An effective governing body cannot be achieved without effective members, and with the move to smaller boards in many institutions there is now much greater attention on recruiting governors.
Appointments and membership issues are usually dealt with by a nominations committee. This may be required by an institution's governing instruments; it is certainly recommended by the CUC.The role of the nominations committee is to find and recommend new members to the governing body and, in some cases, to recommend allocating members to committees. The CUC recommends that the committee should include in its membership the chair of the governing body, at least 3 other external members, the head of the institution and at least one senior member of the academic staff.
Many governing bodies and their nominations committees now use systematic and transparent processes to recruit members, including a 'skills matrix' to identify the general and specific competencies and skills needed to be an effective board member. For more on this, see the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments. There are separate commissioners for 
Scotland and 
Northern Ireland. However, it is important that potential recruits not only have suitable professional skills but also the motivation, personality and time to make effective governors.
Institutions adopt recruitment techniques appropriate to their local situation, but common methods include:
The National Council for Voluntary Organisations has produced resources to assist small charities in recruiting trustees.