Charity Governance Training: What Boards Need and How to Find It

Governance training is not a legal requirement for charity trustees. The Charity Commission's CC3 guidance on the essential trustee sets out six core duties that every trustee must fulfil — but it does not specify how trustees acquire the knowledge to fulfil them. That is left to the board.

In practice, most trustees arrive with expertise in their professional field (law, finance, health, education) and limited knowledge of charity governance specifically. How a charity is constituted, what the Charity Commission expects, how trustees make decisions collectively, and how the board oversees management — these are governance topics that most trustees have to learn on the job. Training accelerates that learning.

The Charity Governance Code 2025 is more explicit. Principle 8 (Board Effectiveness) states that "the board is committed to its development, including trustee induction, individual learning and whole board learning," and lists among its recommended practices that "trustees are offered learning and development opportunities." The Code uses an apply-or-explain framework, so you are not required to answer yes — but you should have a considered position on it.

What governance training covers

Governance training for charity trustees typically addresses some combination of:

Legal duties and responsibilities. The six trustee duties under the Charities Act 2011: acting in the charity's best interests, carrying out its purposes, acting with reasonable care and skill, managing resources responsibly, acting only within the charity's powers, and being accountable. These duties are covered in the Charity Commission's CC3 guidance and form the basis of most introductory courses.

The governance code and how to apply it. The eight principles of the 2025 Charity Governance Code — Foundation, Organisational Purpose, Leadership, Ethics and Culture, Decision Making, Managing Resources and Risks, Equity Diversity and Inclusion, and Board Effectiveness — and how they apply to a specific board's structure and size.

Board composition and dynamics. How to recruit trustees, identify skills gaps, run inclusive meetings, and manage disagreements within the board. For the practical steps on trustee recruitment, see our guide to recruiting charity trustees.

Financial oversight for non-finance trustees. Reading a charity income-and-expenditure statement, understanding the difference between restricted and unrestricted funds, and knowing when to ask harder questions of the treasurer. This is often the area where trustee boards have the most room to improve.

Conflicts of interest. How to recognise conflicts, when to declare them, and how the board should manage trustee decisions when a conflict is present. See our conflict of interest policy template for charities for the Charity Commission's five-step process.

Safeguarding governance. The board's responsibility to ensure appropriate safeguarding policies and oversight arrangements are in place — relevant for any charity working with vulnerable groups.

Types of governance training

Introductory induction programmes. Short modules (two to four hours) covering the basics of trusteeship — what you are agreeing to, what you are legally responsible for, and what good governance looks like in practice. NCVO, Charity Commission, and many local CVS organisations offer these free or at low cost.

Role-specific training. Separate modules for the chair, treasurer, and secretary — covering the specific responsibilities of each role within the board's collective framework. See our guides on the charity treasurer role and trustee meeting best practices.

In-house board development sessions. A facilitator works with the whole board over half a day or a full day, often combining a governance health-check with practical workshops. These work best for boards that have been together for a while and have specific dynamics to address. Local CVS organisations and organisations like NCVO's consultancy arm provide these.

Annual governance reviews. Some boards build a governance agenda item into their annual planning cycle — reviewing the Charity Governance Code self-assessment, discussing board composition, and identifying where skills or knowledge need refreshing. Our free Governance Code Self-Assessment Tool covers all eight principles and can structure this discussion.

Ongoing learning. NCVO's Know How guides, the Charity Commission's online learning resources, and professional body publications (ICSA, CABA for finance professionals) provide continuing reference for trustees who want to deepen their understanding in specific areas.

Where to find free and low-cost training

The Charity Commission. The Commission publishes free guidance on all aspects of trusteeship — CC3, CC29 on trustee payments, CC30 on recruitment, and others. Its online learning modules cover the core duties and are available without registration.

NCVO (National Council for Voluntary Organisations). NCVO's governance guidance hub includes free guidance on trustee development. NCVO also runs training workshops and online courses, some free to NCVO members.

Your local CVS (Council for Voluntary Service). Local CVS organisations exist in most areas and often run free or subsidised trustee training. Search for your local CVS through the NAVCA (National Association for Voluntary and Community Action) directory. These tend to be practical and locally-focused, which suits small charities well.

Getting on Board. A specialist organisation focused on trustee recruitment and development, which runs training programmes and publishes free resources.

Diocese networks, umbrella bodies, and sector-specific networks. If your charity operates in a particular sector (health, arts, faith, sport), the relevant umbrella body often runs governance training tailored to that context.

How to prioritise governance training for a small board

Not every trustee needs every type of training. A useful starting point is the skills audit — reviewing what knowledge and experience the board already has, and identifying the gaps. This is also recommended in the Charity Governance Code Principle 8.

For most small charity boards, the priority areas are:

1. New trustee induction. Any trustee who has not been through a formal introduction to charity trusteeship should do at least a two-hour introductory module within their first three months.

2. Financial literacy for the whole board. The treasurer leads on finance, but all trustees are financially responsible. Non-finance trustees should be able to read a management accounts summary and ask basic questions about the charity's financial position.

3. Safeguarding awareness. For charities working with children or vulnerable adults, the Charity Commission expects trustee-level safeguarding awareness — not practitioner-level training, but enough to oversee the charity's policies and arrangements.

4. The governance code. A structured self-assessment against the 2025 Charity Governance Code once during a trustee's term — ideally together as a board — is more useful than individual reading of the Code.

Good governance training is not a box-ticking exercise. It makes the board more effective, which makes the charity more effective. A trustee who understands their duties, the charity's governance framework, and how to contribute to board discussions is a more useful trustee — and one who is less likely to create problems that take time to resolve. Use our free Compliance Checklist Generator to check your charity's overall governance and compliance position, including whether your board arrangements meet Charity Commission expectations.

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This guide covers charity law in England and Wales. The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland and the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator have separate requirements. This is information, not legal advice.

Sources

• Charity Commission CC3: The essential trustee — what you need to know, what you need to do
• GOV.UK: Charity trustee — what's involved
• NCVO: Governance guidance for charities