Open selection process for appointing Trustees

What an open selection means

In an open selection process, Trustee vacancies are advertised publicly to try and reach a wider range of potential applicants. This gives more people the chance to consider the opportunities and express interest, while increasing the mix of skills and experiences on a Trustee Board. 

Why this is important

Using an open selection process to find Trustees is very common in the charity sector. Open selection can increase the diversity of a Trustee Board by making other people aware, keeping the process transparent, and removing potential conflict of interests such as where Lead Volunteers previously nominated a Chair.  

Remember, you can check out the changes to how Trustees are appointed at  Moving to Trustee Boards.

Who makes the decision

It’s the responsibility of Trustee Boards to decide what the open selection process will look like in their local area. 

All Trustees have equal responsibility for these decisions. Although a Chair or Lead Volunteer may make recommendations, the Trustee Board as a whole needs to agree on the process. 

How to recruit Trustees using an open selection process

Here are some different ways you could run an open selection process. Feel free to use all, some, or none of these options. 

• Advertising for nominations. This might encourage people to nominate themselves, or other people who’d make a great addition to a Trustee Board. You could advertise on social media, websites, newsletters and so on. 
• Running elections. If holding an election, try and be transparent around local governance.  
• Run a search group. This can help to ‘head hunt’ someone with specific skills or experience to join the Trustee Board.  
• Advertise roles for applications. Share information both inside and outside of Scouts. This could include advertising at local volunteer centres or on local social media groups to widen your reach. 

Trustee Boards and Lead Volunteers can also make nominations. Please note how this is different to the first option where anyone may nominate. However, we wouldn’t recommend using this option too much, as it’s not as open and fair as the other suggestions above. 

Remember, all Trustees have equal responsibility for these decisions.

Based on the outcome of this selection process, the Chair, Treasurer and Trustees are all appointed at Annual General Meetings (AGMs) by the Scout Council.

Further support

There are many resources available for recruiting Trustees, some you can find through the Scout brand centre.  

There’s also some helpful external guidance on finding and recruiting Trustees: 

• Finding potential trustees (Charity Commission) 
• Recruiting and inducting trustees (NCVO)  
• How to Diversify your Board (GettingOnBoard).
• Trustee Recruitment Cycle (Reach Volunteering, GettingOnBoard, Association of Chairs, Small Charities Coalition)