Charity Commission updates Guidance on finding and appointing new trustees

In May 2025, the Charity Commission (Commission) published updated Guidance on finding and appointing new trustees (CC30) (Guidance). The Guidance is designed to help charities navigate the challenge of recruiting trustees by providing a step-by-step guide to the process and highlighting how to remove barriers and connect to a broader range of candidates.

Samantha Pritchard, partner, and Victoria Walton, senior solicitor apprentice in our charities team, discuss the new Guidance and summarise the changes.

Why has the Guidance been revised?

Recent research by the Commission found that over half of charities rely on personal contacts to fill their trustee roles – only 6% of the trustees questioned had applied for their role through an advert. This runs the risk that boards may recruit in their own likeness, leading to the potential for ‘groupthink’ and failing to consider issues from a broad range of perspectives.

What does the new Guidance say? 

The Guidance reminds trustees of the practical steps charities can follow to expand their trustee recruitment reach. It sits alongside the recommendations in the Charity Code of Governance, particularly in relation to board diversity and effectiveness.

Staying compliant

The Guidance acts as a helpful reminder to trustees to start by checking what their governing document requires for the recruitment and appointment process, and to consider any trustee recruitment policy the charity may have. It also highlights the need for trustees to consider their overarching duty to make recruitment decisions in the best interests of their charity.

Aiding trustee recruitment

The Guidance confirms that trustees can spend their charity’s funds on placing adverts in newspapers and online and can engage specialist recruitment agencies to support in their search. This can be particularly attractive when a board is looking to recruit a specialist with skills or has tried open recruitment but has not been able to find the candidate they require.

It provides suggestions for the content to include in an advert and role profile to provide interested candidates with the information they need to understand the role, the level of commitment required and how it might fit around their work and home commitments, and the opportunity for training and development whilst in the role.

For charities that are paid by a public authority to deliver services, it also highlights the need to consider whether public sector equality duties apply.

Pre-appointment checks

Once a suitable candidate is identified, the Guidance summarises the steps trustees should take to ensure they are eligible to be appointed. This includes checking that a candidate is not disqualified from acting as a charity trustee, considering whether any other interests may conflict with the interest of the charity, whether a DBS check is required, and whether other background checks are prudent (including of any public social media profiles).

What comes next?

Following the appointment of a new trustee, the Guidance steers charities towards thinking about what a new trustee needs to understand and fulfil their responsibilities. This can form part of your induction programme for new trustees and we would say as a minimum, requires you to provide a copy of your charity’s governing document and key policies, meeting key staff, having access to the last year of minutes and reports and having suitable training to understand key aspects of the charity’s activities and their role as a trustee.

The Guidance, which can be found here, also provides links to related Guidance and resources, including decision-making guidance and the rules about who can be appointed as a trustee.

Need advice?

If you require advice on your recruitment and appointment processes, or the policies that you have in place to ensure your approach is robust, or you have any charity law queries in general, contact Samantha using [email protected] or 0191 211 7905.