This session is part of Getting on Board’s Trustee Learning Programme, providing free and high-quality training to support people to become and serve as effective trustees.
Dive into the heart of democratic discourse. Our panel will unpack the nuances, challenges, and possibilities surrounding board representation in membership organisations.
On one hand, the very essence of a membership organisation is rooted in the idea of collective representation—a unified voice for a diverse group of individuals. However, achieving genuine representation involves navigating various challenges.
Join us for a panel discussion on the merits and challenges inherent in membership organisations.
The panel will discuss:
- Board composition: who decides who the “right” people are?
- Balancing members and independents
- Elections
- Challenges and strategies associated with promoting diversity, equity and inclusion on the boards of membership organisations
- Power dynamics and inclusive decision-making
- Member engagement
- Transparency
- Changing and evolving membership structures
This session is for trustees, staff, members and funders of charities that have members (individuals or organisations) with voting rights through which they can influence the governance of the charity, as well as those with non-voting members who influence or contribute to it in other ways.
Membership organisations include national and umbrella organisations, religious charities, animal welfare organisations, health charities, sports bodies, conservation and heritage organisations, student unions, youth charities, professional bodies, scouts and guides charities, local grant-making charities such as rotary or lions clubs as well as campaigning bodies with a charitable purpose.
About the session
- The session is free to attend with an option to make a donation of your choice in checkout.
- The session will take place on Zoom. The joining link will be sent in the Eventbrite confirmation email. You will also receive email reminders from Eventbrite 2 days, 2 hours and 10 minutes before the session starts. These reminders will also include the joining link.
- The session will be recorded and be later uploaded to our YouTube channel. We’re so pleased as to how popular our sessions have been, many have sold out. Please only book a ticket if you intend to join the session live. We’d totally recommend subscribing to our YouTube channel so you can be kept up to date with all the new uploads.
- If the session uses slides, we will send these to all who have booked a ticket following the session. Our panel sessions don’t use slides. If you having the slides prior to the session will make it more accessible for you, please email info@gettingonboard.org and we will gladly send them to you.
- As an attendee, you can enable closed captions during the session. For panels, we ‘spotlight’ panelists so the view stays consistently on those speaking. If you have booked a ticket, please contact info@gettingonboard.org if there are other adjustments we can make to the session to make it accessible to you.
- Getting on Board’s sessions are specifically for trustees of charities registered in England and Wales, although many of the principles of effective, inclusive trusteeship are broadly the same wherever trustees are based. Trustees of charities in Scotland and Northern Ireland are welcome to attend our sessions but should check local differences and will find excellent support from OSCR, SCVO, Inspiring Scotland, Charity Commission Northern Ireland and NICVA (Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action).
