I’ve written before about how volunteering can help you in your home business, but I wanted to talk about how serving on boards of directors, specifically, can be a boost to your home business. Joining and serving on a community board can give you a way to do volunteer work and give back to the community, as well as the opportunity to make important contacts, network, and learn new business skills.
Serving on a board of directors for a nonprofit organization, church, project, or event means making a commitment. For some, this time and energy commitment can be too much, and it definitely requires more from you than showing up for a neighborhood clean-up or stocking boxes at the food pantry. While these are worthwhile volunteer projects to be sure, serving on a board means committing to several hours a month and possibly making a substantial financial commitment to the organization or project. BUT, the benefits to your business, in addition to the community, can be great.
Serving on a board gives you the opportunity to potentially work on large, multi-faceted projects (a capital campaign or major funding drive, for example) and learn the process from start to finish. This can give you valuable business experience that you may have not received in any of your “traditional” jobs. You can learn about raising capital, adhering to laws and regulations, bookkeeping, public relations, event planning, business negotiations, and a myriad other tasks and skills that are required to oversee an organization or project.
Being an unqualified “leader” is definitely not a prerequisite for board service. Most boards are looking for all sorts of different kinds of people with different skills, interests, and contacts. In fact, the more diverse a board of directors is, the more successful it can be in really reaching out into the community.
If you are considering serving on a board of directors, make sure you join an organization or cause you feel passionate about. Ask for a job description and find out exactly what will be required of you in terms of time, money and connections. And, try to evaluate how your family life and home business will be impacted by the endeavor.