They are volunteers, too!
Look here for information and the latest techniques to develop your board or committee. The purpose is to help those who work or serve on nonprofit boards of directors or committees.

~ March 2007 ~ Topic

Board Members are Volunteers, Too

Organizations with paid staff often forget that board members are volunteers. They only think of volunteers as people who provide direct service to the clients or the staff. But board members are also volunteers, albeit basically governance volunteers.

Board members should be invited to volunteer recognition events and introduced. At least one board member should serve on the volunteer advisory committee so that he/she can report back to the board about volunteer programs the board may not be aware of.

There are many advantages to all this--the principal one being giving all volunteers a sense that they are important to the organization and members of an organization whose volunteers, while doing different jobs, are all focused on the same mission. It can help eliminate unfortunate feelings of "we" versus "they."

Jeanne Bradner can be reached at Jeannebrad@aol.com.

See our online bookstore for Jeanne Bradner's book on boards: The Board Member’s Guide: A Beneficial Bestiary and Leading Volunteers for Results: Building Communities Today, and Passionate Volunteerism.