Association Leadership - September/October 2008 - (Page 41)

A “Seasoned” Perspective Volunteer involvement and the expectation we may have of volunteers varies from a trade to individual member to charitable/service organization. Individual member organizations may experience more direct volunteer involvement at the implementation level than trade organizations. The constant across these groups is that the member volunteer embodies the special interest of the organization and they generally are the “content experts” for that special interest. Those of us who grow our career as nonproﬁt association executives provide different expertise to our organizations than the volunteer expert, although we may possess some expertise in the special interest of the group we serve. Since associations represent speciﬁc special interests, volunteers may be actively needed for input on legislative/policy initiatives – the power of many voices spread throughout effect more than the single voice of the staff exec or paid lobbyist. And, hopefully, those volunteer voices give to the PAC if one exists. If a professional conference or educational event is to be held, I would want a group of member volunteers to provide input and direction for the content of the program – this is easily accomplished with an education committee. Volunteers may also provide assistance at such events with registrations, serving as hosts, presenters, making introductions, fundraising, etc. depending on the resources of the organization as a whole. So, these examples represent volunteer involvement in fulﬁlling the mission and goals of the organization. A common way for volunteers to serve in an association is through work on standing and special committees where there is a speciﬁc focus of service. However, there also are expectations of volunteer leadership, usually vested in the ofﬁcers and board of directors. The expectation here is that they put aside personal agendas to represent and serve the constituent members of the organization. Additionally, their commitment should be on the needs of the member while recognizing any prevailing environmental conditions that may impact delivery of services and success in accomplishing organizational results. This requires some understanding of governance roles. Our responsibility as execs is to facilitate the volunteer leader’s governance role so they may readily discriminate and function at a policy level rather than an implementation level. The traditional governance structure of associations lends itself to volunteer participation. However, experience usually shows that only 10-20 percent of the volunteer pool will fulﬁll their role. The key issue is providing the opportunity for a meaningful volunteer experience while maintaining the appropriate roles of service between staff and volunteer. ◆ Dianne Hughes, CAE Executive Director Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented Christopher L. Williston VI Follow-up response: Dianne’s deﬁnition of volunteers as “content experts” is a great one. It is tempting to have volunteer leaders become involved in the minutiae of conducting the business of the association. However, it is healthier for the organization to have volunteers drive the content rather than the ins-and-outs of implementation. Dianne Hughes, CAE Follow-up response: Chris expresses the challenges of volunteer leadership well, especially in how volunteers prioritize their time commitments! I think non-performance by volunteers is often an issue of being mismatched to the service they are asked to do or poor time management. Certainly, those volunteers who do perform shine in the service they provide. Our responsibility in part is to help target the right volunteer – skill sets as well as time commitments – to the right volunteer job. September/October 2008 | Association LEADERSHIP 41

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Association Leadership - September/October 2008

Association Leadership - September/October 2008 Contents President’s Column Homepage 60-Second Solutions An Interview with TSAE’s New Chairperson TSAE’s Newest Board Members Vetting Volunteers Orientation of Volunteer Leaders Get on Board – Qualification Considerations Questions to Ask Before Saying Yes Liability Insurance for Volunteer Leaders Committee Planning TSAE’s Annual Golf Outing Congratulations to Our New CAEs Perspectives Association Case Study New Members Community Spotlight San Antonio Beaumont Index to Advertisers Advertiser.com The Lighter Side of Associations

Association Leadership - September/October 2008

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