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Nonprofit Vice President Job Description: A UK Charity Guide for 2026
July 9, 2026
In this guide, we look at the Vice Chair and Vice President roles at UK charities, how they differ from paid senior director positions, and what duties the Charities Act 2011 and Charity Commission place on anyone holding either title. We also provide a comprehensive job description template and UK salary information, giving you the tools to recruit or elect for this position effectively.
What a Vice President or Vice Chair does at a UK charity
In UK charity governance, the title "Vice President" almost always refers to the Vice Chair of the board of trustees, an elected volunteer officer whose role is defined by the Charities Act 2011 and the charity's own governing document, not a paid staff position. A minority of larger charities import the US-style paid "Vice President" title for senior department heads, but "Director of Fundraising", "Director of Programmes", or "Director of Operations" is the standard UK equivalent.
Understanding which version applies to your situation matters enormously. If you are a small-to-mid charity (income under £1m), the person you are looking for is almost certainly a volunteer Vice Chair among your trustees. If you are a larger charity building a senior leadership team, you are probably recruiting a Director of [department] as a salaried hire.
The four standard officer roles on a UK charity board
The Charity Commission's CC3 "The Essential Trustee" guidance sets out the duties of all trustees, but the Charity Commission does not prescribe which officer titles a board must use, that is for the governing document to define. In practice, most UK charity boards recognise four standard officers:
Chair, leads the board, chairs meetings, acts as the primary link between trustees and the chief executive (if there is one).
Vice Chair, backs up the Chair, steps in when the Chair is unavailable, and typically leads one or more board committees. This is the role most UK charities label "Vice President" when they use that title at all.
Treasurer, leads financial oversight on behalf of the board, chairs the finance committee, and works closely with the chief executive or finance manager on budgets, reserves, and accounts.
Secretary, maintains records, manages governance administration, and ensures the charity meets its filing obligations with its regulator.
It is worth noting that only membership charities and organisations with a royal or senior patron tend to use "President" and "Vice President" as distinct ceremonial titles (for example, organisations modelled on the RSPB or National Trust, where a President is an honorary figurehead). For the vast majority of UK charities, Vice Chair is the operative term.
Vice Chair vs Vice President vs Director of X: which title does your charity actually need?
The table below sets out the three role types that UK charities most commonly conflate under the "Vice President" label.
Role
Vice Chair (board trustee officer)
President / Vice President (ceremonial)
Director of [Fundraising / Programmes / Operations]
Status
Volunteer trustee, elected by the board
Honorary patron-style figurehead, typically at membership or royal-patronage bodies
Paid senior staff member
Who appoints them
Board of trustees (by election)
Board or membership vote (often for life or long term)
Chief executive, with trustee approval
Reporting line
Accountable to the full board
No line-management accountability
Reports to the chief executive / CEO
Primary focus
Governance: backing up the Chair, committee leadership, trustee succession
Ceremonial: lending profile and credibility to the organisation
Operations: managing staff, budgets, programmes, and delivering the chief executive's strategy
Budget authority
None (trustees approve budgets; they do not manage them day to day)
None
Yes, within agreed budget envelope
Staff hire / fire
No
No
Yes, within their department
Typical time commitment
5 to 10 hours per month
Occasional appearances, ambassador duties
Full time (or defined part time for a fixed-term post)
Paid?
No, trustees are volunteers; expenses reimbursed only
No, honorary
Yes
Legal basis
Charities Act 2011; governing document
Governing document
Employment law; contract of employment
VPs typically manage daily operations at larger UK charities, which include overseeing programme delivery, supervising staff, handling budgets, and ensuring organisational policies are followed. They support the chief executive and are deeply involved in the organisation's internal workings.
In contrast, the Vice Chair is a board trustee who focuses on governance and strategic oversight. They act as a link between the board of trustees and the executive team, ensuring that the chief executive effectively implements the trustees' strategic priorities. This involves monitoring progress, providing guidance, and keeping the organisation aligned with its long-term objectives.
One of the most confusing things about the "Vice President" or "Vice Chair" title in UK charities is that it can mean quite different things depending on the organisation. Understanding which version you are dealing with, or recruiting for, matters enormously.
Small charities (income under £100k)
In small charities, especially those with no paid staff or only a handful of part-time employees, the Vice Chair is almost always a trustee officer, not an executive hire. This person is elected by the board, serves voluntarily, and focuses primarily on governance: backing up the Chair, chairing a committee, and ensuring the board operates with proper oversight of the charity's activities.
Time commitment in these organisations typically runs five to ten hours per month. The Vice Chair attends board meetings, participates in committee work, and steps in when the Chair is unavailable. They are not managing staff or overseeing day-to-day budgets. If there is no chief executive, the Vice Chair may take on more hands-on tasks, but the role still sits at the governance level.
Of the approximately 170,000 registered charities in England and Wales (CCEW), plus around 24,886 in Scotland (OSCR) and around 8,000 in Northern Ireland (CCNI), the majority are small and will not have a paid VP-equivalent at all.
Mid-size charities (income £100k to £1m)
Mid-size charities often have a chief executive plus one or two Directors (for example, a Director of Fundraising and a Director of Operations). At this scale, the Director of Fundraising or Director of Programmes is a genuine salaried leadership role with direct reports, budget authority, and accountability for measurable outcomes.
These directors report to the chief executive, not the board. They are deep in operations: managing staff, overseeing programme delivery, cultivating major donors, and directing communications. The board still has a volunteer Vice Chair, and the distinction between that trustee officer and the paid director becomes especially important here, because both titles may be in active use simultaneously.
Large charities (income £1m+)
At larger charities, organisations with multi-million-pound budgets, national or international footprints, and layered management structures, the Director or "VP" title signals a senior executive comparable to the corporate sector. These organisations may have multiple directors across departments: a Director of Finance, Director of Marketing, Director of Programmes, Director of Fundraising, and so on.
For salary purposes, the NCVO Civil Society Almanac and the ACEVO Pay and Equalities Survey are the standard UK benchmarks, see the salary section below for current figures.
Why this ambiguity matters
When someone searches for "the role of a vice president in a charity", they are often genuinely unsure which version they are dealing with. If you are writing a job description, you need to be specific about whether you are recruiting a trustee officer or a paid director, and what the actual scope of authority, time commitment, and reporting structure looks like. Getting this wrong leads to misaligned expectations on both sides.
The Vice Chair as trustee officer: continuity and governance
Most people searching for "the role of a Vice Chair in a UK charity" are asking about the elected trustee officer whose primary function is governance, not operations. Understanding this role is essential for any charity building a resilient leadership structure.
Chair succession: the Vice Chair's most critical responsibility
The single most important function of a board Vice Chair is ensuring the organisation is never without leadership. If the Chair resigns unexpectedly, becomes ill, or is otherwise unable to serve, the Vice Chair steps in immediately and without a gap. This is not a ceremonial backup role. It means the Vice Chair must be fully briefed on active board initiatives, pending decisions, funder relationships, and governance obligations at all times.
Best practice, reflected in the Charity Governance Code, is that the Chair and Vice Chair meet regularly, monthly at minimum, specifically to transfer institutional knowledge. A Vice Chair who only learns about open agenda items when a crisis forces a handoff cannot protect the organisation effectively.
Presiding over meetings in the Chair's absence
When the board Chair cannot attend a meeting, the Vice Chair presides. This requires more than calling the meeting to order and moving through an agenda. The Vice Chair must be able to:
Facilitate productive discussion and keep debate on track
Recognise motions and ensure the board follows its governing document or standing orders (UK charities follow their own bylaws, articles of association, or trust deed, not Robert's Rules of Order)
Manage conflict or sensitive votes without the authority advantage that comes with being the permanent Chair
Close the meeting with clear action items and next steps documented
Boards that treat this as a rare edge case often discover, too late, that their Vice Chair has never actually run a meeting before.
Chairing committees and driving board work between meetings
Most substantive board work happens in committees, not in full board meetings. The Vice Chair frequently chairs one or more standing committees, common assignments include governance and nominations, audit and risk, or strategic planning. Chairing a committee means setting agendas, driving deliverables, and reporting findings back to the full board.
This committee leadership also gives the Vice Chair natural exposure to every corner of the organisation's governance function, exactly the preparation needed if they eventually become Chair.
Ensuring board continuity over time
Beyond any single meeting or crisis, the Vice Chair plays a longer structural role: protecting continuity across leadership transitions. In practice, this looks like:
Supporting trustee recruitment and onboarding, the Vice Chair often works closely with the governance and nominations committee to identify, vet, and orient new trustees
Maintaining institutional memory, documenting decisions, rationale, and precedents so that leadership changes do not erase organisational learning
Modelling the culture of governance, how the Vice Chair engages in meetings, holds themselves accountable, and treats fellow trustees sets a visible standard for the entire board
A charity with a strong Vice Chair does not just survive leadership transitions, it barely notices them. That resilience is the real measure of whether the role is being filled well.
Legal duties of a UK charity trustee
Understanding the operational side of the Vice Chair role is important, but so is understanding what the law actually requires of anyone holding a trustee officer position. Whether you are a Vice Chair or a paid senior director with trustee responsibilities, certain legal duties apply. These are not guidelines; they are statutory standards.
1. Ensure the charity is carrying out its purposes for the public benefit.
2. Comply with the charity's governing document and the law.
3. Act in the charity's best interests.
4. Manage resources responsibly.
5. Act with reasonable care and skill.
6. Ensure the charity is accountable.
These duties apply to the Vice Chair and every other trustee equally. Ignoring them is not just poor governance, it can create personal liability and expose the charity to Charity Commission scrutiny.
Conflicts of interest and self-dealing
Under the Charities Act 2011, trustees must put the charity's interests ahead of their own. If a Vice Chair is voting on a contract with a supplier in which they have a personal financial interest, they must disclose that interest and step back from the vote. Trustee benefits, payments to trustees beyond reasonable expense reimbursement, require either explicit authorisation in the governing document or a Charity Commission order under the Charities Act 2011. Self-dealing without authorisation is a serious breach that can result in a Charity Commission statutory inquiry.
Annual Return, Trustees' Annual Report, and Gift Aid
UK trustees are responsible for ensuring the charity meets its regulatory filing obligations. In England and Wales, charities with income above £10,000 must file an Annual Return with the Charity Commission; all Scottish charities file with OSCR regardless of size; Northern Ireland charities file with CCNI. The Annual Return is accompanied by the Trustees' Annual Report (TAR) and accounts, all of which are publicly searchable on the Register of Charities.
Failing to file the Annual Return more than ten months after the charity's financial year end results in a "double default" listing on the public register, a reputational risk that donors and funders notice. Persistent non-filing can trigger a Charity Commission statutory inquiry.
Trustees, including the Vice Chair, also bear collective responsibility for the charity's Gift Aid compliance. HMRC recognition (a separate registration from Charity Commission registration) enables the charity to reclaim 25p for every £1 donated by a UK taxpayer via Gift Aid. (HMRC Gift Aid guidance.) The trustee body is responsible for ensuring accurate claims are submitted via HMRC Charities Online, within the four-year claim window, and that Gift Aid declarations are retained for at least six years. For technical detail on charity tax compliance, the Charity Tax Group is the authoritative independent reference. Gift Aid does not apply to raffle ticket purchases, event ticket prices, or any payment made in return for goods or services.
Trustee indemnity insurance
Many trustees assume their volunteer status shields them from personal liability. That protection is real but not unconditional. A trustee can face personal liability for acting in bad faith, engaging in wilful misconduct, or participating in decisions that breach charity law. Trustee indemnity insurance exists to protect trustees from the cost of defending against such claims, even when those claims are ultimately unfounded. The Charities Act 2006 (now consolidated into the Charities Act 2011) permits charities to purchase trustee indemnity insurance from their own funds, subject to conditions. If your charity does not have this cover, that is a governance conversation worth having before accepting a Vice Chair role.
What this means in practice
A responsible Vice Chair should:
Review financial statements before approving them, not after
Ask for clarification on any agenda item they do not fully understand
Disclose any relationship, financial, personal, or professional, that could create a conflict of interest
Ensure the charity files its Annual Return and Trustees' Annual Report on time and accurately
Support policies covering conflicts of interest, whistleblower protections, and document retention
The fiduciary role is not about paperwork for its own sake. It is about ensuring the organisation can be trusted by donors, by the communities it serves, and by the regulators who determine whether it retains its charitable status.
6 key responsibilities of a charity Vice Chair or senior director
1. Leadership
The Vice Chair, or a senior director in a larger charity, provides guidance and support to the executive team and, in the case of a paid director, to department staff. They set clear goals and offer regular feedback to ensure accountability.
In the Vice Chair role specifically, this means advising the chief executive on governance obligations, ensuring the board exercises proper oversight, and modelling the conduct expected of all trustees. The Charity Governance Code provides a widely adopted framework for this leadership standard.
2. Strategic planning
The Vice Chair collaborates closely with fellow trustees to develop and implement the charity's strategic plan. This involves gathering input from stakeholders to reaffirm the charity's mission and vision and ensuring a clear path forward.
For paid senior directors, strategic planning means translating the trustees' objectives into operational delivery: setting team targets, tracking outcomes, and reporting back to the board on progress. The NCVO publishes accessible guidance on strategic planning for UK charities.
3. Fundraising
A key aspect of a senior charity leader's role is securing income through a range of channels. In the UK context, this includes researching and applying for grants from bodies such as the National Lottery Community Fund, Arts Council England, and local community foundations (coordinated through the UK Community Foundations network), as well as cultivating relationships with individual donors and negotiating corporate partnerships and sponsorships.
The Vice Chair or Director of Fundraising also holds responsibility for Gift Aid oversight, ensuring the charity is HMRC-recognised, that Gift Aid declarations are collected from donors correctly, and that claims are submitted accurately via HMRC Charities Online. (HMRC Gift Aid guidance.) This is a genuine operational duty with no direct US equivalent and one that significantly affects a charity's income.
The Fundraising Regulator sets the standards all UK fundraising must meet; the senior leader responsible for fundraising is the practical owner of compliance with the Code of Fundraising Practice (current version effective 1 November 2025).
4. Operations management
The Vice Chair or senior director oversees day-to-day operations to ensure the organisation runs smoothly and efficiently. They allocate financial and human resources strategically, making decisions that optimise the charity's performance and impact in line with its overall objectives.
Compliance with the Fundraising Regulator's Code of Fundraising Practice is a compliance touchpoint the senior leader owns, Section 9 of the current Code (effective 1 November 2025) now specifically addresses online fundraising platforms.
5. Stakeholder engagement
Increasing the organisation's visibility is a key responsibility. This includes leading media outreach, public speaking, and community involvement to raise the charity's profile. The senior leader also fosters strong relationships with key stakeholders: donors, community leaders, partners, and grant-making bodies.
For the Vice Chair specifically, stakeholder engagement includes ensuring the board itself is well connected to the communities the charity serves, a principle the Charity Governance Code describes under "Openness and accountability".
6. Financial oversight
The Vice Chair or senior director takes a leading role in overseeing the charity's financial health, including managing budgets, assessing and mitigating risks, diversifying income streams, and aligning financial strategy with the organisation's mission.
Working closely with the Treasurer and the Finance Committee (the Treasurer is the standard fourth officer of a UK charity board alongside Chair, Vice Chair, and Secretary), the senior leader monitors financial performance, makes evidence-based decisions, and ensures thorough audits and accurate financial reporting in line with the Charities Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP).
What a UK charity Vice Chair or senior director earns
Vice Chair: unpaid
The Vice Chair of a UK charity board is a volunteer trustee. Trustees are not paid for their time, they may only be reimbursed for reasonable out-of-pocket expenses (travel, accommodation, and similar costs incurred in the charity's service). The Charity Commission's CC11 "Trustee expenses and payments" guidance (via the Charity Commission) sets out the narrow circumstances in which trustees can receive any financial benefit: this requires explicit authorisation in the governing document or a Charity Commission order under the Charities Act 2011. Paying a trustee without this authorisation is a serious breach of charity law.
Paid senior director roles: UK salary bands
For paid senior director roles at UK charities, the equivalent of the US "Executive VP", salary depends strongly on the size of the organisation and the specific function.
Based on NCVO Civil Society Almanac and ACEVO Pay and Equalities Survey data (verify against the current NCVO Almanac for the most recent figures at time of reading):
Role / Charity size
Approximate UK salary range
Director of Fundraising or Programmes, small-to-mid charity (income £100k to £1m)
£45,000 to £75,000 per year
Director of Fundraising or Programmes, large charity (income £1m to £10m+)
£75,000 to £120,000+ per year
Chief Executive / CEO, small-to-mid charity
£50,000 to £85,000 per year
Chief Executive / CEO, large national charity
£90,000 to £150,000+ per year
These are approximate banding figures. The NCVO Civil Society Almanac and the Third Sector Charity Pay Study publish annual updates, re-verify the figures at time of reading and note the publication date in any internal document. Salaries vary significantly by region (London and South East command a premium), function, and organisation type.
UK salary transparency: Unlike the US, where Form 990 is the disclosure mechanism, UK charity sector pay is publicly visible through a different route. The Charity Commission Register requires charities to disclose the number of employees earning over £60,000 per year, in £10,000 bands. Trustee accountability for executive pay is a genuine cultural expectation in the UK sector, and Third Sector magazine covers the annual Charity Pay Study in detail.
Job description template
Position Title
Vice-Chair (Board Officer)
Alternate titles: Vice Chair, Board Vice Chair
Reports to: Board of Trustees (peer to the Chair)
Type: Volunteer, elected officer position
Term:[Typically 1–3 years, renewable per your governing document]
About Your Organisation
[Organisation Name] is a [registered charity / CIO / other] charity serving [community or region] in the area of [mission area]. Our board of [X] directors guides strategy, ensures accountability, and supports the organisation's long-term sustainability.
The Role
The Board Vice-Chair is an elected officer responsible for ensuring leadership continuity, supporting the Chair, and chairing key committees. The Vice-Chair is first in line of succession if the Chair cannot serve, and presides over meetings in the Chair's absence. This is a governance role, not an operational or staff position.
Key Responsibilities
Leadership continuity: Serve as first-in-line successor to the Chair. Stay fully briefed on active initiatives, funder relationships, and pending decisions so you can step in seamlessly if needed.
Preside in the Chair's absence: Lead board meetings when the Chair cannot attend. Facilitate productive discussion, recognise motions, and apply your governing document's stated procedure.
Chair standing committees: Lead one or more committees. Common assignments include governance, executive, or strategic planning. Set agendas, drive deliverables, and report findings to the full board.
Support board recruitment and onboarding: Work with the governance committee to identify, vet, and orient new board members.
Protect institutional memory: Document decisions, rationale, and precedents so leadership transitions don't erase organisational learning.
Partner with the Chair: Meet with the Chair monthly at minimum to transfer institutional knowledge and align on priorities.
Uphold fiduciary duties: Exercise duty of care, duty of loyalty, and duty of obedience. Participate actively in strategic decisions, financial oversight, and risk management.
Represent the organisation: Attend key community events, donor gatherings, and stakeholder meetings as a visible board leader.
Qualifications
Board experience: Prior charity board service strongly preferred. Familiarity with charity governance and fiduciary responsibilities.
Meeting leadership: Comfortable facilitating discussion, managing sensitive votes, and applying parliamentary procedure. Experience chairing committees or task forces is a plus.
Strategic thinker: Ability to see the organisation at the system level. Funding, programs, governance, and risk, rather than any single department's perspective.
Availability: Willingness to commit the time required for meetings, committee work, and inter-meeting Chair support. Estimate [5–10 hours per month].
Integrity: Demonstrated ability to handle confidential board matters with discretion. Track record of following through on commitments.
Mission alignment: Genuine connection to [mission area] and the communities the organisation serves.
Diversity of perspective: Lived or professional experience that complements the existing board's expertise and backgrounds.
Time Commitment
This is a volunteer (unpaid) role. Typical commitment:
Full board meetings: [quarterly or monthly, 2–3 hours each]
Ad hoc events and stakeholder meetings: [as needed]
How to Express Interest
If you're interested in serving as Vice-Chair, contact [governance committee chair name and email]. Current board members are typically nominated through the governance committee. Non-board candidates usually serve as a board member first before being elected as an officer. Include a short bio outlining your charity experience and what draws you to [Organisation Name]'s mission.
Why This Role Matters
A charity with a strong board Vice-Chair doesn't just survive leadership transitions. It barely notices them. That resilience is what keeps the mission on track when life happens. If you believe good governance is quiet, steady, and essential, this role is for you.
Direct reports:[e.g., Director of Programs, Director of Development, Operations Manager]
Type: Full-time, exempt, senior leadership position
About Your Organisation
[Organisation Name] is a [mission area] charity serving [community or region]. With an annual budget of [£X million] and a team of [X] staff, we've [key impact metric, e.g., "served 50,000 families" or "distributed £10M in grants"] since [founding year].
The Role
We're hiring a Vice President of [Department] to lead our [programs / development / operations / marketing] function. As a member of the executive team, you'll set strategy, build and lead the team, and partner with the CEO and Board to advance the organisation's mission. This role blends vision with hands-on execution. You'll shape the long-term direction and own the quarterly outcomes.
What You'll Do
Lead the [department] function: Set strategy, define priorities, and execute on a [1–3 year] plan that aligns with organisational goals. Own the departmental budget of [£X].
Build and lead the team: Hire, develop, and mentor a team of [X]. Set clear expectations, build a culture of accountability, and invest in professional growth.
Drive outcomes: Deliver against annual goals, like [revenue targets, program reach, operational KPIs, or marketing metrics]. Use data to track progress and course-correct.
Partner with the executive team: Work closely with the CEO, fellow VPs, and Board to align your department with the organisation's broader strategy. Prepare board reports and present at board meetings.
Represent the organisation: Serve as a visible external leader at conferences, funder meetings, coalition events, and in the press when relevant.
Steward cross-functional initiatives: Lead or co-lead strategic projects that touch multiple departments. These often set the tone for how leadership collaborates.
Manage change: Guide the team through growth, reorganisations, new programme launches, or funding shifts with transparency and resilience.
Protect fiscal and operational health: Ensure your department operates within budget, complies with relevant regulations, and manages risk appropriately.
What You Bring
Experience: 10+ years in [relevant field], with at least 5 years managing a team and 3+ years in a senior leadership role at a charity or mission-driven organisation.
Education: Bachelor's degree required. Master's in Charity Management, Public Administration, MBA, or a related field preferred.
Strategic leadership: Proven track record of setting and executing strategy at the department or organisation level. You've grown a function, launched a new program, or led a significant change initiative.
People leadership: Strong manager who develops talent, builds high-performing teams, and creates cultures where people want to stay. Comfortable having hard conversations and holding high standards.
Financial fluency: Comfortable with charity budgeting, financial reporting, and board-level financial discussions. You don't need to be a CFO. You do need to read a P&L without flinching.
Communication: Strong presenter and writer. Can make a case to the board, rally a team, or explain a complex issue to a donor or reporter.
Mission alignment: Deep commitment to [mission area] and a leadership style that reflects the organisation's values, including equity and inclusion.
Compensation
Salary: [salary range for your charity's size and region], depending on department, experience, and organisational budget. UK charity senior-leadership pay varies widely by charity size, sub-sector, and region; benchmark against comparable charities and published voluntary-sector salary surveys. Benefits include [health insurance, retirement match, generous PTO, professional development budget, flexible/hybrid schedule, etc.].
How to Apply
Send your resume and a cover letter to [email or application link]. In your cover letter, tell us about a time you led a team or a function through significant change. What you did, what you learned, and how you'd apply it here. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. Questions? Reach out to [contact name and email].
Why This Role Matters
As VP of [department], you'll shape how [Organisation Name] delivers on its mission every day. Your strategy decides which communities get served, which programs grow, and which dollars reach the people who need them. If you're a senior leader looking for a role where your work directly moves the needle for [mission area], we'd love to hear from you.
Starting a new role? Set up fundraising in minutes, with zero fees.
Use the template below to create a job description for your charity's Vice Chair (board trustee officer) or Director of [Department] (paid senior staff). You can adapt the text to fit your charity's specific circumstances, governing document, and income band.
Final words on the role
The Vice Chair or senior director plays a vital role in a UK charity's success, blending strategic thinking, governance know-how, and strong leadership to guide the organisation. A good Vice Chair helps the charity fulfil its mission, maintain the trust of its donors and the public, and operate within the standards set by its regulator and the Fundraising Regulator.
Paid directors make a significant difference by deploying resources wisely, driving key initiatives, and building a collaborative team culture. These efforts help the charity run well and have a greater impact.
If your charity is at the point of giving a new senior leader oversight of fundraising and operations, it is often also the moment to review your tools. Many growing UK charities find themselves stitching together JustGiving for donations, Ticket Tailor for events, a separate platform for raffles, and a CRM, four subscriptions, four logins, four sets of fees. Consolidating that stack into a single free platform is a practical step a new Director of Fundraising or an engaged Vice Chair can lead from day one.
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Yes, and in UK trustee governance, this is often the primary purpose of the Vice Chair role. Most well-governed charities use the Vice Chair position as a deliberate succession pathway, giving the person enough exposure to board operations, funder relationships, and organisational strategy that they can step into the Chair position when the time comes.
The Charity Governance Code (Principle 3: Integrity, and Principle 7: Openness and accountability) anticipates planned Chair succession as part of good governance. Charities are encouraged to plan for leadership transitions rather than react to them. A Vice Chair who has been fully briefed on active board initiatives, who has chaired committees, and who has maintained strong relationships with the chief executive and key stakeholders is well positioned to take on the Chair role with minimal disruption to the organisation.
UK charities rarely use the US "VP of Programs" or "VP of Development" titles for paid staff. The standard UK equivalents are:
- Director of Fundraising, leads income generation, major donor relationships, grant applications, and Gift Aid compliance
- Director of Programmes / Services, leads the design, delivery, and evaluation of the charity's charitable activities
- Director of Operations, oversees finance, HR, IT, and compliance functions
- Director of Communications, leads marketing, media, public affairs, and digital presence
- Chief Operating Officer (COO), a broader operational leadership role, typically at charities with a chief executive who focuses primarily on external relationships and strategy
Only larger charities (typically with income above £5m) tend to use "Vice President" as a staff title, and even then it is often in organisations with a royal or senior patron where "President" is a ceremonial senior figurehead rather than an executive role. For the vast majority of UK charities, "Director of X" is the right title for a paid senior leader below the chief executive.
These are two fundamentally different roles. The Vice Chair is a volunteer trustee, unpaid, elected by the board, and responsible for governance and strategic oversight. The Chief Executive (or CEO) is a paid member of staff, accountable to the board of trustees, who is responsible for leading the organisation's day-to-day operations and delivering the strategy the trustees have approved.
The Vice Chair does not manage the Chief Executive, the full board of trustees does, acting collectively. The Vice Chair typically supports the Chair in the performance-management relationship with the Chief Executive, and steps into the Chair's role in the Chair's absence. Clear separation between trustee governance and staff management is a core principle of UK charity law and the Charity Commission's CC3 guidance. Blurring this line, for example, a Vice Chair who begins directing staff without board authority, is a governance red flag.
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