Board of Directors

[LeeAndra]

This is the second part of my volunteering post, I guess. Ha!

I was asked to be on the board of directors for a local youth ministry program that I participated in when I was in high school. They are attempting to make things more official as the man who has run the program almost single-handedly for the last 20 years wants to retire in the next 36 months so they are fleshing out their board, creating manuals, creating budgets, etc. so that the reins can eventually be passed onto someone else.

I attended one meeting to 'scope things out' and think I will commit to the two-year term they've asked for but I'm feeling really intimidated and... adult-y.

So yes, I'm 36 years old and even though I will just be a plain ol' officer without any official duties or pay, it still feels really grownup-ish. Do they realize who they're asking to do this?!

Have any of you been on the board of directors for a business or nonprofit? What did you do as a member? Did you enjoy it? Did you feel like you were able to really help the business or nonprofit achieve its goals or mission?

[nietis]

I have never been one, La, so I am no help. But it sounds like a lot of works to me.

[icindi]

I was on the board of a nonprofit patient advocacy group for my son's disease. I did lots of things but eventually fell into the position of director of publications, doing their newsletters, yearly reports, brochures, etc. It was a good fit for me. I thoroughly enjoyed it for about 6 years but then things got al little crazy when we adopted our son. I met a lot of people, made some lifelong friends and got more by serving than I gave. I would highly recommend it!

[MamaBee]

I was on a board of directors as a youth advisory for one of the town's banks when I was in high school. I didn't do anything, but it looked good on the high school transcripts!

My husband is currently the vice chair of our local homeschool group... he enjoys it. They meet monthly and handle questions from the group, money requests (for sports groups), issues in the community that might affect us, brainstorm how to attract new members and keep the current.

[Valgal]

I would LOVE to do that. It's one of my goals, actually. I used to be on our PTO board (I know, sounds lame) but we did organize a lot of stuff and I enjoyed it a lot. I just adore organizing things. I get anxious when it comes to actually carrying out the plans, but I can sit and organize and delegate like it's no body's business, lol!

[rach3975]

Our non-profit preschool (which I was a parent at for 8 years and now teach at) is a parentun cooperative. We have a paid, professional director and teachers, but parents make up the Board of Directors, do all fundraising, recruit new families and students, etc. I was on the Board of Directors for 3 years. It was a 2-part job. The first was the business side of things, like making policies for the school, approving new hires, setting the calendar, revising the parent handbook, and making budget decisions. Everyone on the Board discussed and voted on those issues, but the Director and President did most of the legwork first.

Every member of the BOD also was Chair of a specific area. Mine was essentially heading up the room parent committee and organizing some beginning and end of the year events. Other than the actual hours of the monthly Board meeting, most of my responsibilities were for the committee job.

I think being on the Board is a great opportunity, and if you're a SAHM or working part time it can help with job searching later. My 1 piece of advice is to try to get a sense from them first of about how much time they expect Board Members to put in outside of meetings, and make sure their expectations line up with yours.

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[Suzs]

I am with Rachel that you need to get the seance of the group first. I was one the board for a community run preschool. I helped get the coop started and was one the board for three years. The first two years were ok the last as a nightmare. Some of the others on the board had no business sense and wanted to spend money like it was nothing... It was a constant fight. At the end of my term as president one of them ended up as president and nearly ran the coop under which was super frustrating. I found it very hard to step back from something that I had been so involved with and watch it fail. Long story short it can be very rewarding work but it can also be a huge headache. Depends who you have to work with.

[lulyg14]

I am currently on the Board of a very large non-profit social service agency in Chicago. I will say as I was a little intimidated at first since they put me on the Finance & Property committee - and I only really know about the Property portion ( I am an architect...) but that being said I am really starting to enjoy it - everyone is there to help the kids that are part of the agency... as long as you have a like minded group with a clear mission - you will have an amazing experience. Don't feel that age is a barrier - in fact it might be a plus!!

[kendallt]

In the past two years, I've taken on a few leadership positions with various organizations. I'm on the board for the Downtown Development Association in the city where I live. I'm also on the Events Committee for that same organization. I'll be honest. I got involved in this group mostly to network and add fodder for my resume, but I really do enjoy helping plan the events and be in the know re. all the happenings and latest news.

I'm also on the Steering Committee for the young professionals group in the town where I live. This takes up a ton of my time, but I seriously love the group and am passionate about our mission of bringing more young people and particularly young professionals to my city. I've actually met most of my good friends through this organization.

I'm involved in the PTO at my daughter's school, and this is probably the organization I enjoy least, mostly because I'm the youngest parent by far, and I always feel a little bit like I'm being judged. Maybe that's just me, but it's a tad uncomfortable. I want to know what's happening at her school though and be involved, and the PTO is the best way to do that, so I put up with it.

I used to be an Ambassador for our Chamber of Commerce, but when I moved to my current job a little less than two years ago, I had to give that up because I just didn't have the time. I was also involved in a Junior Woman's Club in my town up until this year, but again, I stepped away since I'd done it for several years and wanted to get involved in other groups. I enjoy being involved in the community, but it definitely cuts into my free time, and sometimes I resent that. But at the end of the day, I have to remind myself that I signed up for these commitments. I think getting involved can be a great way to get to know people, and that's (almost) never a bad thing.