A skills audit before you recruit

When a small charity needs a new trustee, the usual first step is to ask around. A short skills audit beforehand makes that search more focused.

It doesn't need to be complicated. List the skills and experience the board needs over the next two or three years, such as finance, safeguarding, fundraising, property or lived experience of the cause. Ask each trustee to rate themselves against each one, then look for the gaps.

The gaps tell you who to look for, and they give you something concrete to put in the role description. Two tips from boards I have worked with:

• Include term end dates, so you can see which skills are about to leave
• Repeat the exercise every year, as the charity's needs change

The free skills audit template does both, and flags each skill as a gap, at risk, thin, worth considering or covered.

General guidance, not legal advice.