Your questions sound very familar. I served on the Board of Trustees of the Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall, which included operation of a small Civil War Museum, in the small Pittsburgh suburb of Carnegie, Pennsylvania in the late 1990s (this institution has one full-time and seven part-time employees). These are problems experienced by many small non-profits. I am not sure what your Constitution or By-Laws says about Board membership or quorum requirement. However, in general you need Board members who will provide some commitment to the institution. If they are not willing to, at least, attend a monthly--or even quarterly--Board meeting, they should be asked, politely, to leave the Board so someone who has more time to commit to the institution can join the Board. That said, you will always have a few Board members who do almost everything, while others barely do anything. It is unfortuate, but it comes with the territory. In some ways, this could be a good thing. At least, the slacker Board members are not getting in your way! > A board member has proposed that: > > 1) Each board member have a fund raising goal of > $1000 per year > 2) Each board member have a membership sign-up > goal of 10 members a year > 3) Each board member will work at least five > events a year, or find a subsitute volunteer > 4) Each board member will do their best to attend > meetings, or at least arrange a proxy vote > 5) Each board member will join as a member of the > museum (which is very reasonable at $10 per year for > seniors, or $15 per year for regular individual) All laudable, but very idealistic goals. I think you could reasonably mandate items 4 and 5--although I am not a fan of proxy voting for Board members. It is going to be difficult to enforce the other goals. Your institution needs a long-range/strategic plan to address the funding needs of the institution. And, from what you have said, you need this very soon. If I were you, I would go on the Internet looking for similar long-range plsns; then YOU prepare a draft long-range plan for adoption by the Board. Once usch a plan is adopted--and it should include Board participation requirements--then you have benchmarks to judge the progress of the plan, and Board participation. Hope these comments help. gaw --- SC Museum <[log in to unmask]> wrote: Date: Thu, 1 Jun 2006 11:49:59 -0700 From: "SC Museum" <[log in to unmask]> Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Setting board fundraising goals & duties To: [log in to unmask] > Dear Listers: > > The museum for which I work has an issue that is > causing quite a lot of anxiety, and I was hoping > that others might share their experiences, > suggestions, policies, et. al. on the subject. > > I work for a very small (one employee) museum that > has had a very hard time getting board participation > in events and in attending meetings. The board has > twelve to fifteen directors who are all volunteer. > Currently, the museum board has no fund-raising > goal, or membership goal. Obtaining a quorum is a > regular challenge, money is going out and very > little is being raised, and a few individuals end up > working most events throughout the year (we have > about one to two a month that require a few hours > ticket selling, etc.) > > A board member has proposed that: > > 1) Each board member have a fund raising goal of > $1000 per year > 2) Each board member have a membership sign-up > goal of 10 members a year > 3) Each board member will work at least five > events a year, or find a subsitute volunteer > 4) Each board member will do their best to attend > meetings, or at least arrange a proxy vote > 5) Each board member will join as a member of the > museum (which is very reasonable at $10 per year for > seniors, or $15 per year for regular individual) > > How does your institution address fund raising? > How is it approached when recruiting new board > members? Any comments, etc., are most appreciated. > I will share your thoughts with the board, who will > then make their own decisions on fund raising > policies. > > Thanks in advance. > > Teresa Whitt, Director/Curator > South Charleston Museum gaw Glenn A. Walsh Electronic Mail - < [log in to unmask] > NEWS - Astronomy, Space, Science: < http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/#news > Author of History Web Sites on the Internet -- * Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh: < http://www.planetarium.cc > * Adler Planetarium, Chicago: < http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com > * Astronomer & Optician John A. Brashear: < http://johnbrashear.tripod.com > * Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries: < http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc > * Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh: < http://www.incline.cc > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! 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