Anyone looking for an opportunity to get involved in the community at a leadership level are invited to come to “Get on Board!” at Center Lake Pavilion on Tuesday, April 30 between 4:30 and 6:30 p.m. and see what opportunities are available through local nonprofits that match your interests and talents. The event will be open house style giving attendees the chance to stop by, visit the booths, enjoy refreshments and learn about leadership opportunities in areas as varied as the arts, social services, the environment and many others.
Local nonprofits have identified recruiting and retaining effective board members as a major challenge for them. The goal of “Get On Board!” is to bring talented, interested, competent people together with vibrant organizations with missions and visions that make a difference. The community benefits greatly when area businesses encourage their employees to share their leadership, education and training, marketing and public relations experience through community service.
On April 30th, there will be over 30 nonprofit organization booths with staff and current board members available to answer questions about their organization, their mission and vision for the future and to explain what they expect from their board members in terms of time commitment, leadership and skills. You will have the opportunity to visit these various booths, and then fill out a time and talent survey form. This survey will gather information about your interests and availability. The information will be entered into a database, which will be housed and maintained at the Community Foundation as a Board Bank. When area nonprofits are in need of new board members, they can contact the Community Foundation, who will forward information about possible candidates to them, based on criteria that the nonprofit is seeking. For example, they might need someone with financial experience or they may be looking for someone from a particular geographic area of the county to balance their board membership.
The Board Bank can also help interested folks with time and talent to share find an organization with a mission that matches their passion, and help them become involved as a volunteer board member with that organization. The Board Bank will be a very valuable tool for the community by helping to build social capital and facilitate communication and networking opportunities.
