Charity boards are perform weakest in equality, diversity and inclusion than other areas, new data suggests.

A report from the training and publishing charity the Directory of Social Change analyses data from a sample of 1,126 users that completed a full governance review using its app between August 2021 and May 2024.

The app is a free online tool that enables trustees to assess their effectiveness in the seven areas of the Charity Governance Code.

Trustees and executive teams were asked to rate how much they disagreed or agreed with 70 statements about their organisation's governance practices on a scale of 0 (disagree) to 10 (agree).

The report, called The Governance App: Findings and Trends and published today, says that users scored an average of 5.6 out of 10 on the statement “we periodically take part in learning and/or reflection about EDI and understand our responsibilities in this area”.

This was the lowest score on 10 EDI questions asked during the research, with questions on EDI plans and targets and ensuring arrangements and resources were in place to monitor and achieve targets also scoring an average of 5.9 out of 10.

The consensus score on achieving EDI targets among users was “very low”, the report says. 

Charities scored an average of 7.9 when questioned on embedding EDI principles in their organisation with these principles helping to deliver the charity’s public benefit.

For openness and accountability, charities scored lowest on average (5.2 out of 10) on publishing the process for setting remuneration of senior staff and their remuneration levels on their annual accounts and websites.

“Based on average user scores, EDI was the weakest governance area, and interestingly it was also the most divisive topic, in that it had the highest variance and therefore the least consensus between user scores,” the DSC said.

“DSC's Governance App data suggests that EDI is still an area of concern and improvement for app users and boards is necessary.

“EDI is an area where not just boards, but many people lack confidence and understanding and, because it feels sensitive to tackle, many boards often avoid discussing performance in this area for fear of getting it wrong.

“This lack of understanding may contribute to the lack of user consensus around the topic.”

Of the sample, 102 charities had annual incomes of between £10,000 to £100,000, 456 users had incomes of between £100,000 to £1m and 39 had incomes of more than £100m a year.