Computer-Assisted Genealogy Group of Northern Illinois (CAGGNI)

Computer-Assisted Genealogy Group of Northern Illinois (CAGGNI)

Board of Director Position Descriptions for 2015

Revised June 29, 2014

CAGGNI Board of Directors

CAGGNI has maintained the growth it realized over the last several years. However, it is increasingly difficult to attract volunteers to develop and staff the multiple activities of the Group. Adding the GeneaQuest Conference to the mix created a major endeavor. Many items that are one-time issues, such as developing a vision and a logo, have been accomplished and will not take up as much time and money when the next conference is planned for 2016. The decision to alternate the years of the GeneaQuest conference with the Road Trip, however, was made as a result of the intense amount of work and member volunteers needed to make such events successful.

The 2015 Board of Directors will combine several positions to aid in attracting candidates to direct the governance of the Group:

·  President

·  Vice-President/Program Chair

·  Meeting Room Coordinator

·  Refreshments Coordinator

·  Membership Chair

·  Secretary/Archivist

·  Treasurer

·  Website Content Director

·  Newsletter Editor

·  Promotions/Fundraising Director

·  GeneaQuest Conference Chair

·  Road Trip Committee Chair

·  Immediate Past President

1. President

Position Description: The President is elected by a majority vote of the Membership. The position is responsible for leading the organization as a whole and presiding at Board meetings. The President sets the direction for the corporation and insures that the Board of Directors are aware of and fulfilling their governance responsibilities. This position also fulfills any other general requirements of a Director.

Position Responsibilities:

·  Sets the agenda for the Board Meetings.

·  Presides at Board Meetings.

·  Recommends the Board positions for the next year.

·  Appoints the Nominating Committee.

·  Nominates members to serve on the Audit Committee at the annual Board Meeting.

·  Directs the business portion of the General Member meeting.

·  Leads long-range planning efforts of the Group.

·  Submits annual proposed budget for the President’s office to Treasurer; submits records of expense; and, works within financial guidelines and the approved budget

·  Signs contracts and other legal documents as determined by the Board.

·  Acts as signatory on corporation’s accounts.

·  Writes a monthly “Presidents Column” for the newsletter.

·  Prepares annual report evaluating the past year’s activities and programs.

·  Proposes the creation and objectives of committees.

·  Proposes policies and practices.

·  Sits on various committees.

·  Maintains additional key access to corporation’s post office mail box.

·  Transfers records of historical significance to the CAGGNI Archivist at end of year.

Director Responsibilities:

·  Attends at least 75% of the Board of Director meetings.

·  Helps identify potential future Board Members.

·  Represents CAGGNI to the outside genealogical community.

·  Gathers ideas from other genealogical events attended and publications read; as appropriate, shares with Board for future CAGGNI improvements.

2. Vice-President/Program Chair

Position Description: The Vice-President/Program Chair is elected by a majority vote of the Membership. The position is responsible for assuming the duties of the presidency in the absence of, or at the request of, the President, serving as Chair of the Program Committee, and fulfilling any other general requirements of a Director.

Position Responsibilities:

·  Performs the duties of the President in the absence of that officer.

·  Assumes the duties of the presidency for the remaining term of office in the event of a vacancy in the office of President.

·  Chairs the Program Committee in planning programs for 3rd Saturday general membership meetings and 2nd Saturday SIG meetings.

·  Surveys membership to gather presentation topic ideas and suggested.

·  Submits annual proposed budget for Programs to Treasurer; submits records of expense; and, works within financial guidelines and the approved budget

·  Evaluates all program offerings; prepares annual report for presentation to the Board.

·  Prepares the speaker contracts.

·  Edits and maintains the CAGGNI website pages concerning 2nd Saturday SIG meetings and 3rd Saturday general meeting dates.

·  Assists the President in setting up the audio/visual components necessary for conducting the 3rd Saturday general membership meetings.

·  Introduces the speaker at the 3rd Saturday general membership meetings.

·  Provides sign-in sheets for 3rd Saturday general membership meetings and maintains a spreadsheet of attendance.

·  Provides sign-in sheets for 2rd Saturday SIG meetings to be maintained by the SIG Leaders.

·  Coordinates with the Meeting Room Coordinator for space reservations.

·  Coordinates with the Refreshments Coordinator as needed.

·  Coordinates with the GeneaQuest Conference Chair and the Road Trip Committee Chair, as needed.

·  Submits annual proposed budget for Programs to Treasurer; submits records of expense; and, works within financial guidelines and the approved budget

·  Evaluates all program offerings; prepares annual report for presentation to the Board

·  Transfers records of historical interest to Archivist at end of term.

Director Responsibilities:

·  Attends at least 75% of the Board of Director meetings.

·  Helps identify potential future Board Members.

·  Represents CAGGNI to the outside genealogical community.

·  Gathers ideas from other genealogical events attended and publications read; as appropriate, shares with Board for future CAGGNI improvements.

·  Supports CAGGNI through presentations, Newsletter articles, identification of speakers, and/or other activities that advance its goals.

2.1 Meeting Room Coordinator

Position Description: The Meeting Room Coordinator is a volunteer position that reports to the Vice-President/Program Chair and is responsible for assuring meeting facilities and logistics are available to meet the needs of CAGGNI programs and attendees. The Meeting Room Coordinator must live in community where the meeting venue is situated, if required. This position is not a Board of Director position.

Position Responsibilities:

·  Arranges with meeting venue to reserve appropriate meeting space on the second and third Saturdays of each month; except in December when the first and second Saturdays are reserved

·  Arranges with meeting venue additional space required for quarterly Board meetings if conflict in use of general meeting space occurs.

·  Informs the Vice-President/Program Chair and President of any conflicts with reserving space.

·  Posts the meeting room approval status on the CAGGNI website in a timely manner.

2.2 Refreshments Coordinator

Position Description: The Meeting Room Coordinator is a volunteer position that reports to the Vice-President/Program Chair and is responsible for assuring any beverages and food are available at 3rd Saturday meeting when possible. This position is not a Board of Director position.

3. Membership Chair

Position Description: The Membership Chair is elected by a majority vote of the Membership. The position is responsible for managing membership accounts and databases, collecting and transmitting payments and records, and recording and reporting membership activities. In addition, the position fulfills any other general requirements of a Director.

Position Responsibilities:

·  Accepts and processes membership applications and dues.

·  Sends welcome letter to new members.

·  Assists new members in entering their personal information on database and works with members to solve membership and account problems with the website.

·  Initiates annual membership renewal process including billing, payment processing and collection.

·  Sends follow-up membership renewal reminders.

·  Provides up-to-date membership check-in list to Meeting Room Coordinator prior to each general meeting and brings backup copy to each general meeting

·  Collects donations from guests and members at general meetings

·  Prepares transmittals and forwards them, along with cash and checks, to Treasurer

·  Collects member and guest attendance at general meetings; receives SIG meeting attendance records from SIG Leaders

·  Advises Board on membership issues and trends

·  Lists new members so Membership committee can generate name tags.

·  Provides oral monthly membership reports at general meetings

·  Provides periodic cumulative reports to the Board on new memberships, guest and member attendance, and donations

·  Prepares quarterly membership reports and submits them to Board and Archivist

·  Monitors accuracy of the membership database and works with IT Support to solve website problems

·  Backs-up entire membership database periodically

·  Prepares annual estimate of the membership anticipated in the following year along with an estimate of the revenue it will create

·  Submits annual proposed budget and annual records of expense to Treasurer

·  Works within the approved budget

·  Transfers dormant membership records to Archivist

·  Looks for opportunities to identify and/or train understudy or successor

Director Responsibilities:

·  Attends at least 75% of the Board of Director meetings

·  Helps identify potential future Board Members

·  Represents CAGGNI to the outside genealogical community

·  Gathers ideas from other genealogical events attended and publications read; as appropriate, shares with Board for future CAGGNI improvements

·  Supports CAGGNI through presentations, newsletter articles, identification of speakers, and/or other activities that advance its goals

4. Secretary/Archivist

Position Description: The Secretary/Archivist is elected by a majority of the Membership. The Secretary/Archivist records minutes of Board of Director meetings, ensures their accuracy and availability, houses and maintains all physical archives, posts digital archives to the Website, and fulfills any other general requirements of a Director.

Position Responsibilities:

·  Ensures proper notification is given of Directors’ and Members’ meetings as specified in the bylaws

·  Distributes the agenda and prior meeting minutes, and other supporting documents in advance of Board Meetings.

·  Records minutes at Board Meetings.

·  Prepares and routes draft of Board Minutes for review by Board Members; edits accordingly

·  Signs a copy of final, approved Board and Annual Meeting minutes and ensures copies are maintained in the corporate records; posts approved minutes on Website.

·  Receives all emails sent to ; responds accordingly

·  Attests to actions of the Board as needed for legal documents.

·  Maintains CAGGNI Bylaws seeing all approved revisions are incorporated; posts approved Bylaws changes on Website.

·  Maintains Minute Book with all approved motions and resolutions.

·  Maintains Policy and Procedure Manual; establishes policies and procedures for archival collection including what records are collected and when they are transferred to archives.

·  Maintains Board of Directors’ position descriptions; posts revisions on Website.

·  Transfers Corporate records to Archives as appropriate.

·  Maintains the physical and digital archival collection.

·  Houses any physical archives.

·  Updates and maintains an historical index on the CAGGNI website to programs, speakers, officers, Anne Jacobs Recognition Award, and other items representing CAGGNI’s history.

Director Responsibilities:

·  Attends at least 75% of the Board of Director meetings.

·  Helps identify potential future Board Members.

·  Represents CAGGNI to the outside genealogical community.

·  Gathers ideas from other genealogical events attended and publications read; as appropriate, shares with Board for future CAGGNI improvements.

5. Treasurer

Position Description: The Treasurer is elected by a majority of the Membership. The position is responsible for maintaining all corporate funds; recordkeeping of all deposits, disbursements and investments; providing financial reports to the Board and membership; and, providing access to the financial records for audit. The Treasurer is administratively responsible for the budget, prepares a proposed budget and reports actual revenues and expenditures against that budget to the Board. The position also fulfills any other general requirements of a Director.

Position Responsibilities:

·  Advises the President and the Board on financial matters.

·  Reports on financial activities at each Annual Meeting and Board meeting.

·  Receives all dues from the Membership Chair and collects all other funds, records and processes all funds into CAGGNI’s bank account.

·  Transfers funds from PayPal account to CAGGNI’s bank account as appropriate.

·  Pays all bills as per approved budgeted amounts or as authorized by the Board of Directors.

·  Makes payments of bills and reimbursements of expenses from CAGGNI accounts based on expense vouchers and associated documentation.

·  Keeps an accurate record of all receipts and expenditures using money-management software provided by CAGGNI, if needed.

·  Coordinates certificate-of-deposit (CD) transactions with the bank, advises the Board of the need for any significant reductions/withdrawals from the CDs.

·  Reconciles the financial records with bank statements monthly.

·  Provides financial reports to the Board, committees and corporation members when requested or as required.

·  Prepares financial records and financial statements for the audit.

·  Submits and presents year-to-date financial statements to the Membership at the Annual Meeting.

·  Submits the prior year’s financial statements to the Board at the first Board meeting of the year and posts to website for the membership.

·  Leads the budget process and prepares the annual budget for submission to the Board for approval.

·  Monitors spending by providing a monthly report to the Board of the year-to-date Actuals vs. Budget.

·  Pays annual CAGGNI membership dues in the Federation of Genealogical Societies and the Illinois State Genealogical Society.

·  Submits appropriate IRS and State tax forms when required.

·  Submits Annual Report to the Secretary of State of Illinois as required.

·  Advises and requests direction from the Board concerning any questionable expenditures.

·  Transfers historical records to the CAGGNI Archivist after year-end.

·  Looks for opportunities to identify and/or train or successor

Director Responsibilities:

·  Attends at least 75% of the Board of Directors meetings.

·  Helps identify potential future Board Members.

·  Represents CAGGNI to the outside genealogical community.

·  Gathers ideas from other genealogical events attended and publications read; as appropriate, shares with Board for future CAGGNI improvements.

6. Website Content Director

Position Description: The Website Content Director is elected by a majority of the Membership. The position is responsible for maintaining current content on the CAGGNI website. The Website Content Director draws content from a variety of sources including CAGGNI Newsletter, CAGGNI program calendar, upcoming events, changes in membership and other CAGGNI activities. The Website Content Director uses this information to keep the CAGGNI website up to date. This position also fulfills any other general requirements of a Director.