The Association of Chairs (AoC) has announced a series of measures aimed at improving diversity among chairs of charity boards.

The move has been revealed in its strategic plan for 2024 to 2027, as “our chairs are not representative of the different elements of our society”.

“Currently chairs are significantly older, more educated, more likely to be white and less likely to be disabled,” warns the strategy.

“Creating real diversity in chairs, and our membership, which represents wider society is a top priority.”

Boosting diversity among chairs is also vital to ensure the AoC is financially sustainable by attracting more members, its strategy adds.

“All the evidence from our finances, our membership records and our engagement with members suggests that we aren’t reaching enough chairs, says the AoC.

It says that under its current subscription and membership levels “we can’t be sustainable”.

Action to be taken includes encouraging chairs from across the UK and Republic of Ireland to join the AoC, rather than its current focus on just those based in England and Wales. While this may mean the organisation has to register with other regulators “the benefits of both more members and greater diversity within our membership is worth it”.

The AoC also aims to work with other sector bodies to boost diversity among charity leaders. This work will focus on “addressing issues that deter underrepresented groups from becoming chairs and board leaders”.

Getting on Board, NCVO, ACEVO, Action on Trustee Racial Diversity, Honorary Treasurers Forum and Young Trustees Movement are among other charity organisations mentioned for this collaborative work.

The AoC also aims to “encourage a multitude of ways of running a strong board” and for charities to “try out different ideas” for how they are led.

“Diversity of approach and diversity of trustees and chairs are positively complementary,” says its strategy.

Encouraging trustees to join

To further encourage diversity and boost its membership it will also encourage trustees who are interested in board leadership roles to join. In addition, it will urge those who have recently stood down as chairs to remain as members.

“We need to have more members of all types and size of organisation, by geography, and by their stage in the individual chairing journey,” its strategy says.

It adds: “Our membership has so far tended to focus almost exclusively on existing chairs. This has a double downside. We have turned away people who might become chairs, or whose skills and experience contribute to a better-run board.

“We have also given the impression that once people have stopped being a chair, they should step down from membership. This gives a transactional impression of our membership – people join when they need us.

“We want people to join because they believe in what we are trying to do, and because they want to be part of a community that supports, embraces and nurtures them, their peers and the work that they undertake.”

✔️Boards of all the talents
✔️Chairs of all the talents
✔️Trustees of all the talents
✔️Governance of all the talents

Find out all about our new strategy in this blog by our Chair @SaxtonJoe https://t.co/xHwu34n9oi #Charity #Chair #Trustee #Board #Governance pic.twitter.com/CiadaGWbWP

— AssociationOfChairs (@AssocOfChairs) July 25, 2024

AoC chair Joe Saxton said: “The reasons for doing all this are not abstract.

“We want to make sure that charities have boards of all the talents, led by chairs of all the talents, supported by trustees of all the talents, driving governance of all the talents.

“Charities will only be delivering to the peak of their talents if we harness and reflect all parts of the skills and experience of our society.”

The AoC also warns that a lack of engagement with members means “we are filling a leaky bucket – as quick as we recruit new members, older ones leave”.

It details that less than half of its members have never been to one of its events and less than one three in ten regularly read its newsletter.

Renewal rates are at 50%, below the 80% norm for membership bodies, it adds.

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