VOLUNTEER
ORIENTATION
PACKAGE
download this file as: pdf
First Draft
October 1990 by Al Wills
Updated 1998, 2001, 2004, 2005
Introduction
Congratulations! Welcome to the group of volunteers who are the
Management of the Victoria Bowmen Association, one of the oldest and
most respected Archery clubs in Canada. You were elected or appointed to
serve the association because of your willingness to serve and your
dedication to our sport. The membership of the club is grateful for your
contribution and are expecting solid management of their association.
During previous terms and just recently members of the board have asked
me where they can become more familiar with how a meeting runs and what
their job is. I always honestly answered that I didn’t really know. Any
time I’ve read Robert’s Rules they differ greatly from most Victoria
Bowmen Meetings I have attended. Duncan Grant, Executive Director of the
Federation of Canadian Archers had produced a structure and
responsibilities booklet some time ago. I liked the format so I
plagiarised it somewhat for our use. To it I have added notes I have
accumulated on the running of meetings within our association and others
like it. It will give each of us some common ground from which we can
run the association in the next year. I had intended for this booklet to
be a compendium of the experience of a number of former members of the
Club executive(s). The time constraints, however do not allow and I am
producing this first version in time for the first meeting of the 1991
board. I hope it proves a useful document. Your comments would be
appreciated and included in future versions.
You no doubt have several questions about the implications of becoming a
director:
- Can a volunteer do a good job without experience?;
- What is required to do your job as a member of the executive or
board?;
- What are the choices to be made?;
- How much of my time is all this going to require?;
- Do you get credit or recognition for the work you perform? and
- Is it worth all this trouble?
This guide was complied to allow you to get a basic feeling for the
management and operations of the association. The following topics are
discussed:
1. Structure of the Association
2. The Volunteer’s Responsibilities
3. Finances
4. Meetings
A copy of the current constitution should also be read.
Al Wills
President 1990/91
1. Structure of the Victoria Bowmen
The Victoria Bowmen Association is a registered society under the
British Columbia Societies Act. It’s purpose (from our Constitution) is
“to promote all phases of archery and without limiting the generality of
the foregoing;
(a) to organise tournaments and encourage participation at all levels.”
To perpetuate this goal some of the activities include:
- encouraging membership;
- holding both competitive and relaxation tournaments;
- host functions for the enjoyment of the membership;
- provide indoor and outdoor venues to foster the sport and the
fellowship of archery;
- promote the sport in the city, municipalities, the Province and
Canada;
- to provide the best archery environment available for the enjoyment of
all.
The association is bound by it’s constitution, which all members of the
association should be familiar with.
Board of Directors:
The Board is made up of a maximum of 16 individuals, their job
descriptions are in detailed in the constitution. The positions are:
- President
- Vice President
- Secretary
- Treasurer
- Past President
- Membership Director
- Tournament Director
- Junior Olympian Director
- Public Relations Director
- Bowhunting Director
- Trophy Director
- Target Director
- Equipment Director
- Liaison Director
- Junior Director
All these positions can be elected at the Annual General Meeting or can
be filled by the President subject to the rules outlined in the
constitution.
The three main purposes of the board are:
1. Planning
2. Decision making (the accepting or rejecting of recommendations from committees)
3. Monitoring
Every attempt is made to have the board meet monthly with the AGM in
September. While we attempt to run all meetings according to Robert’s
Rules of Order, they can be quite cumbersome as they are intended for
parliamentary debate and restrict a volunteer organisation somewhat.
Lately we have been using a book called “Call to Order” by Herb Perry as
a reference, it is recommended reading. The agenda used is adapted for
the use by the association and is attached as an annex to this package.
The annex also explains basic rules of procedure used by the association
with respect to meetings and this particular agenda.
Executive Committee:
The role of the Executive Committee is to act on behalf of the
association when the Board is not in session. Its members are the
President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and Past President.
When it is not possible to convene the entire board for a decision or
decisions then the President calls a meeting of the executive. In such
cases the remainder of the board is informed as soon as possible.
Committees:
In most cases the board is too busy at it’s meetings to do actual
planning or research, such tasks are far better served by committees.
The role of a committee is to prepare recommendations for the Board
relating to specific subject areas. The Victoria Bowmen does not have
standing committees, but they are struck from time to time to deal with
specific issues. A good example is the hosting of Provincial or National
tournaments, the organisation and running of the project are done by a
committee working in the name of the club with major issues referred to
the board.
A committee consists of a chairman, usually a member of the board and a
few members selected for their expertise in the area of the work. The
members may also be board members; the number is seldom less than 3.
The Chairman is appointed by the President and responsible for
scheduling and monitoring the work of the committee, ensuring that the
assigned work is completed on schedule and within any constraints
imposed by the Board or Executive. The chairman usually reports on the
committee’s activities at each board meeting. It is also the
responsibility of the chairman to ensure the committee is active and
when the task is complete to dissolve the committee. The chairman should
also ensure that members of the committee receive credit for their work.
2. Volunteer Responsibilities
A Director
If you are a director, you have the following functions to perform:
attend meetings as often as possible, when you cannot attend inform
the chairman;
respond to any written correspondence you may receive and inform the
board;
review information available on any issues that may be voted on;
provide input to projects and policies;
resolve yourself to be a positive influence to the board avoid being
negative;
promote the club and it’s activities among other archers;
attempt to attend and promote as many club functions and work parties
as possible;
provide a liaison between the membership and the board by
communicating decisions and policies;
complete tasks that you undertake;
work within the association for the betterment of the club and archery
and
remind or advise the President if important information is not being
circulated.
A Committee Chairman
If you are a committee chairman you have the following functions to
perform:
- prepare and review committee budgets and spending reports;
- communicate with all committee members;
- co-ordinate preparations for committee meetings;
- attend and chair all committee meetings;
- provide reports to the board at each board meeting;
- liaise with the President about your committee’s activities and
progress;
- respond to all inquires concerning the committee and it’s activities;
- advise the President of problems / issues as they arise and
- attend board meetings.
A committee Member
If you are a committee member you have the following functions to
perform:
- attend all committee meetings;
- complete work assigned;
- review and comment on work submitted by fellow committee members and
- respond to all inquiries pertaining to committee activities, which are
delivered to you.
3. Finances
The Victoria Bowmen association is a non profit volunteer organisation
and as such undertakes activities for the promotion of the sport. The
association’s main source of income is membership fees, however many
projects are undertaken during the year to raise funds to off sets costs
to the membership. This includes hosting tournaments and other fund
raising activities. The principle behind fund raising has always been to
attempt to keep club dues as low as possible while providing the best
service to the membership. The cost of rental of facilities for indoor
shooting, the upkeep of the outdoor range, the upkeep of the clubhouse
and the cost of targets are the major costs that must be paid on an on
going basis by the club treasury. In addition to this the club supports
the costs associated with club newsletters and other communication
vehicles to keep the membership informed. While members of the board are
volunteers, the club does not expect anyone to incur expenses in their
own name on behalf of the club, to this end the club pays all reasonable
expenses incurred by members of the board in the name of the club. Such
expenses are submitted to the Treasurer on a club expense form and are
considered for reimbursement at the next board meeting. The Board may
approve the paying of funds in advance for a project, in this case the
Treasurer will ensure payment is made. In all cases expenses incurred
are to be supported by invoices and receipts. A basic rule of thumb is
that any director may spend up to $50.00 without authority from the
board, it is expected, however, that the President would be kept
informed.
4. Meetings
Meetings of the associations are held using the following agenda as a
guide line:
THE VICTORIA BOWMEN ASSOCIATION
AGENDA
1. CALL TO ORDER
2. CHAIRMAN’S OPENING REMARKS
3. CORRESPONDENCE
4. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING
5. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA WITH NEW BUSINESS BEING LEFT OPEN
REPORTS: (usually done in 'around the room' order.
a President
b Vice President
c Secretary
d Treasurer
e Past President
f Membership Director
g Tournament Director
h Junior Olympian Director
j Public Relations Director
k Bowhunting Director
m Trophy Director
n Target Director
o Field Director
p Equipment Director
q Liaison Director
r Junior Director
s Standing Committees
7. BUSINESS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES
a.
b.
c.
d......
8. NEW BUSINESS
a. Call for new business
b.
c.
d......
9. DISBURSEMENTS FOR APPROVAL
10. TIME AND PLACE OF NEXT MEETING.
11. FOR THE GOOD OF THE ASSOCIATION.
12. ADJOURNMENT
EXPLANATION OF THE AGENDA AND BASIC MEETING PROTOCOL
1. CALL TO ORDER:
The meeting should be called to order on time. If there are not enough
members present to form a quorum the meeting will start without them.
Business that must be voted on will be left until there is a quorum.
This philosophy is to enforce the importance of the time of those who
did arrive on time. If a meeting does not start until certain members
arrive then it enforces the belief that it is all right to arrive late
because meetings never start on time.
2. CHAIRMAN’S OPENING REMARKS:
The chairman sets the tone of the meeting here, with comments about the
meeting and any special announcements, such as business to be discussed.
Guests will be introduced and welcomed
3. CORRESPONDENCE:
Members of the board are apprised of all correspondence received since
the last meeting, it is not necessarily read, particularly if a
considerable amount was received. If there are items of interest or of a
continuous nature then they should be added to the agenda under NEW
BUSINESS. Members of the association should ensure that the secretary is
aware of any correspondence received or sent in the name of the
association. All correspondence sent out with Victoria Bowmen letterhead
should be in the files of the association.
4. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING:
The minutes are not read, but normally circulated before hand It is
expected that all members have read them prior to commencement of the
meeting, it is not fair to those that have to read the minutes for those
that have not. If for extenuating reasons the minutes have not been
circulated before hand, a separate motion can be called for to have the
minutes read.
5. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA:
The agenda is adopted at this time with new business left open. This
allows for items to be added as the meeting progresses, but closes the
meeting to changes (surprises) This ensures that items brought forth
have been considered prior to the meeting. As mentioned previously, if
the agenda is followed the valuable time of the board will not be
wasted.
6. REPORTS:
This is where reports of the activity of the board members are expected.
If at all possible the report should be written and then circulated
before the meeting. If this cannot be done then it may be read. There is
nothing wrong with a verbal report, however a written report shows that
you have made consideration of the others present. Also in the case of
inactivity there should be no embarrassment over a short verbal report,
you have shown your commitment by attending the meeting.
7. BUSINESS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES:
This is sometimes called “OLD BUSINESS”, however the feeling of boards
is that either an item has been referred to this meeting by a previous
meeting or it is new business.
8. NEW BUSINESS:
The chairman begins by asking for items to be added to new business and
they are added in the order they have been received or suggested. Each
item is then dealt with separately. Discussion is ended on any given
item of business if either the item has been voted on or referred to
another meeting or committee. In either case when discussion has begun
on a new item the previous discussion is closed. All members must
respect the “rules of order” which dictate that agree or not when an
item is agreed upon or defeated then discussion is closed. If any member
feels that an item was not dealt with fairly then the chairman should be
approached to deal with the item again in a future meeting. If he
disagrees then the item may be considered by the board during discussion
of items for new business at a future meeting.
9 DISBURSEMENTS FOR APPROVAL:
This is to serve as a reminder to those who have expenses outstanding
for payment, or those who anticipating expenses discussed at the
meeting. All spending of funds should be approved during normal
business. If an expense is allowable in a previously adopted budget it
does not require further approval. This item of business should,
therefore, only cover foreseen expenses.
10. TIME AND PLACE OF NEXT MEETING:
A meeting should not be adjourned without knowing the time and place of
the next.
11. FOR THE GOOD OF THE ASSOCIATION:
The end of a meeting is a good time to make sure that everybody leaves
with a positive mental attitude, or at least the feeling that nothing
was left unsaid.
The chairman will begin with the member sitting beside him (either left
or right), and goes around the table asking each member in turn if they
have anything to say “for the good of the association”. The rules are
spelled out ahead of time:
- you get one chance to speak;
- there is to be no interruption;
- there is to be no rebuttal.
The chairman being the last to speak has the opportunity to diffuse and
or explain any contentious issue that has been brought up.
12. ADJOURNMENT:
At this point all items on the agenda have been discussed and dealt
with, when the agenda was approved adjournment was the last item,
therefore the meeting is automatically adjourned. It is usually the
custom, however to ask for a formal motion for adjournment and record
the time.