Workshop to focus on nonprofit board members’ roles, responsibilities
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| Joe Dahlstrom |
As volunteer leaders of an organization, an effective board of directors plays an essential part in having a strong nonprofit foundation.
The Victoria College/University of Houston-Victoria Library will address the importance of competent nonprofit board members in an Oct. 12 workshop.
“Board Governance: Roles and Responsibilities” will be from 9 a.m. to noon in Room 110 of the Northside Education Center, 707 Fahrenthold St., El Campo.
“For a nonprofit to be successful, it must have board members who know what they are doing and know what it takes to get the job done,” said Joe Dahlstrom, VC/UHV senior director of libraries.
Workshop attendees will discuss key duties of board members, important factors for success and practical tools to conduct effective board meetings. This includes how to get work done between board meetings, organizing committees, how to design an agenda and ways to resolve issues among members. Attendees also will learn techniques for effective communication between board and staff members.
The workshop is meant to provide resources to strengthen area nonprofits. It is a good opportunity for new and current board members, executive directors and development staff to reflect on their goals as an organization, said Amanda Breu, instruction and outreach librarian at the VC/UHV Library.
“All of these tools will allow board members and staff members to be productive in their nonprofit goals,” Dahlstrom said.
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| Rose Mary Fry |
Rose Mary Fry, owner of RMF Consulting in San Antonio, will lead the workshop. She specializes in strategic planning, board governance, nonprofit finance and fundraising. Fry has worked with boards and staff members from many new and established nonprofit groups throughout Texas.
The workshop is the second in a three-part series that the library is hosting. The sold-out workshop in July was about grant writing. The final workshop will be Jan. 18 in Wharton and will be about nonprofit budgets and financial issues.
The workshop series is supported by grants from the Trull Foundation, Gulf Coast Medical Foundation and M.G. and Lillie A. Johnson Foundation. This support allows the library to provide much-needed education for nonprofits in the region, Breu said.
As a cooperating collection affiliate of the national Foundation Center, the VC/UHV library also provides resources for nonprofits and community members. Online and print collections include a directory of foundations offering grants to nonprofits, guides on grant seeking, proposal writing, different means of fundraising and volunteerism.
The fee to attend the workshop is $35. Space is limited, so preregistration is required. To register, visit www.uhvconnect.org/event/workshopoct12.
Participants can pay by credit card when they register online. Those preferring to pay by check should make the check payable to the University of Houston-Victoria and send it to the VC/UHV Library, Attention: Kathy Sullivan, 2602 N. Ben Jordan St., Victoria, TX 77901.
For more information, contact Breu at 361-570-4169 or breua@uhv.edu.
The University of Houston-Victoria, located in the heart of the Coastal Bend region since 1973 in Victoria, Texas, offers courses leading to more than 80 academic programs in the schools of Arts & Sciences; Business Administration; and Education, Health Professions & Human Development. UHV provides face-to-face classes at its Victoria campus, as well as an instructional site in Katy, Texas, and online classes that students can take from anywhere. UHV supports the American Association of State Colleges and Universities Opportunities for All initiative to increase awareness about state colleges and universities and the important role they have in providing a high-quality and accessible education to an increasingly diverse student population, as well as contributing to regional and state economic development.
