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UK: NGO governance excludes women
New research reveals that women, disabled people and people from ethnic minorities rarely become trustees of larger charities and voluntary organisations in the UK
New research reveals that women, disabled people and people from ethnic minorities rarely become trustees of larger charities and voluntary organisations in the UK.
The findings of the new survey called BoardsCount? were presented at the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) conference on governance on 8 October.
BoardsCount? reviewed over 70 organisations and around 450 board members and senior staff to compare governance practices with others of the same size or sub-sectors and to improve their performance.
The survey found that the representation of women on boards was 45% in smaller charities but only 29% in larger organisations; ethnic minorities? representation was 12% in smaller organisations and 7% in the larger ones.
60% of those interviewed felt that there was a lack of attention to the diverse needs of board members; 48% underlined a gap in the representation of disabled people and 32% asked for a better gender balance.
The BoardsCount? survey suggests that some organisations have to spend more time on getting their basic governance right, including strategic planning, performance management, committee arrangements and the terms of office. Organisations also need to ensure themselves that they have the people on their boards with the skills and perspectives they need.
Anne Moynihan, Head of the Governance Hub one of the partners involved in the survey, said: ?The BoardsCount? benchmarking survey showed that investing time on getting governance right pays off and that most organisations show signs of good governance. However we need to encourage more diversity on boards, to ensure that they are representative of the people and communities they serve?.
Notes:
The Governance Hub aims to improve the quality of governance within the voluntary and community sector across England and it is a partnership of nine organisations: Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (acevo), Black Training and Enterprise Group (BTEG), British Association of Settlements and Social Action Centres (bassac), Charity Trustee Networks (CTN), East Cornwall Council for Voluntary Services (ECCVS), National Association for Voluntary and Community Action (NACVA), National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO), Social Enterprise Coalition (SEC) and Volunteering England.
The Governance Hub is one of the six national hubs of expertise: Finance, Governance, ICT, Performance, Workforce and Volunteering. The hubs belong to Change up a national programme, which aims to solve needs of voluntary and community organisations by 2014.
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