Why Charity Boards Fail
This guide helps trustees, founders, and CEOs recognise the patterns that quietly weaken boards - unclear roles, dominant voices, avoided conversations, and governance that looks right on paper but doesn't work in practice. Written with the 2025 Charity Governance Code in mind.
What to Do Before It Starts Causing Damage
One person dominates the discussion. Another says very little. Decisions are delayed because no one wants to challenge the room. Between meetings, assumptions get made that were never agreed upon in the room.
None of this feels like failure. But over time, it shapes everything.
This guide helps trustees, founders, and CEOs recognise the patterns that weaken boards in small and medium-sized UK charities – unclear roles, quiet founder influence, misalignment between chair and CEO, and governance that looks correct on paper but doesn’t work in practice.
It is written with the 2025 Charity Governance Code in mind, but focuses on what actually happens in boardrooms, not what should happen in theory.
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