Might I serve as a volunteer too?

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/ban.30534
• Published date: 01 September 2017
• Date: 01 September 2017

B&A For Board Members

DOI 10.1002/ban © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company • All rights reserved

Might I serve as a volunteer too?

Board members can serve their organizations in

two roles: as policymakers and as volunteer con-

sultants to the CEO.

But be careful not to mix these roles. To sepa-

rate them, keep the two hats principle in mind.

• Hat 1. Your policymaker hat. You wear this

when you meet as a full board to set direction

and policy for the organization. Wearing this hat

as a member of the board, you have full responsi-

bility for the organization.

• Hat 2. The volunteer consultant hat. This sec-

ond hat is the one you wear when you volunteer for

staff-level duties. While wearing your volunteer hat,

you have no more authority than any staff member

and, in fact, report to the executive director.

And remember, when volunteering your skills to

the organization, you will also have a temporary

boss in the executive director. ■

Tip sheet for board members:

Prevent board role mistakes

• Avoid pop-in visits to the offices. Surprise

“pop-in” visits by board members serve no good

purpose, and in fact can be unsettling to the

organization’s staff. The board member who visits

the office and then offers advice on how a recep-

tionist should answer the telephone really needs

to reassess his priorities as a board member.

• Respect the chain of command. Board

members best help constituents resolve their is-

sues by directing them to the proper channel. For

example, if a parent has a complaint about how a

child is being treated in a program, refer the mat-

ter to the supervisor.

• Don’t try to “solve” employee problems.

Instead, when an employee approaches you, hear

the employee’s problem for full understanding of

persons involved, date and place. Then remind

the employee of the chain of command. Refer the

employee to the appropriate person.

• Limit board requests for staff work. Use

a simple technique for how board members can

make requests of staff.

• The request should be channeled through the

administrator.

• The request should have a connection to the

organization’s goals.

• The request should not take more than one

hour of an employee’s time. ■

Improve board self-evaluation

If the board’s self-evaluation has become stag-

nant, consider these strategies to freshen it up:

• Discuss the purpose and goals of the

self-evaluation with the full board. If board

inactivity, for example, is the problem you are

trying to resolve, state this at the beginning of

the evaluation process and emphasize it on your

evaluation tool.

• Select a new evaluation tool. Design one

that addresses key board obligations, including:

meeting attendance and participation, support for

nonprofit events and activities, and support for

fundraising.

• Set achievable goals based on the results.

This is vital to getting effective results from a

board self-evaluation.

• Commit to a follow-up mechanism. As-

sign the responsibility for meeting these goals

to a board committee. The committee that

works on board governance issues is a good

choice.

• Consider a post-evaluation board-and-

administrator retreat. This is a good opportu-

nity to discuss the board’s role, and may include

a conversation about what the board should be

doing. ■