Board member terms

Veronica Renzo

Hi, Does anyone have any suggestion on how to enter board member terms and what committees they served on? This is historical information so I do not want to use Attributes. I am using Attributes for the current board terms.  Thanks!  

JoAnn Strommen

Veronica Renzo:

Hi, Does anyone have any suggestion on how to enter board member terms and what committees they served on? This is historical information so I do not want to use Attributes. I am using Attributes for the current board terms.  Thanks!  

Okay, this is a little out there in some respects but...

The idea is from another forum post.  I sort of like some aspects of it.  This person created a constituent record for ORG ABC BOARD MEMBERS and various committees.  Created a relationship to the record for each constituent who was/is board member with from / to dates.  You can probably find the posts for more details on how it worked for her.  I think it was Gina Gebhard. 

Here's a link to an old post on the subject: http://forums.blackbaud.com/forums/t/3742.aspx?PageIndex=1  I know there are more recent discussions also.

Anyway, I did create constituent record for board members and like that all data is consolidated and info there.  The only reason I have not done it yet for committees is that RE is not the place that our Exec / Directors go for the info.  They have their file / contacts/ hard copy of board members they use so I haven't deemed it worth the work yet to put in all the committee memberships. Just has to do with how RE is not used by us.

Gina Gerhard

JoAnn Strommen:

Okay, this is a little out there in some respects but...

The idea is from another forum post.  I sort of like some aspects of it.  This person created a constituent record for ORG ABC BOARD MEMBERS and various committees.  Created a relationship to the record for each constituent who was/is board member with from / to dates.  You can probably find the posts for more details on how it worked for her.  I think it was Gina Gebhard. 

Here's a link to an old post on the subject: http://forums.blackbaud.com/forums/t/3742.aspx?PageIndex=1  I know there are more recent discussions also.

Anyway, I did create constituent record for board members and like that all data is consolidated and info there.  The only reason I have not done it yet for committees is that RE is not the place that our Exec / Directors go for the info.  They have their file / contacts/ hard copy of board members they use so I haven't deemed it worth the work yet to put in all the committee memberships. Just has to do with how RE is not used by us.

JoAnn - Yes, it was me that posted that information (you got my name almost right!). This approach works VERY WELL for historical -- because it bundles all the information together, you can put extra detail in with other fields, notes. And you can either just open up the 'board' org record and look in relationships for the info, or you can create queries based on these records. Then, you can deliver this information out onto your Home Page (or set this up for other users on their Home pages): For example: folder --> STATEWIDE BOARD queries in folder --> Current Statewide Board members, Former Statewide Board members, .... folder --> STATEWIDE COMMITTEE ..... folder --> FISCAL COMMITTEE .... etc..... I have a fairly extensive system built this way (we have 9 boards, and each board has 2-3 committees each) -- and it's worked very well.

Veronica Renzo

Gina Gerhard:
JoAnn - Yes, it was me that posted that information (you got my name almost right!). This approach works VERY WELL for historical -- because it bundles all the information together, you can put extra detail in with other fields, notes. And you can either just open up the 'board' org record and look in relationships for the info, or you can create queries based on these records. Then, you can deliver this information out onto your Home Page (or set this up for other users on their Home pages): For example: folder --> STATEWIDE BOARD queries in folder --> Current Statewide Board members, Former Statewide Board members, .... folder --> STATEWIDE COMMITTEE ..... folder --> FISCAL COMMITTEE .... etc..... I have a fairly extensive system built this way (we have 9 boards, and each board has 2-3 committees each) -- and it's worked very well.

 Thank you JoAnn and Gina!

Patricia Coty

JoAnn Strommen:

Okay, this is a little out there in some respects but...

The idea is from another forum post.  I sort of like some aspects of it.  This person created a constituent record for ORG ABC BOARD MEMBERS and various committees.  Created a relationship to the record for each constituent who was/is board member with from / to dates.  You can probably find the posts for more details on how it worked for her.  I think it was Gina Gebhard. 

Here's a link to an old post on the subject: http://forums.blackbaud.com/forums/t/3742.aspx?PageIndex=1  I know there are more recent discussions also.

Anyway, I did create constituent record for board members and like that all data is consolidated and info there.  The only reason I have not done it yet for committees is that RE is not the place that our Exec / Directors go for the info.  They have their file / contacts/ hard copy of board members they use so I haven't deemed it worth the work yet to put in all the committee memberships. Just has to do with how RE is not used by us.

 JoAnn, I was thinking about doing the same thing for our annual dinner gala and auction - create an org record (maybe even one for each year). We don't have the event module, as this is the only event we do. I want to use the record for actions and notes, to help the event organizers who currently keep everything in their outlook mailbox (which no one else can look at), word and excel docs, and print outs in binders. I was also thinking of using attributes or relationships in this org record to track guests and table seating. I thought we could track the venue, guest speakers, decor etc in notes for each year, scan the invitation card and poster etc and have this all in 1 place for reference.

Does this seem too out there? Are there any negatives or considerations for not doing this???

JoAnn Strommen

Patricia Coty:

 JoAnn, I was thinking about doing the same thing for our annual dinner gala and auction - create an org record (maybe even one for each year). We don't have the event module, as this is the only event we do. I want to use the record for actions and notes, to help the event organizers who currently keep everything in their outlook mailbox (which no one else can look at), word and excel docs, and print outs in binders. I was also thinking of using attributes or relationships in this org record to track guests and table seating. I thought we could track the venue, guest speakers, decor etc in notes for each year, scan the invitation card and poster etc and have this all in 1 place for reference.

Does this seem too out there? Are there any negatives or considerations for not doing this???

Don't know +/- as haven't attempted anything like that.  It does sound like a bit much to track guests and seating using attributes/relationships.  I know I wouldn't want to add a ton of attributes for an event as they clutter up my attribute table.   

Listing the venue, guest speaker etc in notes seems do-able.  Do you have a fund specific to the event?  The notes on the fund record would be an option to record that info also.

I hope someone who does more with events, sans the Event Module, can share some thoughts.  I just don't know.  And how will you need to pull info?  Will you need lists/chart of tables?  Have you checked to see if you'll be able to pull data from the record in a usable format?

Are there some sharing options in Outlook?  Or do you have the option for a shared folder on your network where organizers would all be able to access docs?

Patricia Coty

JoAnn Strommen:

Don't know +/- as haven't attempted anything like that.  It does sound like a bit much to track guests and seating using attributes/relationships.  I know I wouldn't want to add a ton of attributes for an event as they clutter up my attribute table.   

Listing the venue, guest speaker etc in notes seems do-able.  Do you have a fund specific to the event?  The notes on the fund record would be an option to record that info also.

I hope someone who does more with events, sans the Event Module, can share some thoughts.  I just don't know.  And how will you need to pull info?  Will you need lists/chart of tables?  Have you checked to see if you'll be able to pull data from the record in a usable format?

Are there some sharing options in Outlook?  Or do you have the option for a shared folder on your network where organizers would all be able to access docs?

 We do have a fund for the event, but the notes section is not sufficient. We do have a shared folder on our network, but staff just keep their emails in outlook and don't save them on the network. Sigh!

In a previous organization where I worked, we had an org record where the annual amount raised was recorded in notes; (generating the total was very involved and required numerous spreadsheets) and that worked well.

The only information to be pulled would be a guest list and table seating. We use an appeal and packages for sponsors. I haven't figured out how to list all the guests for seating so I haven't done that yet. A suggestion I received from BB was to use relationships or attributes, but as you say, that would create a long table of attributes - 50 tables with 10 per table. We currently use excel to generate the guest list.

 

Christine Cooke 2

Patricia Coty:

 We do have a fund for the event, but the notes section is not sufficient. We do have a shared folder on our network, but staff just keep their emails in outlook and don't save them on the network. Sigh!

In a previous organization where I worked, we had an org record where the annual amount raised was recorded in notes; (generating the total was very involved and required numerous spreadsheets) and that worked well.

The only information to be pulled would be a guest list and table seating. We use an appeal and packages for sponsors. I haven't figured out how to list all the guests for seating so I haven't done that yet. A suggestion I received from BB was to use relationships or attributes, but as you say, that would create a long table of attributes - 50 tables with 10 per table. We currently use excel to generate the guest list.

 

 What if you used the relationship attributes instead of the constit attributes?  That way you would not muddle up your constit attributes tables (something I think we all try to avoid!).  You could put your seating/tables there -- there are attributes buried in just about every tab but I never see them utilized for much if anything.  Except maybe the gift attribute, it seems to get more use.

Claudia Sauers

Gina Gerhard:

JoAnn Strommen:

Okay, this is a little out there in some respects but...

The idea is from another forum post.  I sort of like some aspects of it.  This person created a constituent record for ORG ABC BOARD MEMBERS and various committees.  Created a relationship to the record for each constituent who was/is board member with from / to dates.  You can probably find the posts for more details on how it worked for her.  I think it was Gina Gebhard. 

Here's a link to an old post on the subject: http://forums.blackbaud.com/forums/t/3742.aspx?PageIndex=1  I know there are more recent discussions also.

Anyway, I did create constituent record for board members and like that all data is consolidated and info there.  The only reason I have not done it yet for committees is that RE is not the place that our Exec / Directors go for the info.  They have their file / contacts/ hard copy of board members they use so I haven't deemed it worth the work yet to put in all the committee memberships. Just has to do with how RE is not used by us.

JoAnn - Yes, it was me that posted that information (you got my name almost right!). This approach works VERY WELL for historical -- because it bundles all the information together, you can put extra detail in with other fields, notes. And you can either just open up the 'board' org record and look in relationships for the info, or you can create queries based on these records. Then, you can deliver this information out onto your Home Page (or set this up for other users on their Home pages): For example: folder --> STATEWIDE BOARD queries in folder --> Current Statewide Board members, Former Statewide Board members, .... folder --> STATEWIDE COMMITTEE ..... folder --> FISCAL COMMITTEE .... etc..... I have a fairly extensive system built this way (we have 9 boards, and each board has 2-3 committees each) -- and it's worked very well.

 

Gina, It looks like the link to your old post has been deactivated, I would love to hear how you use the relationship tab for board members and committees, I am new to an organization that has just begun setting it up like this, however I come from somewhere where we used attributes for just about everything. If you wouldn't mind sharing again I would really appreciate it!


Thanks!  

Gina Gerhard

Claudia - Seems like all the prior information is visible in this thread, but I can repeat it here (using an example) as to how I set up boards and committees:

• Create an organization record named 'Nashua Advisory Board' (we'll call that the BOARD ORG record).
  • You may want to create a specific constituency code for these.
    • ex: I created one named 'Regional Advisory Board' and put it towards the bottom of the code table - since no one else needs to be entering this value
  • You may also want to create an organization relationship to what might be your 'master' record
    • ex: I create a parent/subsidiary relationship to our 'Nashua Region' record - and these Region records are related to our master 'NH Charitable Foundation' record. 
    • So there's a hierarchy built between these ORG records and you can easily see what's been created.
• On the BOARD ORG record, create individual relationships to your board members.
  • Enter the relationship/reciprocal (ex: we use 'Board Member' and 'Regional Board')
  • Enter the Date From with the date they joined the board officially.
• To enter board positions (ex: Chair, Vice Chair, etc.) here's what I do::
  • In Position, I enter their current position (ex: Chair).
    • This is just a text field, so make sure you're consistent with what you enter.
  • I repurposed the field below Position and called in Rel Categ - so I could have a corresponding drop-down of these positions to use for querying.​
  • I'll choose 'Chair' from the drop-down table.
  • I also do a bunch of other related things on the relationship attribute - you can explore that area if you need to capture more information.
•  

 

​When the board member leaves:

• Change the relationship type of 'Board Member-Former'
• Add the Date To date they left the board.
• Remove/change the board position data.

Claudia Sauers:

 

Gina Gerhard:

JoAnn Strommen:

Okay, this is a little out there in some respects but...

The idea is from another forum post.  I sort of like some aspects of it.  This person created a constituent record for ORG ABC BOARD MEMBERS and various committees.  Created a relationship to the record for each constituent who was/is board member with from / to dates.  You can probably find the posts for more details on how it worked for her.  I think it was Gina Gebhard. 

Here's a link to an old post on the subject: http://forums.blackbaud.com/forums/t/3742.aspx?PageIndex=1  I know there are more recent discussions also.

Anyway, I did create constituent record for board members and like that all data is consolidated and info there.  The only reason I have not done it yet for committees is that RE is not the place that our Exec / Directors go for the info.  They have their file / contacts/ hard copy of board members they use so I haven't deemed it worth the work yet to put in all the committee memberships. Just has to do with how RE is not used by us.

JoAnn - Yes, it was me that posted that information (you got my name almost right!). This approach works VERY WELL for historical -- because it bundles all the information together, you can put extra detail in with other fields, notes. And you can either just open up the 'board' org record and look in relationships for the info, or you can create queries based on these records. Then, you can deliver this information out onto your Home Page (or set this up for other users on their Home pages): For example: folder --> STATEWIDE BOARD queries in folder --> Current Statewide Board members, Former Statewide Board members, .... folder --> STATEWIDE COMMITTEE ..... folder --> FISCAL COMMITTEE .... etc..... I have a fairly extensive system built this way (we have 9 boards, and each board has 2-3 committees each) -- and it's worked very well.

 

Gina, It looks like the link to your old post has been deactivated, I would love to hear how you use the relationship tab for board members and committees, I am new to an organization that has just begun setting it up like this, however I come from somewhere where we used attributes for just about everything. If you wouldn't mind sharing again I would really appreciate it!


Thanks!  

 

 

Rachel Bailey

If you have the Volunteer Module you could also assign each Board Member to a Job.  Then within the Job Assignment you can include Start Date, End Date, Position, etc. to note their board involvement.  You could also create separate Jobs for each committee they serve on and assign it to them to keep track of those terms.  The benefit with this approach is that you can also record their board meeting attendance as Time Sheets so you can track their participation throughout each term.