If you serve on the board of directors of an association or nonprofit agency, it’s a sure bet you believe in the mission of your organization and want it to thrive. A thriving association is the result of strong and effective leadership, but board governance can be a difficult and time-consuming process.
One solution is to free up your board and staff from unnecessary tasks and add additional expertise by working with an association management company, or AMC. Let’s review just a few of the benefits for boards in an AMC partnership:
The board stays focused on board-level concerns
There’s a reason you don’t see generals teaching recruits how to fire a rifle or CEO’s checking the code of a new software release. We all have a certain amount of time and mental capacity, and the more of these that a board spends on day-to-day operations, the less likely it is that strategic functions will receive proper attention. When you put an AMC in charge of these tasks, you prioritize the tasks only you as a board can undertake, and thereby ensure they are done well.
The board remains compliant with all laws, regulations and best practices
Dealing with the compliance burden that the IRS and state tax authorities place on nonprofit organizations requires its own checklists, annual filings, agenda items, and more. Add in the need to adopt and stick with certain best practices and procedures in order to make your board truly effective, and soon you have quite a list for board members or volunteers to contend with.
AMC staff members are experts in all these board compliance aspects, and can make sure you don’t miss any steps, or have to spend more time than necessary with compliance issues.
The board can add to – or reduce – staff capacity quickly without experiencing typical downsides
If a board decides they need to add volunteers or salaried staff to their day-to-day operations, this can lead to a long recruiting or hiring process, and in the case of salaried staff, more paperwork and legal compliance. With an AMC, adding staff capacity is as simple as asking them to expand their duties. You will have none of the overhead or compliance hassles of hiring and will share the cost of this additional staff with other organizations who are also served by the AMC.
Volunteer-led boards will be less likely to see burnout and missed deadlines
Many of the tasks that come with board governance—preparing minutes and agendas, reports and filings, etc.—are time consuming. Too often, these tasks are one more thing busy volunteers have to fit into a crowded schedule. This can easily lead to burnout, and for some it can lead to unintended procrastination and a resulting scramble or missed deadline. If these tasks are handled at the board’s direction by the professional staff of an AMC, volunteer board members will be able to focus solely on leadership. Meanwhile, volunteers who are involved in day-to-day tasks will be able to stick to the mission they have a passion for instead of writing minutes and reports.
Boards will have access to expertise they might not otherwise have
AMC professionals are experts in the field of board governance and association/nonprofit operations. That makes them invaluable agents and advisors as well as an objective sounding board for important decisions. In addition, working with an AMC gives you access to experts they and their clients rely on, such as attorneys, IT and HR specialists, marketers, etc.
Could Your Board Benefit from Working with an AMC?
At V2, we’ve provided full service and outsourced services for national associations for many years and can deliver the resources and expertise that help you thrive. Get in touch with us today, and let’s see how we can improve your association together.