Safeguarding responsibilities for trustees and non-executive directors
Your trustees or non-executive directors carry safeguarding accountability, but they are unclear on what that means in practice and how to provide proper oversight.
What you'll achieve
A board that understands its safeguarding responsibilities, asks the right questions, and provides confident oversight without drifting into operations.
How a Nonprofit Builder consultant helps
- Provide targeted guidance and training for trustees or non-executive directors on legal duties, governance oversight, reporting, escalation, and how safeguarding should appear in board practice.
Key deliverables
- Board safeguarding briefing, tailored trustee training session, oversight checklist, recommended reporting format for the board, governance guidance note.
Related projects
More from Safeguarding
Child & vulnerable adult staff training
“Staff interact with children or vulnerable adults every day but have had no formal training — they wouldn't know how to recognise a concern, let alone what to do about it.”See project
Digital safeguarding policy
“Your safeguarding policies say nothing about online risks — staff are communicating with beneficiaries over WhatsApp, social media, and personal email with no guidance at all.”See project
Organisational safeguarding assessment
“You think your safeguarding is probably fine — but you have no external validation of that, and a funder or incident could prove otherwise.”See project
Often paired with
Trustee training & capacity building
“Your trustees are willing but underprepared — they lack confidence in their legal duties and financial oversight responsibilities, and it shows in board meetings.”See project
Governance framework review & strengthening
“Your governance has grown organically and is now unclear — nobody is quite sure who decides what, and accountability lines are blurred.”See project
From the resource library
Free tools and guides to get started
- 11.2C151
Safeguarding Resource and Support Hub (RSH)
A free online hub that helps humanitarian and development organisations, and smaller civil society organisations in particular, strengthen safeguarding against sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment. It lists over 1,300 resources, including tools, guidance, training material and how-to notes, plus 140 consultants. National hubs serve 12 countries in South Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe. Content is in 18 languages and follows the CAPSEAH framework.
Start hereCurrentKey online resourceFree - 11.3C153
Charities and risk management (CC26)
Guidance from the charity regulator for England and Wales on how trustees identify, assess and manage risks to their charity. It defines a risk as any event that could stop a charity achieving its aims or carrying out its strategies, with examples such as reputational damage, lost funding, poor investments and policy changes. Trustees use it to set up and review a risk register and to report on risk in their accounts.
Start hereCurrentKey manual or guideFree