Over the past couple of years we’ve been making some big changes to InCommon’s governance. We believe these changes will make us a better run, more sustainable organisation for the future. This has been a steady and gradual process and has generally happened behind the scenes. We wanted to share some of the journey we’ve been on to help other organisations on a similar path.
Becoming a charity
InCommon was established in 2017 as a social enterprise company, which gave us freedom to look at different revenue streams and focus areas while we were testing ideas to support community connection in later life. Early on, we put in place social enterprise articles, with a stated social mission, 100% reinvestment of any profit towards that mission and an asset lock to help safeguard our mission. By the start of 2020 it became clear that all our activity would be charitable and we recognised that a fully non-profit making structure as a registered charity was the best fit for us.
During the pandemic our charity plans were put on the back burner as we mobilised to support the older people we worked with, but in May 2021, with pro bono support from lawyers at Bates Wells, we formed a new legal entity (InCommon Foundation) and submitted an application to the Charity Commission. We received our charity number in June 2022 and couldn’t be happier with the change - our legal structure now truly reflects who we are, our social mission is more embedded, and it’s helped us to find even more incredible supporters to help us drive the organisation forward.
Establishing a new Board of Trustees
Our Co-founders and existing advisory board members were the founding Trustees of InCommon Foundation, reflecting the reality of decision making during this transitional period. Once we became a registered charity, we ran an open recruitment process for Trustees and were overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and passion from lots of fantastic applicants. After a careful decision making process, we invited three new Trustees to join the Board, deciding to save additional spaces for a participant representative and a future Chair.
We mutually agreed a three month period with the new Trustees to confirm the fit was right during which they sat in on Trustee meetings; attended an intergenerational workshop; undertook safeguarding training; got up to speed on all our activities and participated in working groups.
In February 2023 we met a really significant milestone as these new Trustees were voted on, and our executive Co-founders stepped down as Trustees, but will continue to co-lead the charity and report to the Board of Trustees.
Meet our new Board of Trustees
The next steps for our Governance
The Trustees have appointed an Interim Chair to shape our governance over the next 6 months. A working group is completing a review of our policies and risk management frameworks and will be recruiting a Chair to steer the Board going forward. We are also forming an Intergenerational Panel which will be an accessible forum for programme participants of all ages to share their ideas, and hope that a member of the Panel will agree to become a Trustee and act as a formal link to share this insight with the Board.
Next month, InCommon’s team, trustees and advisors will come together for a Vision and Strategy Day to align around a strong shared purpose for the charity.
As Co-founders, we are acutely aware of the challenges that founder-led organisations can face in finding long-term sustainability. It’s been a long journey with lots of learnings along the way and we feel really excited about the future of InCommon.
We are delighted to be broadening the group responsible for leading the charity and believe that more voices and improved structures will lead to better decision making and ultimately will help us to deliver greater social impact into the future.
Charlotte & Laura