Community Funds: Volunteer Information

The Community Funds is a Foundation program that supports the communities in our region in taking ownership around the needs in their towns, encourages broad and inclusive civic engagement, and anchors the Foundation in each town.

Each town within the Foundation’s region has a volunteer Community Funds committee that is composed of town residents. The committee is inclusive, representative, and reflective of all the residents of that community.

Volunteering is an important expression of community involvement supported and encouraged by the Foundation. Anyone who donates their services under the direction and on behalf of the Foundation without compensation is considered a volunteer.

Volunteers are not employees of the Foundation. The role of volunteers complements but does not replace the role of paid staff. Appropriate steps will be taken to ensure paid staff are clear about the role of volunteers and to foster good working relationships between them.

Minimum requirements to volunteer on a committee include individuals:

• who reside in the town they are looking to serve;
• are at least 14 years of age (anyone younger than 18 must gain parental/guardian consent through the Parent/Guardian Permission Form);
• and agree to adhere to the Foundation’s Policies and guidelines in the Volunteer Handbook.

Candidates for elected office, elected officials, and their immediate family members may not serve on a committee.

To mitigate the actual or perceived conflict of interest, active committee members may not donate to Community Funds. There is at least a one-year waiting period for community members who have donated to a town fund to join a committee as a volunteer.

The Community Fund Committee Member actively participates in the town’s Community Funds committee, contributing expertise and time to the committee’s participatory grantmaking process by attending meetings, providing input, completing assigned tasks, and working collaboratively with other committee members to advance the work of the committee.

Position Key Responsibilities:

• Regularly participate in scheduled committee meetings, arriving prepared to discuss agenda items and contribute ideas.
• Contribute meaningfully to discussions, providing feedback on the grantmaking process, and actively working towards reaching consensus on decisions.
• Take on assigned responsibilities within the committee, such as research, data collection, volunteer recruitment, marketing, and social media management.
• Provide regular updates to the committee chair and members on progress on assigned tasks.

Time commitment averages five hours per month with a one-year term of appointment (January-December) with the option to renew annually for up to six consecutive years.

Volunteer committee members that take up administrative roles such as chair/co-chair or secretary may have additional responsibilities that may require more time commitment.

All volunteers have a designated staff liaison who is paid staff of the Foundation to offer guidance and advice to help volunteers carry out tasks effectively. Designated staff liaisons have responsibility for the development, management, and coordination of volunteer activity within the Foundation. There is a presumption of mutual support and reliability between staff liaisons and volunteers. Volunteers will be informed of whom to contact to receive support and direction.

The Foundation will provide every volunteer with resources through the entire volunteer lifecycle, including Recruitment, Selection, Appointment, Support, Training, Feedback, Appreciation, and Termination.