For independent PBGS, the role of trustee is defined by their legal responsibility for the ‘general control and management of the administration of a charity’ and their specific duties are set out in the organisation’s governing document. For hosted PBGS, their role can be defined according to the needs of the organisation - in most cases they are delegated decision making responsibility by the Board of the host. It will help to clearly define the role of members at the outset with a Terms of Reference.
The role of Chair is key to any decision making Board or group. It is especially acute where people from different sectors come together to make an impact on the fast changing needs of their communities. The task of finding a shared vision and engaging the right people to achieve it is the first stage. The Chair will be supporting small teams running a complex programme with multiple stakeholders.
Julia Slay, Chair of Haringey Giving shares her experience of chairing a developing PBGS and identifies the skills and attributes that are most useful:
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• Ability to see the value of different sectors and organisations.
• Capacity to get stuck in with the team (it is more time consuming than a normal chair role).
• Ability to articulate the giving vision and build relationships across other partners.
• Ability to be responsive and flexible as the initiative evolves in the first few years.
• Ability to reach out and build relationships with local leaders and organisations.
• Thinking about communications early on - it has become a really important part of our profile and ability to raise funds.
To support the governance of schemes, London’s Giving hosts a network for Chairs of place based giving schemes - meetings provide an opportunity for sharing best practice and peer support across the network.