On charity trustee roles

I’ve recently been the sounding board for a friend who has been looking for a trustee role. So far without success but there will be one.

Craig Coben, writing in the Financial Times* last month, offers a sharp observation about professionals who join charity boards after long corporate careers: many miss institutional clout more than they expect. Board roles can become a way of preserving that authority in soft focus.

It is an uncomfortable thought. But I suspect it deserves more honest attention than it usually receives.

A friend of Coben's, after decades in finance, joined the board of a regional theatre he loved. He hoped for creative discussions about the coming season. Instead, he was welcomed as the numbers guy: reviewing budgets, soliciting donations. What he hoped would be a fresh chapter became a diminished version of his former job.

The story resonates with me. I have held trustee and non-executive roles with charities and civil society organisations for over thirty years—including ten years as chair of a mental health charity. I have been on both sides of this: searching for roles, sometimes getting them and sometimes not, and later recruiting trustees for boards I served on. As a lawyer, I advised charity boards for many years, including when things had gone wrong. I have seen the expectations gap from every angle.

Neither party tends to ask the difficult questions. Charities do not want to discourage a willing volunteer. Candidates do not want to seem demanding. The result, all too often, is misalignment and quiet (or not so quiet) frustration.

So before committing to any role, it may be worth asking, both of yourself and the charity: What does this organisation actually need? Where can I contribute that is not simply a replay of my old job? Do they want something more than my money and my contacts?

These are not comfortable questions. But they are better asked early than answered too late.

Fit matters. If you are navigating these questions, I am always happy to talk—whether through Milestones or directly.

*Doing good in retirement requires more than just turning up, Craig Coben FT Jan 26, 2026