Guest blog: Six tips for fundraisers on becoming trustees

This is a guest blog from Natalie Assad, who is Major Gifts Fundraiser at Friends of the Earth. Natalie, Susie Hills and I will be speaking together about governance at the Institute of Fundraising National Convention. Being a trustee has been a hugely rewarding experience, allowing me to engage in a big way with issues that really matter to me. I started out as a ‘young trustee’ and it’s clear there’s a need for more young people, alongside a more diverse range of people to become Trustees. Third sector recently published an article warning of a ‘diversity deficit’ within charity leadership, and so it’s becoming more understood that those with boards who are truly representative of society will increase opportunities for new perspectives, raise awareness of the support your charity gives, open up new audiences of donors and so much more, so it’s basically a win-win. So while it might take a galling amount of time to get there, the need is well known and now’s a good time for underrepresented groups to look at the opportunities to become trustees. I’d advise any fundraiser to look into it (especially if it’s never before occurred to you to do something like this). And if you are now thinking of becoming a board member for the first time, here are some tips: 1. Make sure you care I know this sounds obvious, but your role is to steer the way thin