Somewhere, in an organization quite like yours, a staff member is in the countdown for the annual fundraiser... With the countdown underway, the lead staff member is juggling a thousand balls: confirming logistics for the entertainment; finalizing attendance figures with the caterer; being available to answer all kinds of last-minute questions...

There is one additional relationship that this staff member is juggling, along with the other 999 balls: the relationship with the event co-leader. This co-leader, a volunteer for the organization, is a person of tremendous dedication and passion for the organization and its mission. What complicates the relationship and adds to the juggling challenge is that this co-leader is also a board member.

The staff event leader is juggling this relationship because this year's co-leader at times expects her suggestions and opinions on the event to be the final word... It's hard to predict which it will be on a given day. Will the "co-leader" show up? Or will the "board member" show up? It has certainly made the event planning a lot more complicated than the staff member had expected.

Does any of this strike a familiar chord with events in your organization? If so, you're hardly alone. Confusion and conflict over authority and roles are common occurrences in organizations that involve volunteers.

This article describes the three key volunteer roles of governance, implementation, and program/service delivery and why it's critical to keep these separated and clarified

Feature article from e-Volunteerism, Vol.III, Issue 4, Jul-Sept 2003