Trustees decide strategy, approve accounts, manage risk and appoint senior staff. They carry legal duties and can be held personally responsible for serious failures.
What to look at as a donor:
- How many. Charity Commission guidance points to a minimum of three for effective decision-making; our scoring rewards boards that reach that threshold.
- Whether names are published. They appear on the register as a matter of course.
- Related party transactions. Payments between the charity and a trustee or their business must be disclosed in the accounts. Undisclosed ones are a governance concern.
A one-trustee charity is not necessarily doing anything wrong, but nobody in the room is positioned to challenge the person in charge.