Exploring the possibility of university students as charity trustees

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the viewpoint of charities, as to how receptive they might be to having a university student on their board of trustees. A questionnaire was sent to charities in the South-West of England. 154 responses were received. 63% of respondents currently have vacancies for trustees. There is a heightened awareness among respondents of the importance of diversity of boards and a high level of interest in exploring whether, and how, students could be recruited as trustees. This paper extends previous work in exploring whether charities would be receptive to having a university student on their boards and raises awareness of one possible route that charities might pursue to increase the number and diversity of trustees.