Trustee board size

A trustee board should be the right size to govern effectively.

The rules governing the minimum and maximum size of a board are usually set out in a charity’s governing document and/or in accompanying rules or by-laws.

A board should be large enough to ensure that there are enough people with the range of skills needed to carry out the board’s work.

A board should be small enough to ensure that trustees can work together as a team with each fully participating in decision-making.

There is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ size of board. The average is 9.5 (Open University Business School/NCVO, 2001): the consensus of opinion favours smaller boards with an optimum of between 8 and 12.

A review of trustee board size might lead some charities to change their governing document. Any changes to the governing document and accompanying rules must be carried out in accordance with the law and the provisions in the existing governing document.