Advice on paid help

[John Goerzen]

Hello,

The below comment was posted on my weblog at
http://changelog.complete.org/node/248 in response to a post about some
of SPI's problems.

I'm posting it here for some discussion -- maybe this will help us think
about better ways to organize our operation.

I suspect that Jimmy & Branden will have some input on this, but that is
still just part of the equation.  There are other things that have to be
done, that we've had troubles with in the past -- filing corporate
paperwork, posting resolutions, etc.

While we seem to be mostly on top of things now, I don't want us to be
lulled into a false sense of security.  Better to improve things before
they break down again.

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[16]Staffing a non profit organization

   Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 03/04/2005 - 9:25am.

   I've been involved with the board of numerous non-profits over the
   years:
   - Food Coops & associated Coop Loan Funds
   - Political Organizations, and associated Political Action Committees
   and Foundations
   - Social Dance Associations, and associations that own and maintain a
   dance hall and stage, and a summer camp.

   It is an enormous help to pay someone to keep the dull paperwork and
   other dull items in order. That's what money is for, to ensure
   attention is paid to a dull but important activity. It admittedly can
   be a challenge to pay for such a person and attention.

   Usually non-profit associations handle this by having dues, and
   members, and the opportunity to donate significantly more to sustain
   the organization. Generally, if a membership association can't keep
   their affairs in order--minimally to maintain a list of interested
   people (members), it will collapse. So members are often very
   motivated to sustain and pay for such activity. For example: if there
   are 1,000 members and they each pay $25 to keep the association going,
   that amounts to $25,000 to have someone attend to the dull work and
   mail, operate an office, have archival file cabinets, pay nominal
   legal expenses, deal with corporate filings, and other archival
   ephemera. (Even if every scrap of paper is scanned into a paperless
   non-physical office, someone has to properly manage this dull
   process.)

   I haven't a clue how SPI/Debian funds its corporate and operational
   necessities. But it seems to me there are a lot of entities and
   individuals have a strong interest in SPI/Debian's continued good
   health and corporate and board well being, so it shouldn't be too hard
   to figure out how to have a revenue stream that will sustain its
   humble operations.

   Someone serving as an assistant to the board is invaluable.
   Perhaps titled as "office manager," to deal with:
   -mail,
   -forms,
   -keep copies of everything,
   -perhaps pay approved bills, under the supervision/authority of the
   treasuerer
   -to be a pest when the officers fail to:
   -- sign papers, file forms,
   -- respond to requests to coordinate or set dates,
   -- follow up on the failure of a committee or boarm member to report
   their activity
   and so on...
   -as well as keeping track of additional items delegated by the board

   An office manager is the typical method to further these tasks, and
   this person can be priceless if he or she stays involved for 5 to 10
   years, and has seen and knows the history of what's been done, and how
   its been done, and what has and has not worked.

   As an organization gets bigger, an "office manager" tends to be
   transformed into an "executive director," a title that reflects the
   increased authority delegated to that position by the board.
   » [17]reply