Trustee standards

The National Occupational Standards for Trustees and Management Committee Members have been designed for trustees in all sizes of organisation; from small opportunity-based groups to large UK-wide charities.

They represent a standard of best practice in governance and describe the knowledge and skills trustees need to perform to the highest level.

Individuals, organisations and training providers can use these Standards to:

Inform recruitment and selection processes
Design and evaluate role
Manage individual and board performance
Identify development needs
Structure learning programmes
Evaluate training delivery

The National Occupational Standards for Trustees and Management Committee Members are available to purchase in print from the NCVO website, or download from this page for free.

The standards have four units:

Unit 1: Safeguard and promote the values and mission of the voluntary or community organisation
Unit 2: Determine the strategy and structure of the voluntary or community organisation
Unit 3: Ensure the voluntary or community organisation operates in an effective, responsible and accountable manner
Unit 4: Ensure the effective functioning of the voluntary or community organisation’s Board of Trustees

To buy a full-colour bound copy of the Standards, which includes a foreword, set of illustrations and a glossary of key words and phrases for £10 (NCVO members’ discount also available), visit the NCVO website.

Pocket-sized edition

The National Standards for Management Committee Members is also available in a condensed ‘pocket-sized’ version. The pocket-sized edition is available to purchase in print from the NCVO website for £1 (70p for NCVO members).

If you have any questions regarding this publication, please contact us.

Pocket-sized edition - Welsh

The pocket-sized edition of the Standards for Trustees and Management Committee Members is also available in Welsh. For more information, visit the WCVA website, or phone 0870 607 1666.

For more information about the Trustee and Management Committee Members Standards, please contact Mark Freeman.

National Occupational Standards for Trustees: Toolkit

NCVO’s Governance and Leadership team produced a useful toolkit for users of the Trustee Standards, which is available to download for free from the NCVO website.

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