Roles and Responsibilities - KARA

The Chairperson & Vice Chairperson

The Chairperson and Vice Chairperson have overall responsibility for seeing that things get done during and in between meetings. It is most important that the Chairperson works closely with the rest of the committee and has their support to ensure that she/he does not become isolated or a ‘figurehead’. Some basic tasks are:

• Preparing agendas for meetings with other member(s) of the Committee.

• Keeping reasonable order during meetings and encouraging everyone to have their say.

• Making sure that decisions are made at the end of discussions, that they are recorded and that any work to be done is allocated to people to carry out.

• Checking that decisions made at previous meetings have been carried out.

The Secretary

The Secretary’s role includes:

• Letting people know the time, date and place of the meetings.

• Helping to prepare the agenda for meetings.

• Taking notes (minutes) of the meetings.

• Receiving and sending out mail on behalf of the Association.

• Gathering information and correspondence together so that everyone sees them.

• Keeping minutes, agendas and correspondence in accessible files.

Associations can generate a great deal of work, which often falls on the secretary. It is good to divide and share out some of the tasks. Being a Secretary does not have to involve typing and other skills; minutes can be taken in a notebook and the job rotated at meetings. Typed notes for the membership can be distributed when necessary and the minute book available for anyone to look at.

The Membership Secretary

The Membership Secretary’s role is to:

• Keeping an up to date list of members and their contact details;

          • Identifying non-members and trying to sign them up;

• Helping the Secretary in administrative tasks, correspondence and arranging meetings.

The Treasurer

The Treasurer has the responsibility for the finances of the Association. This means keeping a written record of any money coming in and going out of the Association’s account. If it is a new association, the Treasurer should make sure that either a bank or building society account is opened in the Association’s name, with at least two people named as signatories. All decisions about finances should be made at meetings and statements of the account should be available at each meeting for members to see.

The Treasurer has to:

• Keep a record of money received and issued from the account.

• Issue receipts for money received.

• Pay bills.

• Keep the Committee informed about the financial position of the group by doing a written statement and bringing books etc. to meetings.

• Prepare statements for the Annual General Meeting.

Other Roles

Other Committee members will have responsibility for specific things, such as fundraising, leaflets and newsletters or social activities. Sub-committees may be formed for specific campaigns or issues.  This encourages people who may not feel ready to chair a meeting to take an active role in the Association and also helps to make sure that activities do take place.