| Telling Your Story | | | | problem, but if only one person keeps the mailing list |
| My family likes to play Jenga. The game has | | | | on a computer at his house, it would be wise to |
| fifty-four precision blocks and the goal is to take | | | | make multiple back-ups as well as a hard-copy. The |
| risks by removing and replacing blocks, building a taller | | | | more professionally the data is managed, the more |
| tower without collapsing the structure. Jenga, in | | | | useful it will be to you to communicate with |
| Swahili, means "to build" and whether you are talking | | | | members-translating into better meeting attendance |
| about the game or your organization, the goal is to | | | | and participation. |
| build it, while keeping the structure solid. | | | | Finally, your organization needs to place importance |
| Fairly quickly, even the kids learned that the weaker | | | | on good financial management. If your treasurer is |
| the Jenga base is, the quicker it falls. This is | | | | selected by rock-paper-scissors, or the checkbook |
| consistent with most areas of life. Whether you are | | | | travels from member to member each year, you |
| part of a nationwide organization like your auto club | | | | might want to revisit your system. You need to |
| or a small Rotary Club, proper organization and a | | | | watch your cash, your checks and your bookkeeping. |
| stable foundation will support great leadership and | | | | Not all organizations can have financial professionals |
| attract members. How many times have we seen | | | | manage their funds, but you can minimize your risks |
| great leaders or charismatic chairpersons who are | | | | by involving more people in financial oversight. Every |
| unable to succeed because they aren't supported by | | | | group should have a budget and rules that sets |
| staff, volunteer or club administration? Today, I'd like | | | | spending guidelines. At a minimum, you should have |
| to make a case for the elements of stability that will | | | | two leaders watching over cash collections and |
| keep your organization going strong. | | | | counting for verification purposes. Your volunteer |
| The most important parts of club/association | | | | treasurer should not receive the bank statements, |
| foundation are: 1. The establishment of proper | | | | unless someone else also gets a copy every month. |
| organizational procedures, 2. The quality of the data | | | | Checks over a certain amount should have two |
| and record management, and 3. The quality and the | | | | signers. Proper independent audits should be held |
| transparency of the financial recordkeeping. If a | | | | regularly. |
| group fails at any of these elements, the organization | | | | As for financial reports, "We have money, don't |
| is destined to be too fragile to withstand leadership | | | | worry," is not a proper treasurer's report. Financial |
| changes or "Acts of God" that could disrupt or | | | | reports should include a balance sheet, profit-to-loss |
| collapse their organization. | | | | ratios and budget-to-actual reports. A budget is |
| As for organizational documents, those include: | | | | necessary to guide spending and force the |
| Articles of Incorporation, Bylaws and other policies | | | | organization to have the conversation about |
| and procedures. Generally these cover election | | | | expenditures. Non-profit organization's goals are not |
| procedures, board terms, voting, dues, etc. These | | | | to gather large reserves; however, proper vision and |
| should be (or have been) written to last, so have | | | | stewardship will make sure the funds are being spent |
| your attorney consult with you on the proper and | | | | in a way that reflects the organization's mission. |
| mandatory items to include. You don't want your | | | | Reports should be transparent and easily understood |
| Board members to constantly enacting changes to | | | | by non-financial professionals. |
| make them function for the organization. Items not | | | | Near the end of our family game, we learned that |
| necessary for the Bylaws should be placed in a | | | | the Jenga tower will not stand on a single block. If |
| "Policy Handbook." They can cover items such as | | | | your group is built around the "passion" of a single |
| reimbursements, use of letterhead and mailing lists, | | | | volunteer who "does it all," it is critical to begin |
| etc. | | | | cross-training. Too many times I have sat through |
| Many groups underestimate the value of their data. | | | | meetings where nothing can be accomplished |
| Our President, Harvey Gail, always says, "Whoever | | | | because that "person" is missing and no one else |
| has the data has the power." Without easily | | | | knows how to proceed. If you believe in your |
| accessible data, you will be powerless to | | | | organization and want it to continue past your |
| communicate with your members and you will spend | | | | involvement, make sure you have a foundation that |
| a lot of time looking for information. | | | | will last. Even the best board can't function if you |
| Recently, I attended an Association Management | | | | don't have rules, data and money. |
| Conference and heard Susan D'Antoni, former | | | | Actually, I have to admit, I don't really like to play |
| Executive Director of the New Orleans Medical | | | | Jenga. The fun of the game is supposed to be when |
| Society. As you can imagine, she and her office had | | | | the blocks fall down and everyone screams "Jenga!" |
| to abandon the association during the hurricane. She | | | | It took a lot of work to set up that tower in the |
| gave us a good reminder about the importance of | | | | first place, I like it when it's tall and sturdy and |
| having data storage in remote locations and in | | | | inevitably, I have to clean up the blocks. |
| electronic form. Most small groups will not have this | | | | |