth recommendations to recruit trustees which can limit the talent pool, and 76% of trustees are over 45 years old which means that charities need to think about succession planning to replace them when they retire.

Since its launch, over 1,000 professionals looking for trustee roles have signed up to Trustees Unlimited; there has been significant demand for trustees from not for profit organisations of all sizes and several trustee placements have been made in large not for profit organisations, such as Christian Aid, through to smaller organisations such as London based, Community Options.

Trustee Unlimited launches service for small charities
Civil Society

Trustees Unlimited has launched a new trustee recruitment service costing a one-off fee of £750 for small charities.

The new service will be available to civil society organisations with a turnover of less than £500,000 and include a briefing conversation with the selection committee of the recruiting organisation to ensure clarity on the type of trustee required and a search of suitable candidates from the Trustees Unlimited database of around one thousand people.

Ben Kernighan, deputy chief executive, NCVO said, "Leadership is a crucial area that all charities, regardless of their size, must get right if they want to ensure their long-term success so finding and recruiting the right trustees is a hugely important task. Trustees Unlimited has already successfully placed trustees in larger organisations and I'm delighted we are expanding the service so smaller charities can access high calibre candidates at affordable prices."

Trustees Unlimited is a joint venture trustee recruitment company from NCVO, Bates Wells Braithwaite and Russam GMS, set up in November 2009 to help not for profit organisations solve the difficult challenge of trustee recruitment and recruit talented and professional trustees more easily.

Research from NCVO highlighted that 43% of boards find it more difficult to recruit trustees today than five years ago; 81% of charities rely on word of mouth recommendations to recruit trustees which can limit the talent pool, and 76% of trustees are over 45 years old which means that charities need to think about succession planning to replace them when they retire.

Trustees Unlimited's new not-for-profit service
Recruiter

Trustees Unlimited has launched a new trustee recruitment service to help small not-for-profit organisations recruit a more diverse pool of talented trustees. The new service is an extension of Trustees Unlimited's existing offerings and has been set up in response to demand from organisations with a turnover of less than £500k who want to access the growing numbers of professionals wanting to serve as trustees who are registered with Trustees Unlimited.

This basic version of the Trustees Unlimited recruitment service will be available for a one-off fee of £750. It will include a briefing conversation with the selection committee of the recruiting organisation to ensure clarity on the type of trustee required and a search of suitable candidates from the Trustees Unlimited database of around 1,000 people.

Trustees Unlimited is the joint venture trustee recruitment company set up last November 2009 by voluntary organisation NCVO, law firm Bates Wells Braithwaite, and interim management specialist Russam GMS.

Specialist recruitment service launched for charities
Recruitment Today

A new trustee recruitment service to help small not-for-profit organisations recruit a more diverse pool of talented trustees has been launched by Trustees Unlimited, the joint venture trustee recruitment company from NCVO, Bates Wells Braithwaite and Russam GMS.

The service is an extension of Trustees Unlimited's existing offerings. It has been set up in response to significant demand from organisations with a turnover of less than £500,000 who want to access the growing numbers of professional people wanting to serve as trustees who are registered with Trustees Unlimited.

This basic version of the Trustees Unlimited recruitment service will be available for a one off fee of £750. It will include a briefing conversation with the selection committee of the recruiting organisation to ensure clarity on the type of trustee required and a search of suitable candidates from the Trustees Unlimited database of around 1000 people.

Ben Kernighan, Deputy Chief Executive, NCVO said: "Leadership is a crucial area that all charities, regardless of their size, must get right if they want to ensure their long-term success so finding and recruiting the right trustees is a hugely important task.

"Trustees Unlimited has already successfully placed trustees in larger organisations and I'm delighted we are expanding the service so smaller charities can access high-calibre candidates at affordable prices."

Third sector governance in the spotlight
Guardian.co.uk

Economic woes are pushing board members and trustees to take on stronger leadership roles so ensure the future stability of charitable organisations.

Private sector expertise meets public sector dedication: chairman Ramez Sousou and chief executive Shaks Ghosh of the Private Equity Foundation.

Almost 1 million trustees steer a combined income of £36bn from around 190,000 organisations in England and Wales, but the public remains largely unaware of their work. The low profile held by the trustees and board members of the not-for-profit sector belies their enormous responsibility, as figures from independent regulator the Charity Commission show.

A trustee is a member of the trust or board which takes ultimate legal responsibility for a charity's work, ensuring it is run in line with the aims of the organisation. Generally unpaid, the role involves attending several meetings a year, acting in the best interests of the charity, while day-to-day tasks are covered by staff and volunteers. However, the banking crisis and recession has drawn attention to failures in the governance of financial institutions and led other sectors, including the charity sector, to focus on its own management issues. This, in addition to competition for contracts to deliver public services, demands much more dynamic leadership from trustees.

Prepared for the future

"The recession has made clear that, now more than ever, charities need good strategic leadership and the ability to mitigate risk and seize opportunities," says Ralph Michell, head of policy at the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (Acevo). Ben Kernighan, deputy chief executive at the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO), says the ability to develop strategy, deal with human resources or collaboration and merger issues are also important.

With the public sector braced for cuts, demand for charity services will increase and organisations will face tough decisions about carving up scant resources. Charities should therefore be thinking much more about what skills they want their trustees and board members to have – financial expertise might be one desirable quality.

The sector has a code of good governance, drawn up by umbrella bodies, such as Acevo and NCVO, in 2005. However, according to a report published last May by consultants New Philanthropy Capital, charities do not always prioritise governance. According to the report, Board Matters: A Review of Charity Trusteeship in the UK, recruitment, training and evaluation of board members is neglected. The report also underlines the low-profile status of trustees – 95% of people in the UK, according to the report, are unaware that they can support a charity by becoming a trustee.

Recruitment is a huge challenge. The Charity Commission estimates that about half of all charities have at least one board vacancy, with the most common recruitment method being through friends or via existing board members.

A handful of organisations exist to help charities find trustees. These include the Trusteefinder service from the Charity Trustee Network, TrusteeWorks run by volunteering charity Reach and third-sector recruitment consultancy Prospectus, and the NCVO's Trustees Unlimited service.

According to the Charity Commission report, Trustee Recruitment, Selection and Induction, a failure to focus on recruitment creates problems with governance. "Often, difficulties result from trustees not knowing or understanding their responsibilities, or not having access to basic information about the charity's structure and remit."

However, many in the sector feel it is misleading to talk of a recruitment crisis because the real issue is that of quality, not quantity. Michell says: "There's no ideal number to have on the board – it's more about making sure you do have the right mix of skills, experience and links."

A high-quality board should be diverse, but the commission estimates that 76% of trustees are aged 45 or over, hence the prevailing stereotype of trustees being white, well-heeled and retired.

Yet it can be hard to balance the need for board members who boast professional skills with the need to involve members of the community and create a truly diverse board. Community representatives or service users encouraged into the boardroom might lack the experience and confidence to grapple with complex decisions. One answer, says Michell, is to involve people in ways other than being on the board, through forums that feed back to the board.

Private-sector experience

Professional diversity is also important. Shaks Ghosh, former head of homelessness charity Crisis, says trustees with private-sector experience have a lot to offer. Ghosh, who is now chief executive of the Private Equity Foundation (PEF), a cross-industry body that invests in youth educational charities, says: "Trustees see the business behind the charity as well as the need that it is striving to meet. Inevitably there's a focus on efficiency and sustainability."

A typical example of this type of key advisory role is that filled by the PEF's chairman, Ramez Sousou, founder and joint chief executive of international private equity and investment firm TowerBrook Capital Partners. Ghosh values Sousou's private-sector experience and business perspective, and insights derived from his seat on numerous corporate boards and his work as a trustee with the NSPCC.

One way to recruit a good mix of trustees is by paying them, thereby encouraging those who cannot afford to take on unpaid work. However, many feel that compensating board members and trustees tarnishes the ethos of the charitable sector. Currently, third-sector organisations cannot pay trustees without suitable authority, either in their governing document, from the commission or the court.

Acevo's Michell says: "You'd not think twice about paying staff, but we've an aversion to paying those charged with steering an organisation through a recession." Joe Saxton, founder of NFP Synergy, says: "You've paid chief executives of charities espousing no payment for trustees. It's ironic. Why the difference?" Acevo's governance reform group supports members aiming to change governance arrangements, which include payment of trustees.

So what shape might the ideal board or trust take? Saxton says organsiations should be "smaller, fitter but bigger in impact". Basically, says Michell, boards must understand their roles better. "Governance is actually about ensuring the delivery of the organisation's purpose."

The NCVO urges boards to think more long-term about their organisation's future, especially at this time of greater uncertainty. "Boards and trusts are invisible," says Ghosh. "We do not need much radical change, but we do need them to have more visibility."

Online trustee recruitment service launches
Civil Society

An online trustee recruitment service for charities to find effective board members has been launched by NCVO, Bates Wells Braithwaite and interim manager recruitment firm Russam GMS.

Trustees Unlimited will charge charities a tailored price based on their annual income for an in-depth trustee recruitment process which will include a meeting with the charity board to find out what kind of candidates are needed. It aims to deliver a shortlist to clients within ten days.

Charities with incomes under £500,000 will be charged £3,000; those with incomes between £500,000 and £5m will be charged £4,000, and those incomes of over £5m will be charged £5,000.

An enhanced services, including a strategic trustee induction run by BWB and NCVO, is £500 extra.

Ben Kernighan (pictured), deputy chief executive at NCVO, said the service will help charities struggling to find trustees with the right skills.

"As many organisations in the sector face tough times, the role of trustees has never been more important. Trustees Unlimited will play an important role in helping organisations recruit the trustees that are right for them. Having the right trustees can make the difference between an organisation flourishing or failing."

Firm solves 'not for profit' trustee recruitment challenges
Recruitment Today

A new trustee recruitment service to help not for profit organisations recruit experienced, "board ready" trustees in a rigorous and cost-effective way has been launched by Trustees Unlimited - a new joint venture organisation set up by NCVO, Bates Wells Braithwaite and Russam GMS.

While all not for profit organisations need a trustee board, many struggle to find people with the relevant skills and experience. NCVO research highlighted that 43% of boards find it more difficult to recruit trustees today than five years ago; 81% of charities rely on word of mouth recommendations to recruit trustees which can limit the talent pool, and 76% of trustees are over 45 years old, so some charities may struggle to replace trustees when they retire.

Trustees Unlimited will address the shortfall offering an extensive range of high calibre, trustee candidates with a broad range of experience covering the private, public and third sectors. The recruitment process will involve a meeting with the Chair or senior trustees to take a detailed brief before suitable trustees are selected. All trustees will be interviewed and have references checked before being shortlisted for client interviews. The company aims to deliver a shortlist to its clients just 10 days after taking the initial brief.

Ben Kernighan, Deputy Chief Executive, NCVO said: "Getting governance right should be a very high priority for all organisations. Our research shows that many organisations have trustee vacancies and struggle to find trustees with the right skills. The best boards are diverse, coming from a wide range of backgrounds and bringing a broad range of skills and perspectives. Trustees Unlimited will play an important role in helping organisations recruit the trustees that are right for them. Having the right trustees can make the difference between an organisation flourishing or failing."

Trustees Unlimited recruits new band of trustees
Recruiter

Trustees Unlimited, a new recruitment service for not-for-profit organisations, launched in London yesterday to enable charities and voluntary groups to recruit vetted and experienced trustees cost effectively.

Trustees Unlimited is a joint venture set up by the National Council for Voluntary Orgainsations (NCVO), Bates Wells Braithwaite (BWB), a leading firm of solicitors for the charity and not-for-profit sector, and interim management provider Russam GMS.

Combining the joint contacts of the three organisations, including Russam's database of 10,000 interims, Trustees Unlimited aims to source a wider variety of future trustees for the UK's 150,000 plus charities, many of which struggle to find volunteers with the relevant skills and experience.

Peter Bennett from BWB told Recruiter at the launch: "There are 1m charity trustees in the UK and their age and diversity profile is not changing. One of the aims of Trustees Unlimited is to source a new profile of trustee."

Ben Kernighan, deputy chief executive of NCVO, added that becoming a trustee "is a great way for younger people, especially, to develop their skills and raise their own profile, as well as contributing to the charity".

Russam's head of charity/not-for-profit practice, Ian Joseph, told Recruiter: "An effective board is a diverse board. People really want to get involved. In the first week of the website going live, we have had 700 people registering to become a trustee already."

Russam will carry out the initial vetting and sifting of suitable applicants for a charity. The costs and terms of business are shown on the website, which aims at the middle-range and above charities.

Charities and people interested in becoming trustees should visit Trustees Unlimited's website for more information. www.trustees-unlimited.co.uk

Online trustee recruitment service launches
Charity Finance

Charity trustees are the backbone of the sector
The Guardian - Public

Charities must endeavour to create inclusive and diverse boards and while finding new suitable trustees is important, equally the commitment by those already contributing to their communities needs to be recognised.

The debate about the future of the voluntary sector is often about funding and resources, obscuring the crucial area of leadership that charities must get right if they want to weather the impact of the recession and build a sustainable future.

There are already one million charity trustees who regularly contribute to their communities and help form the backbone of civil society. They are ultimately responsible for everything their organisation does and yet this is a sorely under-recognised role.

There is limited public awareness that becoming a trustee is a great way to make a difference to communities and gain new skills in working strategically, dealing with finance as well as honing interpersonal skills – all of which are recognised and highly valued by employers.

With the recession and impending cuts in the public sector, demand for charity services is going to increase and many charities are going to face tough decisions about how to allocate limited resources, making the role of trustees – and the job of finding them – even more important.

Yet it is increasingly difficult for charities to find suitable people for these posts with 43% of voluntary and community organisations stating they find it more difficult to recruit trustees now than they did five years ago.

An ageing trustee population

Compounding this problem is an ageing trustee population with 76% over the age of 45 while less than 1% of trustees are under 25 and the fact that only 5% of trustees are from a black, minority or ethnic backgrounds.

This means many trustee boards are not representative of the communities they exist to serve.

Currently, 80 per cent of charities use word-of-mouth to recruit trustees, meaning they often fail to recruit at all or fail to get the right mix of people and skills they need.

There are many possible reasons for this shortage and lack of diversity but the sector must take ownership of this problem and address it. The National Council for Voluntary Organisation's (NCVO) 'Get on Board' campaign proved it is possible to engage younger and more diverse audiences by using a range of measures including new technology such as text messages and targeting ethnic and specialist media.

The sector must invest in this process to make it successful and it must make a commitment to changing the culture of boards.

Ensuring voluntary organisations have diverse boards is not just about getting a good mix in terms of gender, age and race.

It's also about having people with a range of work and life backgrounds and the strongest boards bring together people with this diversity of experience.

From this week, charities will be able to use a new specialist trustee recruitment service run collaboratively by NCVO, law firm Bates Wells Braithwaite and interim management recruitment consultancy Russam GMS.

Trustees Unlimited offers a professional and cost-effective service to recruit people from across the, private, public and voluntary sectors.

All candidates will be interviewed and reference checked to ensure they offer the right combination of skills, experience and diversity.

All charities need to work hard to create more inclusive and diverse boards. These will bring fresh perspectives to the ways organisations are governed and led and be more responsive to the communities they exist to serve.

That said, while it's clear we must step up our efforts to find new trustees, we must not forget to celebrate and promote the work of those who already have made this commitment and whose efforts make a vital contribution to communities and neighbourhoods across the country.

Ben Kernighan is deputy chief executive of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations

Trustee-finding service launched
Third Sector

Trustees Unlimited will drawn on a 'new gene pool' of potential board members

A new trustee recruitment service will charge charities up to £5,500 to find and train board members who are not the "usual suspects".

Trustees Unlimited, which is launched today, is a joint venture by umbrella body the NCVO, law firm Bates Wells Braithwaite and interim management agency Russam GMS.

It offers to draw up and interview a long list of candidates and then present its client charity with a shortlist of five. If the charity chooses one, it will be charged between £3,000 and £5,000, depending on its income. Inducting the new board member will cost another £500.

Stephen Lloyd, the senior partner at BWB who came up with the idea, said it would plug the gap between free lists of trustees and expensive recruitment agencies. He said Russam GMS's database of 10,000 interim managers, which the service will draw on, constituted a "new gene pool" of trustees who were not the "usual suspects".

"I am a trustee of five organisations, but I often get people ringing me up asking me to be a trustee for them," he said. "I thought that there must be a better way of finding trustees than asking me."

UK Charities taking action to recover from recession
Russam GMS Press Release

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72% of Interims say income is still falling in charity sector

One in four charities making job cuts

Interims helping charities transform operations and cut costs

10 September 2009 – A new survey of over 450 charity Interim managers from Interim provider, Russam GMS revealed that 72% of UK charities have experienced falling incomes, 64% have put recruitment and IT projects on hold and 25% have cut jobs in the past six months. But in spite of this, they are taking many steps to recover.

Two thirds of Interims said that charities have increased their fund raising efforts and that many cost saving measures have been introduced. 40% said that cash flow is being tightly monitored, 25% said charities have reduced headcount and also claim charities are introducing more collaborative working and sharing services and costs (15%), improving governance (14%) and increasing their marketing efforts (11%).

Charities need to take action to combat financial crisis
Ian Joseph, Head of the Russam GMS Not for Profit Practice

Ian Joseph, head of charity practice, Russam GMS

The UK charity sector is feeling the pain of the recession arguably more than many other sectors, with a big decline in corporate sponsorship, donations and available funding. This month, we surveyed the charity specialists from our database of 10,000 Interim managers to find out the extent to which the charity sector is suffering. The findings made grim reading; 76% of Interims reported that charity income had declined since the recession started, almost three quarters had seen widespread job losses, and over half said that projects, recruitment and investment in marketing and IT had been frozen.

READ FULL ARTICLE (Word doc)

Getting through tough times – Call in the Interim Managers
Ian Joseph, Head of the Russam GMS Not for Profit Practice

Many charities across the UK have experienced a drop in donations since the start of the recession and are under pressure to secure new funding. A report this month from Children England, the umbrella group for children’s charities in the UK, said that 40% of children’s charities are in a vulnerable position and could close if expected funding does not come through.

Ian Joseph looks at how Interim Managers can help Charities can find new income streams and successfully tender for grants to help them get through the downturn.

Larger organisations are feeling the impact of the credit crunch too. The British Red Cross was forced to cancel its Thameside winter gala ball last year, because it failed to find a corporate sponsor for an event which usually raises £500,000. Shelter, the housing charity, lost £400,000 in the space of six weeks last autumn when corporate sponsors cancelled donations. READ FULL ARTICLE (Word Doc)

Who will plug the skills gap? Interim Management...
Stephen Brooker – Chairman of Charities Practice

The government has set its sights firmly on the third sector, with Brown pledging more stable government funding to charities and voluntary groups in a bid to extend their role in delivering public services.

It is of course good news and long overdue that charities and in particular, volunteers are being recognised for running successful organisations, often on shoestrings, with very few resources.

But, what pressure - for charities suddenly to be looked upon to make British society happier, healthier and a more successful place and to show the public sector how it is done. How can a sector beleaguered by a major shortage of skills and resources transform itself overnight?

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Mind the gap
Stephen Brooker – Chairman of Charities Practice

As the spotlight on the third sector increases, who will plug the skills gap, asks Stephen Brooker.

THE GOVERNMENT has set its sights firmly on the third sector, with Gordon Brown pledging more stable government funding to charities and voluntary groups in a bid to extend their role in delivering public services. This is long overdue recognition that charities are successful organisations, often on shoestrings. But how can a sector which arguably faces a major shortage of skills and resources fulfil this extended role?

While the success of the third sector is undoubtedly driven by the passion and commitment of its people, they are in short supply. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development’s (CIPD) annual Recruitment and Retention report published in June 2007 reveals the extent of the staffing gaps.

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Sector increasingly reliant on temporary managers
By Mathew Little, Third Sector Online

The charity sector has the second highest number of interim managers in the British economy, according to a new survey by interim management provider Russam GMS. One in every 10 interims works for charities, the research found. Only the manufacturing and engineering sector had a larger number of temporary managers.

Of charity sector interims, 44 per cent were general managers, 20 per cent worked in finance, 16 per cent in sales and marketing and 12 per cent in purchasing. They earned an average of £430 a day. And in recent years, there have been interim chief executives at high-profile charities such as Cancer Research UK and Children in Need. According to Russam GMS, charities are increasingly using interim managers to run specific projects or secure funding.

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It's a giving thing
Society Guardian

Employment of well-paid managers at a charity will always generate debate. But the sector, like business, often needs to call in expertise at short notice.

Liz Ford - Society Guardian, Wednesday 29 October 2008

When it comes to working with people living with dementia there is a responsibility to ensure a good service is maintained at all times, says Andrew Ketteringham, director of external affairs at the Alzheimer's Society. So, when faced with a vacancy in one of its key roles, such as fundraising, the organisation often calls in an interim manager to fill the gap. "Like any other business, we have a turnover of staff. Sometimes positions fairly important to the smooth running of the organisation need to be filled speedily."

The long and short of it
Charity Times

While interim managers may traditionally be seen as temporary replacement, often operating in extenuating circumstances, their potential goes far beyond this. Emily Ford finds out how these short-term experts could provide long-term benefits.

It is sometimes hard to admit that you can’t do everything yourself, but charities ignore a skills gap at their peril. Public service delivery is a case in point. It’s no secret that the government wants to involve more charities at a local and national level: Gordon Brown’s recent £515 million settlement was the biggest of its kind. As a result, many charities are considering bidding for contracts for the first time.

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Charities buck crunch to take on more employees
Third Sector Online

The charity sector could be defying the credit crunch by taking on more employees in spite of rising unemployment.

Recent figures from the UK Statistics Authority show that the number of unemployed peopl has risen every month since January. However, Women Like Us, a recruitment company specialising in finding part-time work for women in charities, has seen an increase in sector employment.

The company has reported a rise of 26 per cent in enquiries from employers looking to recruit permanent part-time staff in May, and its year-on-year increase in recruitment has been 121 per cent.

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Securing funding for long term success
Stephen Brooker – Chairman of Charities Practice

The third sector received a major boost last year when Gordon Brown pledged that it will receive more than £500m over the next three years as part of the wide-ranging third sector review in July last year.

But with more funding available, the pressure is on for charities to secure that funding and this is becoming a major challenge for many organisations. They need to plan well in advance; understand the processes involved in securing funding and know how to put together a successful application. They also need to ensure that the right resources are in place if they are to realise their ambitions.

It is not just applying for new funding that is challenging; many charities rely heavily on government grants or contracts and simply find they reach the inevitable point where the money runs out and they either need to contract (get smaller) or to replace the income from voluntary sources if they are to continue to supply the service. When this is realised by the CEO/Trustees, they often come to me. READ FULL ARTICLE (Word doc)

A very royal engagement
Russam GMS Press Release

One of the main attractions of life as an interim manager is the change of scene and chance to work in different and more stimulating environments. Not many assignments however, are quite as grand as the Royal School of Needlework at Hampton Court, where finance manager, Vaughan Williams is working as an interim finance manager.

The Royal School of Needlework (RSN) is an exciting, forward-looking organisation which is dedicated to keeping the art of hand embroidery alive in the 21st Century. It offers a unique education in embroidery. Following a three year technical Diploma Course, highly skilled professional embroiderers are equipped to work in a commercial Studio, or follow a career in fashion or textile art and design. It also offers shorter classes to anyone with an interest in learning embroidery, from beginners to more advanced level students. The RSN’s own Studio carries out varied commissions including the design and production of contemporary work and the conservation of textiles. Many pieces worked on in the Studio are of national importance.
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	War Child recruits new CEO to lead growth
	National Trust calls in an Interim Manager to manage £2m Heritage Lottery Project
	World Vision hires Interim Manager and marketer to help reduce falling supporter numbers
	YMCA restructured and transformed by Interim Management Manager Keith Drew
	A very royal Interim Management engagement at Hampton Court
	More than a 'gap filler' Interim Manager and Finance Director adds real value to Mind
	British Red Cross wins HR excellence award
	Interim Management Finance Director helps Family Action look to a sustainable financial future
	Interim Manager delivers a more effective and efficient service for The Willow Foundation
	Scouts hire interim to ensure they are ‘prepared’ to deliver new strategy

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The Charities and Not For Profit Specialists

The longest established mainstream Interim Management provider in the UK.

A Warm Welcome from: Ian Joseph, Stephen Brooker, Mike Whitlam CBE, Emma Kynoch, Olga Johnson and Melissa Baxter.

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...Says Mike Brace at Russam GMS event for charity leaders

Dame Suzi Leather: ‘slow charity movement’

Dame Suzi Leather advocates a ‘slow charity movement’ to solve long-term funding crises...

The Morning after the Budget Breakfast

Ian Joseph, Director, Charities and Not-for-Profit Practice,
Russam GMS

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Russam GMS's annual event for charity leaders

Charity Commissioner urges self-reliance and positivity in charity sector at Russam GMS event

Thought Leadership

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Trustees Unlimited

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The Charities and Not For Profit Specialists

The longest established mainstream Interim Management provider in the UK.

A Warm Welcome from: Ian Joseph, Stephen Brooker, Mike Whitlam CBE, Emma Kynoch, Olga Johnson and Melissa Baxter.

Content on this page requires a newer version of Adobe Flash Player.

...Says Mike Brace at Russam GMS event for charity leaders

Dame Suzi Leather: ‘slow charity movement’

Dame Suzi Leather advocates a ‘slow charity movement’ to solve long-term funding crises...

The Morning after the Budget Breakfast

Ian Joseph, Director, Charities and Not-for-Profit Practice, Russam GMS

Content on this page requires a newer version of Adobe Flash Player.

Russam GMS's annual event for charity leaders

Charity Commissioner urges self-reliance and positivity in charity sector at Russam GMS event

Thought Leadership

Ian Joseph, Director, Charities and Not-for-Profit Practice,
Russam GMS