How many of you have completed the quiz about the responsibilities of board members in the last issue of ArtsProfessional? And how did you get on?
The news of the Charity Commission?s rap on the knuckles for ILAM?s trustees (p3) may cause a few board members up and down the country to guiltily re-read the last set of minutes from that meeting they failed to get to.
Being a trustee or board member of an arts organisation is a responsibility and, at times, a chore. Legally there are hoops to jump through and important considerations to bear in mind. And at the same time there are the demands from staff (often not unreasonable ? see Sounding Board p7) as well as funders, audiences and the wider community. The Charity Commission report highlights several wider lessons that are worth bearing in mind. For example, ?Owing to the scale or nature of a charity, trustees may, of necessity, have to delegate decisions on day-to-day management matters to employees. The trustees remain legally responsible and must supervise and control the work of the officers.? Certainly food for thought.
Among the many small but significant amendments to charity legislation contained within the draft Charity Bill, which is fast heading in our direction, is the fact that trustees may be able to receive remuneration from their charity for ?goods or services? subject to various conditions. One possibility that this throws up is that of trustees being able to take on a more active role in their organisations. One wonders what managers, used to a self-determined status quo, would make of this. Ultimately, however threatening such intervention might at first appear, involving experienced and valued trustees in the business of running organisations must surely be a good thing. And, if it encourages trustees to get involved and get active, then that can only be for the good of the industry as a whole.