Governance & policies

Each trade association should have an effective governing body which should lead and control its activities. There are two key personnel, the Chair and the Chief Executive, which should take responsibility for running the governing body and the organisation’s business.  

It is necessary for an association to have a good quality governing body which comprises those who are recognised both inside and outside the industry as leaders.  A governing body should be comprised of member representatives.  Depending upon the nature of the association, it is sensible to have a specific number of places reserved for certain categories of members. The role of the governing body largely falls into four main categories:-

Setting the Framework

A trade association operates best within a framework which has been agreed by the governing body and communicated effectively to the staff and members. This framework should be reviewed as part of the planning process.

Formal Responsibilities

Most trade associations have some formal responsibilities which are taken from their constitutional documents. These may include, but are not limited to, duties with regard to membership criteria and admission and some basic housekeeping functions such as expenditure authorisation limits , signing off the annual report and authority in respect of some staff matters.

Annual Reviews

There are a number of major annual reviews to be undertaken by a governing body:-

• Agree an operational plan and budget for each year and set the subscription scale;
• Review of the market position of the association;
• Governance of the association and the constitutional documents (a note of caution – these can be difficult to change, the processing of which may possibly result in wider issues being raised at an inappropriate time);
• Performance management of the Chief Executive.

Handling One-Off Events

Major one-off events generally stem from one the subjects of an annual review. These may include issues such as a major budgetary problem, a governance crisis, dismissal or appointment of a Chief Executive of a major policy issue.