Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board: Volunteer Board

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TheatreJunkie
Walk-On
Walk-On

Joined: 6/12/07
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Topic: Volunteer Board
Posted: 6/12/07 at 4:10pm

Hello theatre folks...

I'm part of a group of volunteers that is interested in establishing a volunteer board for our local theatre. They have a professional staff and professional board already - but what is missing is a support chain for volunteers.

My question to you is this - do volunteer boards exist? If so, I'm interested to know how they are run, how the interact with the professional staff (assuming one exists) and how it co-exists with other aspects of the theatre.

Any help would be great!

Thanks!

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biggertigger
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Joined: 4/16/07
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 188

Posted: 6/12/07 at 10:14pm

A few questions to answer, what is the purpose of the "volunteer board"? Are you wanting to address issues between the professional board and the volunteer board. Are there grievances that need to be addressed. Or are you looking to have a hierachy of command to issue jobs.

I am not opposed to having a volunteer board, I just think you need to have a reason for the board. There are going to be some major issues, especailly with the Professional board that may feel you are treading on thier turf. You'll need to figure out what is the purpose of your board and how having it will help augment the professional board. Even if you can show how this is important for the board, you'll have a lot of opposition.

The two greatest days in a theater persons life, the day you start a new show and the day the damn thing closes.

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TheatreJunkie
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Posted: 6/13/07 at 8:11am

Biggertigger,

Thanks for the reply.

To answer your questions, there aren't any major grievances between the professional staff and the volunteer group. In fact, I would say it quite the opposite - it is very harmonious. Moreover, the professional staff is encouraging the volunteers to become part of the process in organizing, managing and recruiting other volunteers. Our purpose, therefore, really is promote the interests of the volunteers, strengthen the management of the volunteers and to encourage others to want to volunteer.

The theatre used to have a volunteer coordinator on staff which was great for all of us. That position was vacated about 6 months ago and hasn't been replaced. While the hunt for a replacement is ongoing (as you might guess it can be quite the job to fill), a group of us have gotten together, with staff support, to augment those responsibilities.

So, instead of drfiting aimlessly trying to "put out fires", we're trying to organize and form a cohesive board that can retroactively address issues while planning for future shows.

Does this help?

Again, thanks for the post!

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biggertigger
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Joined: 4/16/07
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 188

Posted: 6/13/07 at 5:48pm

That does help out a lot. Glad you have a full support and backing from the professional board. There are many websites that discuss creating a board, creating bi-laws, rules, etc. One website, that deals with community theater is www.aact.org which has a list of resources that can help you in your endeavors. A typical board will consist of President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer. Then you'll have your voting members. Your bi-laws will dictate what makes a quorum, guidelines for voting, and different job descriptions. This is a huge process and research project. Unfortunately no two boards are the same thus you wont be able to just copy from another board.

But by looking up the information you need, you can combine the different aspects that you need to meet you needs. You'll also need a liason between the two boards as well that can work harmoniously with the other board.

I wish you the best of luck on this project.

The two greatest days in a theater persons life, the day you start a new show and the day the damn thing closes.

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TheatreJunkie
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Walk-On

Joined: 6/12/07
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 0

Posted: 6/15/07 at 12:00pm

Thanks for the help! Much appreciated!

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Other Topics
Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board :Producing Theater :Other Topics

Author	Message
TheatreJunkie Walk-On Joined: 6/12/07 Online Status: Offline Posts: 0	Topic: Volunteer Board Posted: 6/12/07 at 4:10pm
	Hello theatre folks... I'm part of a group of volunteers that is interested in establishing a volunteer board for our local theatre. They have a professional staff and professional board already - but what is missing is a support chain for volunteers. My question to you is this - do volunteer boards exist? If so, I'm interested to know how they are run, how the interact with the professional staff (assuming one exists) and how it co-exists with other aspects of the theatre. Any help would be great! Thanks!

	IP Logged

biggertigger Celebrity Joined: 4/16/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 188	Posted: 6/12/07 at 10:14pm
	A few questions to answer, what is the purpose of the "volunteer board"? Are you wanting to address issues between the professional board and the volunteer board. Are there grievances that need to be addressed. Or are you looking to have a hierachy of command to issue jobs. I am not opposed to having a volunteer board, I just think you need to have a reason for the board. There are going to be some major issues, especailly with the Professional board that may feel you are treading on thier turf. You'll need to figure out what is the purpose of your board and how having it will help augment the professional board. Even if you can show how this is important for the board, you'll have a lot of opposition.
	The two greatest days in a theater persons life, the day you start a new show and the day the damn thing closes.
	IP Logged

TheatreJunkie Walk-On Joined: 6/12/07 Online Status: Offline Posts: 0	Posted: 6/13/07 at 8:11am
	Biggertigger, Thanks for the reply. To answer your questions, there aren't any major grievances between the professional staff and the volunteer group. In fact, I would say it quite the opposite - it is very harmonious. Moreover, the professional staff is encouraging the volunteers to become part of the process in organizing, managing and recruiting other volunteers. Our purpose, therefore, really is promote the interests of the volunteers, strengthen the management of the volunteers and to encourage others to want to volunteer. The theatre used to have a volunteer coordinator on staff which was great for all of us. That position was vacated about 6 months ago and hasn't been replaced. While the hunt for a replacement is ongoing (as you might guess it can be quite the job to fill), a group of us have gotten together, with staff support, to augment those responsibilities. So, instead of drfiting aimlessly trying to "put out fires", we're trying to organize and form a cohesive board that can retroactively address issues while planning for future shows. Does this help? Again, thanks for the post!
	IP Logged

biggertigger Celebrity Joined: 4/16/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 188	Posted: 6/13/07 at 5:48pm
	That does help out a lot. Glad you have a full support and backing from the professional board. There are many websites that discuss creating a board, creating bi-laws, rules, etc. One website, that deals with community theater is www.aact.org which has a list of resources that can help you in your endeavors. A typical board will consist of President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer. Then you'll have your voting members. Your bi-laws will dictate what makes a quorum, guidelines for voting, and different job descriptions. This is a huge process and research project. Unfortunately no two boards are the same thus you wont be able to just copy from another board. But by looking up the information you need, you can combine the different aspects that you need to meet you needs. You'll also need a liason between the two boards as well that can work harmoniously with the other board. I wish you the best of luck on this project.
	The two greatest days in a theater persons life, the day you start a new show and the day the damn thing closes.
	IP Logged

TheatreJunkie Walk-On Joined: 6/12/07 Online Status: Offline Posts: 0	Posted: 6/15/07 at 12:00pm
	Thanks for the help! Much appreciated!
	IP Logged

Topic: Volunteer Board( Topic Closed)