As nonprofit professionals, we specialize in working with volunteers. But every now and then, we need to take a step back and evaluate how we work with volunteers and if we are bringing them into the fold of our organizations. Read on for tips on how you can create a commitment to culture for your volunteers.
Board and Advisory Board Meetings - Making the Most of Your Time Spent Together
You've already given a great deal of thought to what you hope to gain from having an Advisory Board.Now, it's time to look forward to the contributions that your Advisory Board members will make.
Most Advisory Board meetings should be planned around a question or problem. You might find it easiest to state the problem as a goal. For instance, "We want to increase our donations by 25% this next quarter. How might we do this?" Or you might state the topic for discussion more generally: "Should we try to reach out to a new constituency?" or "Lapsed donors are not returning at a rate to support our programs.What can we do to bring back donors and add new donors?"
Once you've decided on the discussion topic, it's time to gather
the
materials that your Advisory Board members will need. Include a development plan (if applicable) and any other documents pertinent to the discussion topic, such as charts, graphs and fact sheets and news articles illustrating the background of the discussion topic, as well as prospect lists. If possible, you should send a copy of these documents to all Advisory Board members two weeks in advance, along with a copy of the agenda.
Create an agenda and time each agenda item.Building a time schedule into your meeting and sticking to it ensures that your meeting doesn't get bogged down and stimulates on-topic discussion.
You should always make some arrangements for recording the minutes of the meeting. Don't try to do this yourself; you need to be able to participate fully, and listening and contributing well is a full-time job. If you don't have someone who can attend and serve as a secretary, ask permission of your Advisory Board members to tape the meeting.Then, make sure youprovide them with minutes in a timely and efficient manner.
Above all, don't fret about your presentation. You are there to share your vision and hopes for your organization and seek advice, not to impress anyone with multimedia presentation effects. Your long-range goal is to establish a working relationship of trust with your Advisory Board members, so focus instead on ensuring that your Advisory Board members walk away feeling that they've been heard and that they've contributed to the management of your organization - and looking forward to the next meeting of the Board.
