Find trustees

Before setting up a charity, you will also need to consider whether the trustees have the necessary skills and experience, but also have the time to commit to ensure compliance with the charities legislation in the Isle of Man, and any other legislation that applies to it (for example Companies Acts).

Trustees should be able to commit sufficient time to your charity. In smaller charities, this may only extend to a few meetings a year, and one fundraising events. In other larger or incorporated charities, there may be a number of meetings, mandatory training, compliance matters and paperwork to attend to. In either case, trustees should know and understand the legal obligations upon them as trustees.

You may wish to try different methods of encouraging trustees to volunteer or apply for a paid vacancy within your charity. In the Isle of Man, word of mouth or social media is far reaching, and any local advertising might also have a greater reach than in other jurisdictions. You may also wish to consider your existing supporters or volunteers as a pool from whom you can recruit trustees.

Having a charity which has appropriate governance and support for its administration, with an effective chair person can also encourage good volunteers, so that board papers and business, documents and processes are easy to understand, and limit the time that trustees have to spend on charity business.

Make sure that you have an appropriate on boarding process for all trustees, which includes ensuring that they are appropriately qualified, skilled or experienced for the role, and that they are not disqualified from acting as a trustee.

Check our Guidance as to the role of a Charity Trustee.