(2 minute read)
Published: 27 February 2026
Written by: Sufina Ahmad, Director
Over the last six years, if I had to say what part of my role as Director (equivalent to Chief Executive) of John Ellerman Foundation I am asked about most, I would probably say it is the work I do with our Board of Trustees. I think that’s because it is one of the more unique aspects of a role like mine. Chief Executives hold the responsibility for the relationship that exists between the Board and the organisation and are very much there to ensure the Board is supported to fulfil its roles and responsibilities within the organisation.
Governance in any kind of organisation, whether public, private or charitable, is the kind of topic that results in a lot of different reactions and opinions. It can also result in quite extreme responses, that can be rather binary too. Governance ends up being a bit like marmite, you either love it or you hate it. There is a shorthand in this kind of framing, which can be useful – but ultimately the extremes and binaries lack a certain level of nuance and expansive thinking that I think the topic of governance requires.
Also, what about those of us, for I am sure that I can’t be the only one, that neither love nor hate marmite? I am simply someone who thinks of marmite as something that’s broadly fine really. A more neutral view, if you will.
So, back to my views on charity governance then. Governance done badly can result in all sorts of poor outcomes and consequences for an organisation. These outcomes might be dire and result in an organisation underperforming, failing, or closing. Or it is more likely that the full benefits of charity governance as a mechanism for oversight and helping an organisation to progress and evolve are never really fully realised – resulting in governance being delivered as though it were a tick box exercise or something to be got through.
When governance is done well, it can be a real boon – generating and supporting the progress that organisations need and deserve. I have volunteered as a Board Trustee since 2014, often sitting on multiple Boards at any given time. Overall, I have really enjoyed every single one of my Trustee roles – gaining so much from them in terms of giving back to causes I care about, understanding how different organisations work, working as a team with my fellow Trustees and the executive teams to support the organisation to run as effectively as it can, seeing up close and responding to organisational challenges and the triumphs, and much more. I have only ever been a Trustee of organisations with staff teams, which means that I haven’t lived the day to day in the way that staff in the organisation might, and so I hope that what I have offered is the benefits of having a different perspective. The perspective of someone who lives and breathes the organisation very differently – in pockets of time based on carefully constructed Board and Committee packs, or emails, or calls, or online and in person meetings, at different points throughout the year.
Some of my colleagues talk about the dread and avoidance they feel when thinking about charity governance. Sometimes this is due to the processes involved and the time poured into them. Sometimes it can be about the responsibility of the organisation’s work not progressing in the way you think it should.
In early 2025, when chatting to my incoming Chair, it suddenly occurred to us that there is a way of considering governance in more depth: Governance reviews. It seemed so obvious that this is something an organisation should do every few years at least, but between us we could hardly come up with any examples of organisations that had done them. Perhaps this is because there can be a desire to avoid interrogating your governance in too much depth. Ultimately people are volunteering their time and expertise, and this is something that we should celebrate. However, if we are to ensure that the governance arrangements are truly mutually beneficial, and are resulting in positive outcomes for an organisation, then we should not shy away from Governance Reviews.
We completed our Governance Review between July and October 2025, and used Bateleur and Partners, who you can find out more about by clicking here.
The Governance Review was an opportunity for us to assess compliance, quality and that our governance is fit for purpose to deliver to our next strategy for 2025 to 2030. This meant that as part of the Governance Review process we were asking Bateleur and Partners to complete the following:
- An assessment of the size, skills and set up of our Board and Committees and the frequency of meetings.
- Review of the quality of the Board and Committee papers, minutes and matters arising, terms of reference and any other relevant material.
- Consideration of the effectiveness of the governance structures and processes in place in supporting the delivery of the organisation’s executive responsibilities, e.g. in relation to Committee’s delivering to their terms of reference, development of organisational strategy etc.
- Review of the effectiveness of the approaches we have in place that mean Trustees operate as Trustees, but also receive pay to support with the assessment of grant applications at stages one and two – including considering the benefits and risks to this approach.
- Evaluation of the working culture of the Board, including how Trustees interact with each other, and how Trustees support the executive team (and vice versa).
- Evaluation of our compliance with key Charity Commission guidance and the Charity Governance Code.
The overarching approach to our Governance Review, can be summarised as:
- A desktop review of paperwork relating to governance, e.g. Role Descriptions, Memorandum of Understandings between Trustees and the Foundation, Code of Conduct, Terms of Reference, Board and Committee timetable, Board and Committee papers and minutes, and anything else that might be considered relevant, e.g. the appraisal process for Trustees and the Chair, or our recruitment policy, or our new strategy and our previous strategy etc.
- One-to-one meetings with all Trustees and relevant staff. For our staff, this involved group meetings as well as one-to-one meetings.
- Debrief/feedback of the findings to the Chair, Vice Chair and Director.
- A full day gathering feeding back the findings to Trustees and staff.
When the Review findings were shared, we received clear insights into what was working well and why. We were also provided with proactive and feasible suggestions on the ways in which we can enhance further our governance structures, model, skills and culture. I also think that we really benefitted from it being delivered by an external organisation, as they were able to introduce a rigour and perspective that we might not have been able to.
We have found our Governance Review to be a thorough and effective piece of work. We are now actively working through the findings to ensure that the Board and staff team can continue to work together effectively and confidently. In the coming year, we will be doing more in depth work on:
- Our values, and what they mean to us
- The skills we have across the Board and staff team
- Our approach to risk and our risk appetite
- Trustee succession planning.
We will also be doing more to ensure that we are celebrating our successes and achievements, as well as trialling some new approaches to ensuring that the Board works as strategically as it can. Working on the findings from the Governance Review will be a big feature of 2026 and we will likely share more about the progress we made later in the year on our blog.