Resources / New trustee starter pack and induction checklist
New trustee starter pack and induction checklist
A trustee who joins without induction takes months to contribute and may never learn their legal duties. This checklist gets someone genuinely useful, and genuinely safe, inside a month.
Before appointment
- Eligibility confirmed: the candidate has read the automatic disqualification rules and signed a declaration that none apply
- Any required checks done (DBS where the role is eligible)
- Appointment made per the governing document (right body, right process, minuted) and term recorded
Week one: the pack
- The governing document, with the objects and quorum/meeting rules highlighted
- The Essential Trustee (CC3): the six duties, about 30 minutes well spent
- Latest annual report & accounts and the current budget
- Minutes of the last three meetings and the decision log
- Risk register, key policies (conflicts, safeguarding, financial controls) and the compliance calendar
- Who's who: trustees, roles, staff/volunteer leads, advisers
Month one: confirmations
- Declaration of interests completed (or nil return) and entered in the register
- Duties briefing done: a chat with the chair plus a short knowledge check
- Registered with the Charity Commission as a trustee (and Companies House if a company)
- Added to meeting invites, the document store and the action log
- A first small ownership: one action or one agenda item at their first meeting
Why the knowledge check matters: "I was never told" is the most common line in trustee-dispute casework. A ten-question check with a signed confirmation, kept with the induction record, protects the trustee and the charity alike.