Team and Trustee Pages: What to Publish and What Funders Look For
Key takeaways
- Named leadership and trustee profiles are a credibility signal for funders doing due diligence, and since April 2020 every charity trustee's name has been displayed on the Charity Commission's public register unless a dispensation has been granted.
- A content type in your CMS fixes the common failings: no team page, first names only, or a static page that needs developer help to update.
- Give each profile a name, role, biography, photo, a category separating staff from trustees and advisors, a display order and an on/off setting.
- Link the trustee section to your entry on the public register, so a funder can check the names for themselves.
- Separate trustees visually, because funders are looking for governance leadership and should not have to find it among programme staff.
- When someone leaves, take their profile off the published site the same day, and do not publish trustees' personal email addresses.
Summary
What a meet the team page on a charity or nonprofit website should publish: a simple content model, a visible trustee or board section, a link to the public register, and what to do when someone leaves.
A meet the team page on a charity or nonprofit website does one job for a funder: it shows who runs the organisation and who holds it to account. Funders doing due diligence check it to verify who is in charge, what their backgrounds are, and whether the governance structure is visible and credible.
Many organisations have no team page, a page with first names only, or a static page that needs developer help whenever staff change. A content type in your CMS solves all three.
The Content Model
| Field | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Text, required | First and last name |
| Role | Text, required | Job title or governance role, such as Chair of Trustees |
| Biography | Long text | Two to four paragraphs: background, experience, role here |
| Photo | Image | Professional headshot, with alt text |
| Category | Option | Staff, trustee or advisor |
| Display order | Number | Puts leadership first without relying on alphabetical sorting |
| Link, optional | For senior staff and trustees who want one visible | |
| Email, optional | Staff who should be contactable through the site, never trustees' personal addresses | |
| Active | On/off | Turns a profile off without deleting the record |
Make alt text part of the editorial routine. It is WCAG 2.2 Success Criterion 1.1.1 Non-text Content, Level A. For a headshot, the alt text is the person's name. Do not add the role: it is already in the text beside the photo.
For the wider structure, see CMS architecture for nonprofit content teams.
What the Pages Show
Give each person a page with their photo, name, role and biography, linking back to the full listing and to your governance section. A funder who finds a trustee profile should be one click from the annual report.
The listing has three sections: leadership, staff and trustees, each filtered by category and sorted by display order.
The Trustee or Board Section
Separate trustees visually from staff, because funders are specifically looking for governance leadership.
Then link the section to the independent record. The Charity Commission's register shows a charity's trustees, work and finances, and since April 2020 every trustee's name has been displayed there unless a dispensation has been granted. It covers England and Wales. Elsewhere, link whichever public record lists your board.
Governance
When someone leaves. Switch the profile off, not delete it, and take it off the published site the same day. The governance policy should say who does this. See Website Governance During a Leadership Transition.
Lawful basis. A name on the public register does not carry its permission across to your website. Publishing someone's photograph, name and biography is your processing of their personal data, and it needs one of the lawful bases under Article 6 of the UK GDPR. Record it before the page goes live, cover profiles in your privacy notice, and decide in advance what happens when someone asks to be removed.
Photographs. A consistent style (same background, cropping and lighting) signals institutional seriousness, and a mixed set undermines it. On commissioning them, see ethical nonprofit photography.
For the broader framework, see How to Create a Website Governance Policy.
On Webflow? The platform-specific steps are in Platform Notes.
Next Step
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Frequently asked questions
- Should a charity publish its trustees on its website?
Yes. For charities registered in England and Wales, the name of every trustee is displayed to the public on the charity register unless the Charity Commission has granted a dispensation, so publishing them on your own site with professional context demonstrates transparency. A dispensation is granted only where display could put someone in personal physical or mental danger, and never automatically.
- How does the charity register help on a team page?
It is the independent record. The Charity Commission's register shows a registered charity's trustees, work and finances, so linking your entry from the trustee section lets a funder confirm your page against it.
- What fields should a team profile have?
Full name and role as required text, a long-text biography of two to four paragraphs, and a photo. Add a category option (staff, trustee, advisor), a display order number, an on/off setting, and optional LinkedIn and email links.
- What should a nonprofit board of directors page show?
The same as a trustee section: full names, roles such as chair or treasurer, a short biography and a photo, listed separately from staff. Funders are looking for governance leadership, and a mixed page where the board is buried among programme staff does not serve due diligence.
- What should happen to a profile when someone leaves?
Switch it off rather than deleting it, and get it off the published site the same day. Your governance policy should name who does this and state the timeline, and that person needs the right level of access to edit the site without waiting for a developer.
- Should we publish email addresses for the team?
Only for staff who should be contactable through the website. Do not publish trustees' personal email addresses. LinkedIn is the better optional link for senior staff and trustees.