Governance is about managing your group, whether small or large, charitable or profit driven. You will need a set of rules and a group of people prepared to oversee the work i.e. your governing document and management committee.
Up to 15 people work well as a committee, meeting regularly to decide how to run your group, who will do what and how to answer to your members. By law they have to make sure the group achieves its aims so if something goes wrong or if money is lost, the committee could be held personally liable.
When recruiting people for your committee, it is good to have a range of skills covering finance, administration, publicity, previous experience and more. You also need three people to become ‘Honorary Officers’ - chair, secretary, and treasurer - to cover essential roles. You may also ask other people join the committee in an advisory capacity i.e. someone who gives advice but does not vote on decisions and is not legally responsible for decisions taken.
Each group will decide how to run things. You can read guidance at the Charity Commission website, read Legal Structures and ask people already doing the role. You will need to hold an Annual General Meeting (AGM) each year to present annual report and accounts and where the committee stand for election. You may set up ‘sub-committees’, delegating specific work to a small group of trustees and other people e.g. fundraising or finance. They report back to the main committee.
Skills you might need:
Planning: Writing plans, monitoring progress, looking forward etc
Interpersonal: Public speaking, active listening, reading information, chairing meetings, making decisions, leadership etc
Legal: Understand contracts, devising policy, interpreting charity law etc
Finance: Costing projects, budgeting, monitoring cash flow, insurance etc
Fundraising: Negotiating contracts, finding supporters, running events etc
Public Relations: Liaising with the media, dealing with local government etc
Managing people: understand employment practice, motivate staff etc