SITE

by Anne Schink

This question poses real challenges for organizations that rely on volunteers for accomplishing their mission. My personal experience is that some of the bitterest disputes we ever had were over the question of what we pay for in our organization. Historically it was a membership organization with a volunteer board. The statewide organization had an office. The paid staff included a full time office manager and a part time bookkeeper. These folks managed the day-to-day operations of the organization, most of which were clerical and financial. The organization grew in size, reputation, and level of expertise.

The state board undertook a study to see if it was time to hire an Executive Director or perhaps a Development Director. This became a very emotionally charged debate. In fact the board members, especially the president, were not about to have all the ‘fun’ given over to a paid staff person of any stripe! As one unfortunately put it, ‘we hire staff to do scut work, not the important stuff.”

In other words, what this board valued was the time to interact with the legislature, to be viewed as experts in policy discussions, to provide training to local chapters and to be engaged with the public. They clearly saw themselves as professionals. They wanted to hire someone else to manage the less attractive aspects of the work, such as the clerical and bookkeeping tasks. They certainly didn’t want a paid staff person presenting him/herself as the spokesperson for the organization. They felt strongly that the strength of a volunteer organization was that they were not paid to do the work, but that their motivation was a strong ethical commitment to the mission of the organization.

Others in the group felt it was high time to get some ‘professional’ assistance in fundraising in particular. They wanted to hire a grantwriter to spare them from having to do it. They felt strongly that they needed higher level skill than the volunteer organization was able to provide. They also felt that a paid Executive Director would give them greater credibility with their peers in the statewide network of organizations that they worked so closely with on a regular basis.

I would like to report that these debates were resolved easily, but they were not. The growth pains from a mostly volunteer-led organization to one with professional staff that reports to a board are difficult and often emotionally charged. These organizational development challenges are common and often misunderstood. An honest appraisal from within the organization may well be enough to steer clear of some of the shoals of disharmony, but this soul-searching is often done best with the help of an outside facilitator who can direct the discussion in ways that avoid the emotional turmoil that accompanies a conversation of this nature. No one answer fits the needs of every organization. Each organization must work through these challenges for themselves.

Anne Schink is a Program Officer at the Maine Commission for Community Service.