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Business Matters
Conducting
Meetings
Finances
Staffing
Evaluation
Meetings allow members to get to know each other and each organization's work, as well as to lay the foundations for coordinated responses in times of disaster. To maximize the attendance at meetings, it is a good idea to send two invitations, one several months in advance, and a reminder two or three weeks before the meeting. The invitations may be by mail, phone, fax, or e-mail, whatever works best for the VOAD members. Schedule an end time for the meeting, and if at all possible, send an agenda with the reminder, so participants know what to expect about the meeting's time frame and content.
Four areas form the core of a VOAD meeting:
Reports from organizations. Allow time for each member organization to report briefly on its current work relating to disaster. Be clear about time limits, however, so each group gets equal time. For example, if there are twenty organizations and "Reports" are scheduled for ninety minutes on the agenda, each group gets four minutes. Appointing a timekeeper may help keep the meeting on track.
Briefing by a government representative. Ask your state or local emergency management agency for a short briefing (perhaps twenty minutes) at each meeting. The briefing may cover new policies or programs or give updates on current ones.
In-service education. Offer some sort of training or education at each meeting. Consider arranging presentations by experts in management, volunteerism, human needs, meteorology, catastrophic events, or other pertinent areas. (To pay the presenter, consider asking one or more of the VOAD organizations to provide the funding. Or, if no funding is available, inform the presenter of that fact but let him or her know that the event may provide an opportunity to meet leaders in the nonprofit sector who do regularly hire trainers and consultants.) Perhaps the group could watch a training video produced by FEMA or a member organization of NVOAD.
Planning, problem-solving, or decision-making. Working together on a common issue will help the group create and develop its vision for coordinated disaster responses.
At the end of each meeting, ask participants to fill out a simple evaluation sheet. You might ask "What did you like best about this meeting?" and "What should we do differently next time?"
(These ideas for effective VOAD meetings originally appeared in an article by Monte Sahlin, national executive director of Adventist Community Services and former president of NVOAD, in the Summer 1996 NVOAD Newsletter.)
It is appropriate to assess annual dues to VOAD members to cover administrative and operational costs. Usually, member agencies cover the cost of their representatives' VOAD-related activities, such as travel, meals, copying, postage, telephone, and record-keeping.
Each VOAD should establish a yearly budget to facilitate fiscal responsibility. Planning a budget helps to define the group's goals, shows where additional resources are needed, focuses the group on finding resources to meet its needs, and creates a balance between needs and resources.
At the outset of VOAD budget planning, remember that it is a political process. The more all constituent groups are involved in the process, the more they will understand the line items in the budget, and the more likely they will be to participate in finding or supplying the needed funds.
Here is a sample budget process for a state VOAD:
In June, the group decides to develop a budget for the next year, from January 1 to December 31, and the chair appoints a committee to draft a budget by the November meeting.
During the summer, the committee surveys the members regarding items or programs they would like included in the budget. The committee assembles these items, adding in traditional expenditures and/or items that have been included in past budgets, and attaches rough costs to each.
At the September meeting, the committee presents the draft budget to the membership, which reviews and approves or rejects each budget item. Members discuss if and how their organizations can help meet the needs identified in the budget through in-kind contributions, for example, by paying for newsletter printing or providing a plane ticket to the VOAD State Leadership Conference.
At the November meeting, the committee presents a final budget, and the members review it and offer and agree on amendments if necessary.
When approved, the budget becomes a guidepost for expenditures and income targets throughout the year. The members review the budget quarterly or semiannually.
Here is a sample state VOAD budget:
Expenses
- Phone ($50 x 12 months) $600
- Newsletter ($200 x 4 issues) $800
- State VOAD brochure
- Design $250
- Printing $650
- Other printing (training materials, etc.) $400
- Postage ($30 x 12 months) $360
- Fax paper ($10 x 12 months) $120
- State VOAD pins $150
- Special project #1: table top exercise $500
- Special project #2: speaker
- Stipend $200
- Travel $100
- State VOAD Conference (fees, travel, food, and
- Lodging for one representative) $700
- Donations Conference (fees, travel, food, and
- Lodging for one representative @ 1 ) $450
TOTAL EXPENSE BUDGET: $5,080
Income
- Dues (20 members x $100) $2,000
- Sale of state VOAD pins $300
- In-kind contributions
- Newsletter printing $800
- Postage for large mailings (newsletter, etc.) $300
- Fax paper $120
- Brochure (design and printing) $850
- Fund-raising
- Safeway Foods $200
- Build-a-lot Temporary Shelters $200
- Other $310
TOTAL INCOME BUDGET $5,080
(The information on budgeting was prepared by Rino Aldrighetti, NVOAD executive secretary, for the 1995 State VOAD Leadership Conference.)
If the VOAD seeks donations or grants from outside sources, it must keep in mind two factors:
The efforts of the VOAD must not compete with those of its member agencies.
Funding must not restrict the independence of the VOAD to make decisions that are in the interest of its member organizations.
When state VOADs are interested in becoming incorporated and filing for tax-exempt status, they are encouraged to first contact the NVOAD executive secretary for current information and guidance.
Local VOADs are not, like state VOADs, legal subsidiaries of the NVOAD corporation that come under its Internal Revenue Service 501 (c) (3) recognition. Local VOADs therefore need to function either as unincorporated associations or incorporated organizations under their state law. If eligible, they may obtain IRS recognition under regulation 501 (c) (3). If they engage in fund-raising, they must do so.
In most cases, a small budget and no paid staff will be adequate for a VOAD's purposes. If the VOAD hires a staff person, it should take great care with that person's job description. The staffer should facilitate the goals of the VOAD and add value to the roles of member organizations. He or she should not impinge on or duplicate a member organization's work.
Each state VOAD should, if possible, establish yearly goals and objectives as a discipline to achieve measurable results. A yearly evaluation helps the VOAD determine whether particular goals have been achieved. An annual report is a way to record your state's activities, providing a historical record for the benefit of members and other interested parties.