Bullying on the Board
A few months ago I joined the board of a (very) small national arts based charity (A Company Limited by Guarantee) as Company Secretary. I am also a director. I was to say the least, dropped in it. There was no handover no documentation was passed across,. but never mind eh. I am a volunteer having spent over 10 years previously in a similar role prior to retirement. I am a law graduate and spent many years in management both in the private and commercial sectors before moving on to charity management. Voluntary organisations i worked with have gained Investors in People and National Training Awards recognition.
What I soon discovered was there was a scandalous waste of resources, largely due to unreal amounts of committee and directors expenses, uncontrolled purchasing and a complete failure to involve any of the members in running the organisation. Resignations followed straight after the EGM at which I was elected. The chair and 1 director going in a month. I was horrified at what I found out.
I prepared an action plan for the charity for presentation to the board, most of it related to cost-cutting and rationisation due to falling memberships and trading losses through a trading arm. Some of this inevitably did not go down well with directors who had served previously and who were probably involved in some of the nefarious activities.
Since then I have had abuse at meetings vicious emails and telephone calls. The board is split and the vice-chair (who hung on despite attempts to shift her) is weak.
Question is, do I go or do I stay? I cannot put up with the attempts at bullying and intimidation (which appear to be endemic) but i am not a quitter either.
Your input will be much appreciated.
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bullying on the board
Chris, you certainly raise a big question here, and please don't think it is a cop out when I say there is no right answer. Your first consideration has to be yourself, any decision you make has to be based on what you can cope with. taking any action can take MONTHS during which you may well continue to be abused at meetings, and it seems it is encroaching on your personal life as well if you are receiving e mails and phone calls at home. i don't know what support you have around you but I do know that this type of thing can have a devastating impact on personal relationships and family life - not to mention ones own emotional health and well being.
So, taking that into consideration I think that your 2 main ports of call are the Charity Commission, and your funders.
I have recently been involved as a mentor to someone working for an organisation, she found a very similar situation when she started to work, eventually and with my support she spoke to funders who investigated, gave the organisation an idea of improvements they expected to see - with timelines. She was able to take a back seat (and in fact was offered another job elsewhere so left the organisation) and eventually, after the organisation in question were unable/unwilling to change their practices funding was withdrawn.
Not perhaps the best outcome, but it meant her conscience was clear in the knowledge that funds were not being misappropriated, and also meant that she did not have the stress herself.
You do nto have to think of yourself as a quitter, you are removing your name and reputation from something that you cannot stand by! Do please contact me for any support or information (I think you can click on my picture to send me an e mail)
Best wishes, and keep us posted
Bullying on the board
Cannot email you as there is no link from the picture.
it is
it is debbie.usiskin@volunteermanagers.org.uk
Update
Since writing the above I have been in touch with several members of the organisation and the decision has been made to refer the matter to the Charity Commission
I will update you further when I know more