show menu It was a pleasure and an honor to speak last week to the Public Council of ALUT – The Israeli Society for Children and Adults with Autism. This excellent group of volunteers is working on behalf of ALUT in so many ways, and some of them for so many years, any NGO should be blessed with such a group of dedicated friends.
In many NGOs we are straggling – what is the correct balance, and what kind of organizational interface is needed between volunteers and paid personnel (often we use the term “Professionals”, but are all paid personnel really professionals…?). What are the roles of Board Members, Committee Members, what are their prerogatives, duties, rights, privileges and so on? On one hand very often one looks for answers in the Statues, Rules & Regulations and other formal papers as the benchmark. On the other hand, many excellent lay leaders and volunteers I have worked with in the past simply asked me: what do you need me to do? How can I help?
Every one of us with some experience “in the trenches” knows that feeling. Here is another event coming, and you need your volunteers to help out: sell tickets, make phone calls, talk to vendors, get prizes for the big winners of the Gala, make a personal donation and the list is long. Deep inside we fear the scheduled meeting, when all eyes would focus on you, and all you’ll be getting are excellent advises: “call this one, tell him I told you to call. Let’s do the Gala in this or another venue. We should serve a vegan lunch”… should I even continue? So how do we “make it happen”?
The fine balance leading to cooperative, joined and constructive work of all engaged with our organization is an art. It is the responsibility of all stakeholders to make sure the right persons are hired to the paid positions, and that the right people are recruited to the lay-leadership positions. This is not a theory, but should be a reality. In my lecture about “How to build and manage a sustainable winning team for an NGO” we are discussing exactly these issues and more.
The evening with ALUT was a pleasure. I have seldom seen so many volunteers step up to the plate so quickly, when the Chairman just asked them: how can you help ALUT. Congratulations and Kol Hakavod.
Yariv Sultan has over twenty years of experience in building and maintaining relationship with volunteers and lay-leadaership. Visit GlobalCan to learn more.
