Looking to find a charity board role? Don't miss Cork's charity trustee ‘speed dating’ event!

Are you looking for more fulfillment out of life — a way to pursue your passions, to have a positive impact on the society around you, or simply do a bit of good?

If so, clear your schedule for May 23rd and head to Cork city’s Clayton Hotel between 5.30pm to 8pm, where you’ll find exciting opportunities to do exactly that with the help of Boardmatch!

Boardmatch is a registered charity specialising in not-for-profit board recruitment that works "a bit like a dating website for charities", explains their Communications and Education manager Hannah Coleman.

Since the organisation was founded in 2005, Boardmatch has been connecting people who want to volunteer their skills and expertise with charities and not-for-profits that have board vacancies.

While this online service has been hugely successful, helping to place over 400 people a year on to charity boards in Ireland, Boardmatch is now aiming to facilitate even greater connections by bringing those charities and potential board members together in person.

“At Boardmatch, our main goal is to break down the barriers to board recruitment,” Hannah shares. “We facilitate a fair, transparent recruitment process so that charities can independently source people from outside of their pre-existing networks. We help them to bring in new people with new perspectives, which is hugely important in creating more diversity on Irish charity boards.

“The way we do that is primarily through our website, but back in 2018 we held our first Trustee Speed Dating event, because we wanted something where there was just an instant connection and face-to-face interaction, where we could really leverage the human connection side of things. We try to make it as easy as possible for organisations to find board members, so if there’s a charity or individual that might not have strong computer literacy skills, for example, or that found using our website was a bit of a barrier and wanted to speed up the process, this event is great for them.” 

As beneficial as the event is for charities, it’s also a win-win for any potential board members who are eager to find the right organisation to volunteer their services to. Attendees will have plenty of opportunities on the night to ask as many questions as they want to a whole host of different organisations, helping to narrow down which charity’s mission aligns with their own values.

“We still have a few charity tables left for the event, but at the moment there’s a wide range lined up with 25 charities exhibiting on the night,” promises Hannah. “We have arts organisations, housing organisations, education, disability services — all sorts. Some of the charities registered so far include The Cork Deaf Association, Eating Disorder Centre Cork, Mahon Family Resource Centre and Dance Cork Firkin Crane, so there’s a good mix there to cater not only to whatever your interests are, but also whatever scale of organisation you want to get involved in. Some people prefer a smaller organisation where they can get a bit more hands on and help steer the development and growth of the charity, but other people might want to get involved with a charity that’s more mature and is already very clear on their strategy and how the board can support that.” 

With so many different organisations looking for new recruits on the night, it’s only natural that there’s huge variety in the kind of board members each of them is hoping to find. There’s no one type of person more suited to being a board member than anyone else, as Hannah points out.

"Anyone can be a board member, there’s no minimum skill requirement that you need. A board needs a wide variety of skills at its disposal. It needs people who have finance skills and legal skills, for example, but also people who have lived experience, who have any and all kind of skills — whether that’s from working in hospitality, in communications or in HR. A charity operates best when it has people with a wide range of skills and experience around the board table. Not everybody has to tick every single box, particularly in terms of having senior management experience, that’s a big myth that we’re trying to bust. Charities are looking for a huge range of different skills from their board members.” 

While there’s no particular qualifications or experience needed, the one thing that absolutely all board members must be able to offer is time. It’s important to reflect honestly on how big of a commitment you can make to a charity before getting involved, Hannah advises.

“For anybody coming to our event, I think they’ll get the most out of it by having an open mind and exploring a few different options. It is worth having a think about your own time commitments beforehand though. If you’re interested in joining a charity board, one of the first things to decide is how much time you’ll realistically be able to give to that charity. 

"It’s become easier in some ways to join a charity board because a lot of meetings now happen online, meaning you don’t have to factor in time to travel there and back. Boards still do meet in person, of course, but they tend to go for more of a hybrid model nowadays, which makes things that bit easier for people who are juggling board responsibilities with busy work lives and personal lives. There are ways to make it work, but you need to be realistic about how much time you can dedicate to a board — that will help guide the conversations you’re having with charities on the night.

“You should also have a good think about what you’re interested in and what you want to get out of board volunteering. I think some people are really passionate about a specific cause and that’s what draws them to board volunteering. Maybe somebody is really enthusiastic about fostering the arts, for example, and that’s why they want to get involved. With other people, while of course they’d still have an interest in the organisation, it’s more about career development and getting board experience as means to gain new skills and a better understanding of governance. Of course, there still has to be passion there, you’re never going to be a board member if you don’t care about the charity! Before the event, we’ll send out a full list of all the registered charities that are involved and a summary on each one, so people have the option to do a bit of prep beforehand if they already have a particular organisation in mind that they want to target on the night.” 

Regardless of how much research you’d prefer to do before attending, however, you’re guaranteed a successful evening regardless! The Boardmatch team are taking care of all the leg work to ensure the event goes off without a hitch. Now into their fifth year of running this speed dating event, they’re aiming to go bigger and better than ever!

“We first began the Trustee Speed Dating in 2018, but paused it for a few years due to Covid. When we first brought it back [post-pandemic], there was a fear as to whether people were truly ready for it when we were all just dipping our toe back into in-person events again, but we’ve seen a huge shift in the past two years. There’s a much higher demand there, with people really crying out to have more in-person events. That’s why we decided to expand the speed dating and host it regionally. This event in Cork will be our first one outside of Dublin.” 

To mark their arrival to the real capital, Hannah and the Boardmatch team are confident that their first event in Cork will be one of their best yet — with plenty of engaging activities and ice-breakers lined up.

“We want this to be a really fun and unique event, where spontaneity is more than encouraged. We’ll have a wildcard box on the night, where people can take a slip of paper that’ll name a random charity for them to talk to. We want it to be interesting and accessible, for people to have all sorts of different conversations with the mix of charities. Some really meaningful interactions can come about that way.

“It honestly is a real feel-good evening — the main feedback we get from this event each year is that people are always blown away by the energy in the room. It’s a group of people coming together with plenty of good will, everyone is there to give up their time for various good causes and discuss further opportunities around that. It makes for a great atmosphere.”

To experience the atmosphere for yourself, book your spot at Trustee Speed Dating here.

*Boardmatch Charity Trustee Speed Dating is kindly sponsored by Davy Group and BHP Insurance, and supported by Cork City Council.