My former employer, in its earliest stage of professional operations,
had only 1 paid staff member (the Exec. Dir.).  The Board members each
were responsible for the areas you cite below, so they were de facto
unpaid staff.  The Exec. Dir. was responsible for day-to-day management
and coordination of the work of the Board members through regular
meetings and planning sessions. The Board president and the Exec. Dir.
were the primary fundraisers.  Eventually sufficient money was raised to
replace the Board members' duties with paid staff, one by one, and the
Board "graduated" to performing advisory/policy functions.

 

I don't know if that helps you, but a structure such as the one you are
showing could work IF you and the other volunteer were put on the Board,
and the rest of the Board also empowered to split the functional duties.

 

Julia Muney Moore

Public Art Administrator

Blackburn Architects, Indianapolis, IN

(317) 875-5500 x230

 

________________________________

From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Rachel Weber
Sent: Thursday, February 09, 2006 2:44 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Board member woes

 

I volunteer for a small arts organization that is in the middle of a
difficult transition. The organization has been around for about 20
years, but it still floundering.   By floundering I mean the roof leaks,
we can't really heat the place, maintenance and janitorial issues are
often not taken care in a timely manner, budgets for programs are coming
out of volunteer's pockets, programs have low attendance numbers, and
various personalities have caused good volunteers to be chased away.
However there is a bright spot,  we have a new Board President, who is
committed to turning things around, but so far her efforts have not seen
a large return, our latest Gala event barely turned a profit. 

 

My dilemma is this.  I and another volunteer have been asked to become
"staff", which is to say we are still volunteers, but we are now
responsible for outreach, house maintenance, and artistic issues.   The
Board President's plan is that our involvement will free her up search
out more funding.   However, we still report to her and need her
approval before any money is spent or arrangements are finalized. 

 

What alarms us is that such a plan prevents us from running any sort of
programming.  Last year we managed to run a children's program that not
only covered its costs, but made 400% profit.  And the kids are asking
when they can come back.   Also, she hasn't mentioned a plan for the
remaining Board members, from what we can gather is they will not be
taking on any fundraising or administrative duties.   Her plan seems to
be a way to take two good volunteers and turning them in to personal
assistants, while allowing dysfunctional people to remain that way.

 

Is there a better solution I can offer?  Any advice is most appreciated.

 

Carrie Snow

========================================================= Important
Subscriber Information: 

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at
http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed
information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail
message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should
read "help" (without the quotes). 

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message
to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read
"Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). 


=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).