Governance and Leadership

What we do

NCVO’s Governance and Leadership work supports and enables good governance and effective leadership in the voluntary and community sector. We work with a broad range of organisations, bringing together all sides of the governance and leadership relationship to provide you with the support you need. 

• Our Trustee Bank 
  Do you need help with trustee recruitment? Or thinking about becoming a trustee? Our Trustee Bank offers a free service to advertise or view trustee vacancies.  It also provides information about becoming a trustee and on recruitment and induction practices. 
• Information Centre
  Stuck on a question or looking for advice on a particular topic? Visit the Information Centre for a whole host of resources by divided by area - trustees, governance, boards and CEOs. Or if you know the name of the publication find it in on our resources page.
• Get legal guidance
  Looking for clear guidance and information about legal structures? Get Legal is our free online reference and decision making tool, to help individuals and organisations find the most appropriate legal structure.
• Trustee training pack - StudyZone on KnowHow NonProfit site: This three-in-one training pack gives you the tools and information to govern more effectively.
  Three full online training courses, in total, 18 online video courses and more than one hour and 40 minutes of training:
  'The board appraisal toolkit',
  'Make your board more effective' and
  'Strategy made easy

Keep up to date with us 

NCVO sends a range of tailored email newsletters including one dedicated to keeping you up to date on the latest thinking, news and resources in the field of charity governance and leadership. Sign up to our e-newsletter. For the latest updates follow us on Twitter

Latest news 

How has the Code of Governance changed your organisation?

Our Winifred Tumim Memorial Prize for Best Practice in Charity Governance has been established by NCVO in honour of the work done by Lady Winifred Tumim to improve the quality of charity governance

Applications for the Winifred Tumim Memorial Prize 2012 are now open. Three prizes are awarded: £1000, a free place on one of NCVO's Governance training days or a copy of our Good Trustee Guide.

Find out about the Winifred Tumim Memorial Prize.

Free Sustainable Funding for Trustees guide for all NCVO members

Sustainability is one of the biggest challenges faced by trustees and staff in voluntary and community sector organisations.  Written by Peter Dyer and Anne Moynihan this guide sets out clear and accessible guidance to support trustees in their roles and responsibilities for financial sustainability.

Sustainable Funding for Trustees is available exclusively for NCVO members. Visit our members section to download your free copy. 

New publication "Good Governance"

For the first time this guide brings together a range of publications including the best selling 'Good Governance: the chair's role' and 'Good Governance: the chief executive's role'.  Find out more "Good Governance: a practical guide for boards, chairs and CEOs".

Trustee Conference 2011

Read the presentations from the conference.

Leadership 2020

The Leadership 20:20 Commission is currently consulting to identify barriers and opportunities faced by established leaders, and to understand what support emerging leaders are looking for.  From the findings, the Commission will draw up a number of recommendations that will be used to shape the future of leadership policy and practice within the sector. If you have thoughts or issues you would like to submit to the Commission, please email them to leadership2020(at)ncvo-vol.org.uk.

About our work

Leadership and Governance National Support Service 

This was a three year programme funded by Capacity Builders and led by NCVO. Our mission is to strengthen the ability of support providers to help civil society organisations, especially small ones, to develop their leadership and governance, thus increasing their effectiveness and sought to build upon and develop where appropriate the resources and work of the Governance Hub.

What has happened to the Governance Hub?

The Governance Hub completed its programme of work by 31 March 2008. Find out more about the legacy of the Governance Hub and how its work will be taken forward. The Governance Hub brought together people, information and ideas about governance in the voluntary and community sector. The full range of the information, publications, toolkits and supporting documentation created under the programme has been made available throughout the Governance and Leadership sections of the NCVO website. An outline of the Governance Hub Materials can be found in a Guide to Governance Hub Resources.