Hillcrest Community Committee | Governance Toolkit

Governance Toolkit by Candice Marie Bickett is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

A COMPREHENSIVE

TOOLKIT TO ASSIST THE HILLCREST COMMUNITY COMMITTEE

Hillcrest Community Committee GOVERNANCE TOOLKIT

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CONTENTS

1. Introduction ...................................................................................................... 3

2. Committee Roles & Responsibilities ................................................................. 4-7

3. Sample Committee Bylaws ............................................................................... 7-11

4. Recruitment | Committee Members ................................................................. 12-16

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1. INTRODUCTION

This toolkit has been developed to assist the members of the Hillcrest Community Committee to understand and undertake the management of their community organization. For individuals new to the role of committee member, this toolkit will guide you through the establishment of structures and procedures. Each section of this Governance Toolkit also offers practical advice, to help make the most of the committee’s contribution to our shared Hillcrest neighborhood of Contra Costa County.









2. COMMITTEE ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES

COMMITTEE RESPONSIBILITY

A major responsibility of the committee must be above all to ensure that its decisions and actions are reflective of the best interests of the Hillcrest Community of Contra Costa County. Some of the functions and duties arising from this responsibility are:

To ensure that committee members recruited and elected reflect the diversity and needs of the community

To encourage active community participation in the activities of the committee and to ensure that the community is aware of what the committee is doing.

To initiate fund-raising and social activities to cultivate a closer relationship between the committee and the community.

To monitor and control the finances of the committee not only for the present but also with the future in mind.

To be aware of and ensure the regular review of the committee bylaws, policies, procedures (therein).

COMMITTEE MEMBERS Most community committees comprise the following positions:

A. President B. Vice President C. Secretary D. Treasurer E. General Committee Members (non-voting)

Some of the desirable characteristics of persons occupying these positions are: PRESIDENT

The primary role of the President/Chair is to provide leadership to the committee and members. The President must act to ensure the efficacy of the committee, as well as be a motivator providing encouragement to members.

The President normally acts as chair for all regular meetings; it is important that the person occupying this position has knowledge of meetings and meeting procedures. The President/Chair serves as the committee’s figurehead and acts as a link between the committee and the management who in turn act as a link to general community members.









As a symbolic representation of the Hillcrest community, it is imperative that the committee’s decisions and actions are mindful of the cultural

diversity of our shared neighborhoods in Contra Costa County

VICE PRESIDENT

The primary role of the Vice President is to support the President in the functions of leadership, coordination and motivation. Vice Presidents should therefore be prepared to:

Assist the President or take the President’s place in her/his absence. Accept responsibilities such as chair, subcommittees, or other specific functions when

called upon.

SECRETARY

The position of Secretary is perhaps one of the two “busiest” within any committee. The functions of a Secretary include:

Recording of minutes of all meetings Handling all correspondence for the committee Maintaining the files, membership records, volunteer records Ensuring that all rules relating to meetings are complied with including but not limited to:

Notices Quorums Meeting Procedures Preparing agendas (in consultation with the President)

TREASURER

The Treasurer’s job is to monitor the committee’s financial processes and keep on top of the variety of different reporting obligations. Traditionally Treasurers have needed to have a fundamental understanding of bookkeeping and/or generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).

The reality is that the role of Treasurer is one of the hardest roles to recruit for. Outsourcing the bookkeeping and payroll functions will assist in securing a Treasurer as this is one of the most difficult positions to fill.









Alternatively, committees may recruit a Treasurer who possesses a sound understanding of and ability to practically employ:

GAAP; Principles of Fundraising, Grant Writing and Proposals; Fund Development, Cash Receipts Legal and fiduciary responsibilities of Contra Costa County’s elected representatives

The Treasurer will usually chair the finance subcommittee, (if there is one), and ensure that regular financial reports are provided to the committee. The specific job of the Treasurer includes:

Preparation and maintenance of all accounting records; Preparation of all budgets; Maintenance of all records of income and expenditures; Maintenance and general supervision of the finances of the committee and

providing advice to the President; Preparation of all Financial Reports and Statements. (Monthly reports to committee and YE

reports); Execution of the annual audit of the Financial Statements for the committee (if applicable)

To undertake these functions the Treasurer needs –at minimum:

Knowledge of bookkeeping. Time to maintain the records. A willingness to learn.

Because of workload involved it is recommended that committees consider ways of helping Secretaries and Treasurers. The appointment of Assistant Secretary and Assistant Treasurer from general committee members is one option to consider.









3. SAMPLE COMMITTEE BYLAWS

i. Name [of committee]:

II. Purpose [mission, statement of activities and or programming]:

III. Membership Distribution List:

IV. Selection of Members

A. Membership requirements B. Meeting attendance requirements C. Clarify election or appointment procedures for officers including who votes/appoints

members and officers D. Election/Appointment Timeline E. Clarify start date and length of members/officers’ terms

V. Members Duties: F. The President shall:

1. [Call regular meetings] 2. [Approve agendas] 3. [Distributed approved minutes] 4. [Preside over meetings (clarify who presides if Chair is absent)] 5. [Provide reports if needed] 6. [Attend meetings] 7. [Verify the committee’s web postings/social media presence/formalize content] 8. [Report and recruit for openings on the committee] 9. [Hold elections for the committee officers] 10. [Report annualized membership list and officers]

G. The Secretary shall: 1. [Create and approve agendas]

2. [Create accurate attendance and meeting minutes for President/Chair

approval no less than 7 calendar days prior to each scheduled meeting]

3. [Create agendas for President/Chair approval no less than 3 calendar days

prior to each scheduled meeting]

4. [Take accurate minutes (including attendance records) of each committee

meeting]

5. [Submit draft of minutes to committee chair no less than 10 days prior to the

meetings using the template provided] 6. [Distribute approved agendas]









VI. Meetings: A. The(committee name) will meet the ___________________ of every ______________ B. Define process for calling special meetings including notification requirements C. Define quorum i.e. the minimum number members who must be present at meetings D. Clarify acceptability and process of virtual meetings including agenda, attendance

records and, minutes VII. Attendance:

A. Define committee’s attendance policy

VIII. Voting:

E. Who may vote and who may not (chair? past chair?) F. Percentage of members needed to certify vote G. Process for Voting H. Clarify process for proxy voting I. Clarify process for virtual voting

IX. Amendments:

A. Define the process for amending these bylaws









ARTICLE 1: NAME AND PURPOSE Official name of the committee

What are the purpose, function, and mission of the committee? ARTICLE 2: MEMBERSHIP, SELECTION, AND RECALL

Who are the members?

Who do they each represent in the community (constituency, cultural and or experiential diversity, professional experience or job title/position)?

In general, membership should reflect the diversity of the shared communities, which the committee serves. Ideally, membership includes the following:

At least a 51% majority of business and industry members An educational administrator;

Counselor/advisor and/or a diversity representative

Optional members may include:

Secondary and/or postsecondary technical instructors; General education (academic) faculty

Current student or parent representative

Questions for consideration:

Are all the interested parties properly represented to adequately fulfill the purpose/mission of the committee?

Is there anyone missing that has particular knowledge or responsibility that is integral to the committee’s purpose? If so, they should be added to the membership roster.

Is there a representative from the body to whom the committee reports who will act as a liaison with that body?

Is there a student member included, if student input would be appropriate?

What are term lengths?

There should be a standard term length for all committees: most have 3-year terms. Terms should be staggered to ensure continuity of membership from year to year.

Most committees have 1/3 of their membership expiring each year.

How many consecutive terms may a member serve? How are members selected?

Members should be selected by their peers in an open, fair, democratic process.

Are there particular qualifications, experience, or expertise required of members?









Ex-Officio members are members of committee by virtue of their position or job title, and may be voting or non-voting, depending on the decision of the committee.

Ex-Officio members have the right, but not the obligation, to participate.

ARTICLE 3: OFFICERS AND MEETINGS

How and when is the committee President/Chair selected and who is eligible? How long is the term of office for the President/Chair? Can s/he serve a second term? Is

there a Vice President/Chair? How is s/he selected? Is there an Executive Committee? Who are the members? How are they chosen?

What are the duties and responsibilities of the President/Chair? The Vice President/Chair?

Who informs members of meeting dates, times and places?

What happens if the office of the President/Chair becomes vacant? (Succession planning) May the Chair be recalled? Under what circumstances? What is the process? How often

does the Council or Committee meet?

May members request a meeting? If so, how many requests are needed for a meeting to be called?

ARTICLE 4: MINUTES, QUORUM, AND VOTING

Committees shall include the following statement in their bylaws: Minutes are kept for each meeting and are submitted in a timely manner to the President for review and approval/acceptance.

All minutes, bylaws revisions, documents generated, and recommendations from

Subcommittees are submitted to the parent committee, which reviews and

approves/accepts them This information reporting chain keeps everyone informed of Council and committee

activities, and ensures that recommendations and action items are followed through to completion or resolution.

How many voting members are needed to constitute a quorum? Are absentee or proxy votes allowed? Are email votes allowed? How many votes are needed for a motion to pass? What happens with tie votes?

Do Presidents/Chairs have the right to vote? Or do they vote only to break a tie? ARTICLE 5: STANDING COMMITTEES IF APPROPRIATE

Does the committee have the right to form subcommittees and or ad hoc committees if it

deems necessary? A record of the members, their term dates, and the bylaws of each of the subcommittees is

maintained by the committee









List the subcommittees under the auspices of the committee, if any

Include a statement that the committee reviews and approves/accepts the minutes of the subcommittees.

May the committee discontinue or disband a subcommittee? Should the committee determine the membership and purpose of subcommittees it establishes?

ARTICLE 6: BYLAWS AMENDMENT PROCESS

How many votes are required to amend the bylaws? ARTICLE 7: BUSINESS ITEMS

What happens to business items not completed by the end of the calendar year? Are they to be continued the next calendar year?

Who initiates new business for the committee to work on?









4. RECRUITMENT | COMMITTEE MEMBERS

There are three main ways to recruit new committee members; election (from the membership

according to the rules laid down in the bylaws), invitation (to targeted individuals provided your

bylaws allow it), and advertisement (usually followed by some form of selection process to check

that potential committee members are suitable).

The most common way to recruit Management Committee members is word of mouth and

personal recommendation. The main benefit of this method is that the person and their work or

skills are already known to the Committee.

The downside is that individuals approached may take up the role because they feel obliged or

flattered rather than having a commitment to carrying out the associated responsibilities. This

approach can also lead to friends and family becoming Committee members, which is often not

appropriate, or it may produce a Committee with skills gaps.

To ensure that a diverse range of committed people with a variety of skills/expertise are recruited,

consider utilizing a ‘skills/needs’ matrix to identify the existing skills-sets and contributions of

existing members, while discerning the ‘gaps’ and needs of your committee:

GOALS Start by identifying your goals for the committee’s governance team

IDENTIFY Take ‘inventory’ of current committee member’s skills-set in light of those goals

ASSESS Discern the needs that are currently going unmet.

RECRUIT Integrate your attributes assessment into your recruitment strategy

Source new members from your existing networks. Start by dedicating time with your existing

committee to develop a recruitment strategy, resist the temptation of ‘poaching warm bodies’ to fill

the ‘needs gap,’ and revisit your committee’s mission and vision for the community if needed to

stimulate strategy meetings.









GOALS SETTING

Approach goal setting as you would an organizational Theory of Change – that is, identify the goals your committee has for our shared communities and map out a strategy.

1. GOALS SETTING

GOAL 1

GOAL 2 GOAL 3 GOAL 4

SKILLS-SET

‘Goals Setting’ adapted from, Strategic Needs Table, created by the Georgia Center for Nonprofits








http://www.gcn.org/


STRENGTHS INVENTORY

Use a Strengths Inventory to identify current committee members in the left-hand column and the skill sets needed from the row across the top.

2. STRENGTHS INVENTORY

SKILL SET 1 SKILL SET 2 SKILL SET 3 SKILL SET 4

Member A

‘Strengths Inventory’ adapted from, Board Inventory, created by the Georgia Center for Nonprofits

PRIORITY

SKILLS

&

ATTRIBUTES








http://www.gcn.org/


ATTRIBUTES ASSESSMENT Use an Attributes Assessment to list recruitment possibilities in the left-hand column and desired attributes across the top row.

Recruit Attributes Chart

CANDIDATES HAS TIME

DIVERSITY LOCAL ACCESS TO

COMMUNITY

LEADERSHIP STRATEGIC POSITIVE

MISSION

DRIVEN

(Public Speaking)

Candidate A

Candidate B

(Event Planning)

Candidate A

Candidate B

SKILL

Candidate A

Candidate B

SKILL

Candidate A

Candidate B

‘Attribute Assessment’ adapted from, Board Inventory, created by the Georgia Center for Nonprofits








http://www.gcn.org/

Date post:	15-Aug-2015
Category:	Government & Nonprofit
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Hillcrest Community Committee | Governance Toolkit

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